OPINION
Geoff Parker
First published on the NZCPR BreakingViews forum.
New Zealand historian Paul Moon recently stated that 25% of the entire Maori population had been killed in the inter-tribal musket wars of 1806-1845, and that “it’s a bit disappointing that the biggest war in New Zealand’s history, fought in New Zealand, ever, doesn’t get mentioned in the history curriculum”.
Yet Tom Roa, in a recent Stuff article, blames colonisation for all ills, including the decline in use of the Maori language. He claims education conducted in English was part of the Government’s policy to assimilate Maori into Pakeha society, and infers that Maori were driven from their lands by Government troops devastating tangata whenua.
The Unpalatable Truth
Mr Roa is misinformed, with the facts being:
1. Most New Zealand land was sold by tribal chiefs – see Turton’s Deeds. And, after warnings, less than 5% of New Zealand’s total land mass was legally confiscated after (not before) the tribal rebellions in the 1860s. Then by 1928, less than 3% remained confiscated.
2. In stark contrast to the devastating inter-tribal Musket Wars (1807-1845), just 2,254 anti-government Maori, out of an approximate Maori population of 60,000, were killed during the twenty-six years of sporadic rebellions during the so-called ‘NZ Wars’ (1843-1869)
3. It was at the request of forward-thinking Maori elders that the Maori language was forbidden in schools. There was no restriction on speaking it anywhere else or at any other time.
The Media’s Game
The Stuff article got me thinking about the media’s quest to advance Maori and tribal interests over those of all other New Zealanders. The totalitarian adage about ‘repeat a lie often enough and ‘it’ becomes the truth’ is demonstrated daily with the media’s frequent publishing of embellished Maori wonderfulness stories, history and treaty misinformation, and sometimes outright lies.
The Ministry of Education builds on the media’s propaganda by indoctrinating our young with false histories and Maori superiority nonsense. The young and impressionable grow up believing what their teachers say and what the media publishes. Eventually, those familiar with the facts are inevitably replaced by those living the lie.
There is no question that our mainstream media is actively controlling any information pertaining to history, ancestry or identity. It’s very rare for ‘letters to the editor’ correcting discrepancies or misinformation to get published. Over the years after many rejected letters to my local newspaper The Northern Advocate, I have concluded that they are very biased and controlling. Similarly, many newspapers have closed their online ‘comments’ section to further prevent the truth, fact or contrary opinions from being publicised.
Even paid advertising can be impossible. Trying to advertise a free speech-type event, such as the Stop Co-Governance tour, is frequently a fruitless exercise with the media imposing prohibitive criteria and processes.
NZME, the publishers of the NZ Herald, have rejected a full page advertisement worth about $10,000. They have obviously received ample funds from the Public Interest Journalism Fund, thanks to taxpayer-funded subsidies made by the last, spendthrift Labour government.
Meanwhile, there’s no evidence to suggest that the anti-democracy movement meets any such blockades when they want to place advertising.
One only has to watch media interviews by the likes of Mihingarangi Forbes, Jack Tame, Moana Maniapoto, Julian Wilcox or the Maori Affairs Correspondent Te Aniwa Hurihanganui to see in my opinion, how blatantly biased the mainstream media can be.
The media should facilitate the accurate reporting of factual news. Once that is done, it would be only fair and proper if they’d air opinions from both sides of an issue. The public can then think for themselves and form their own conclusions, especially regarding issues essential to our democracy, racial unity and the future welfare of our country.