NZ Centre for Political Research

This week's poll asks:

Do you think the Police were right to charge the Urewera four?

*On reflection when the main charge was withdrawn due entirely to poor law processes by our Politicians. This left only a firearms charge to be faced. What a gift this was to our present Parliament in that "No terrorist martyrs would emerge to make governing this country a serious problem". Not for the first time would our Parliamentrians manage to avoid taking action against what woulda major insurrection. Brian

*They absolutley did the right thing. Noela

*The solicitors and media commentators who supported these terrorists deserve condemnation. Jim

*Absolutely YES. Thanks for your truth. NEVILLE

*Innocent people would have died. Raymond

*And they were also right in the way they executed the search warrants. No doubt in my mind that someone would have died if they didn't. Greg

*IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A DISGRACE FOR THEM IF THEY HADN'T. Michael

*Gun laws apply to everyone. K

*Pity the jury was intimidated by these rouges. Al

*Damned right they should have charged them..! I fully support their action and it's time we all woke up to the reality that these pathetic creatures hate our guts.....and trust me, they will have no compunction at all in killing and maiming each and every one of us.... Lorraine

*Thank God for the police all very brave men & women. Those idots should all be in Gaol. John

*Thank goodness they did. The "four" and their friends were decidedly up to mischief. This needs stamping out hard. Sheila

*At least, future terrorists will be aware that revolution is going to be very difficult and may do some honest work instead. Noel

*They sould have gone in with there night vision googles on & killed the lot & then said we had nothing to do with it must have been one of there own. Geoff

*Hang them. Michael

*Don't be fooled. Given too much leeway these people will become a real threat. Les

*Many NZers have been aware for a long, long time that certain Maori have had something like this in mind. It is absolutely naivete and ignorance to not see that this has been a long time coming, and is not over yet. We must wake up! Jane

*And they should have been found "Guilty as charged". Martin

*Hopefully this will be the end of the Tuhoe takeover of the Ureweras forever. And yes R. Fairbrother, Iti's lawyer, the record still stands that Mandela went to prison as a terrorist. Monica

*The Police had sufficient evidence to conduct the search for weapons and those involved. The actions of those involved are not explained satisfactorily yet they have been well served by our legal system and funding for aid. The Police have nothing to apologise for. Pete

*There will be plans for this to carry on, under cover,there is no doubt in my mind that there will be armed confrontation in this country one day, you can't go on giving one section of the community rights and privledges over the the rest and nothing to happen, all that needs to happen is for the great unwashed to find out about whats going on. Noel

*Absolutely right. The anti terrorism law should be re-evaluated clarified and made suitable for immediate application as and when necessary. Peter

*They are just a pack of terroists who, in any other nation, would be locked up good and tight. NZ is too soft. Sarah

*Evidence was overwhelming. Keith

*It's appalling they should have got away with it. A travesty of justice. Kim

*People do not realise the degree of Maori hatred that is being generated by activist propaganda.I have personally experienced it. radicals. Laurie

*These violent racist/terrorists were let off way too lightly. John

*Absolutely shocking that the public and the law courts are so naive that they can't see through the situation and understand that New Zealand has had its first real brush with full blown terrorism and has blithely shut its eyes to the very real danger facing all peace loving New Zealander's. Greg

*As a legitimate sporting firearms owner & user, if I had been caught using a gun in such an idiotic manner, I would have been in jail long ago - and justifiably so. And not for a mere two-and-a-half years!!! Dave

*Suppress all anti democratic actions affecting fellow citizens. Period. Democracies must unite to stress intolerance of intolerance. John

*Maoridumb is as fake and phoney as my $50 Rolex. How about the story tonight about $4.5 million spent (that's tax payer $ of course) on retrieving ancient (often pirated) tatooed maori heads. The only ugly tatooed head I would like to see not attached to a body is Tama Iti's!! Derejk

*And tuhoe did not sign the "treaty" which is a farce. Dave

*I am glad that the new(ish) police commissioner supports the police!! Debbie

*With the amount of work and investigation of this 'group', there can be no doubt in my mind that this had to be stopped! I applaud our judge and the officers involved in this prosecution! John

*The Urewara four should be put down like animals that they are. Clark

*It's a shame that the prosecution was not allowed to use all the evidence they had. Alan

This week's poll asks:

Do you think the Police were right to charge the Urewera four?

*Too damn right they were. David

*Unquestionably. There is a seething mess of incidental terrorism taking place everyday in NZ. Tourist attacks and rapes (brown men on white women) are far too common to be unrelated and coincidental. Maori radicalism manifesting as isolated acts of "terrorism" in NZ is gaining momentum. Watch and learn ... those of you who are naively still scoffing with disbelief and denying the obvious. Dianna

*Race based activism has no role to play in advancing the future prosperity of N.Z. citizens. Alan

*The police would have been negligent in their responsibility for law and order if they had not carried out the raid and arrests. More serious SHOULD have been laid as an example to others. Brian

*Justice was done, even if somewhat lightly as far as the accused were concerned. Peter

*What a dangerous situation our country is in if we find ourselves believing the lies of these terrorists. Margaret

*Yes, they should have been tried for treason and then shot. Would be a good lesson for others. I would expect nothing less against me if I was caught doing the same thing! If these "people" think that there is no-one that will oppose them, well think again buddy, I am quite prepared to do my bit to rid us of this type of vermin! Neil

*The Police took the correct action but unfortunately the country was again let down by the Judiciary who showed bias toward Maori and delivered less than satisfactory sentences. Peter

*Where there's smoke there's fire. Ross

*If the Terrorism Act had been proerly framed we would have had more convictions. Kevyn

*They were a bunch of wannabe terrorists in the making , and would have been copied by other tribes had they got away with it. Frank

*The law under which the police operated was a farce inherited from Comrade Helen and her fellow-travelers, including SIR(!) Michael Cullen. If that law had been properly sorted out the suppressed evidence showing how sinister and truly dangerous these rebels really are. Congratulations to the police, judge and jury for making the best of a pathetic half-baked law. Where are the real journalists? Pretty few and far between. Duncan

*We do not want civil war in NZ. Barbara

*The circumstances and previous performance of Tama Iti speak for themselves. A medley of ratbags looking for trouble. John

*Charges of terrorism would have been appropriate! DAVID

*It seems that some maori would like the rest of us to be seen as mere tenants in NZ and charged rent. David

*Unbelievable that these horrible creatures and their un-tried cohorts should not have all been banged up in jail for many, many years to come. The West, and especially naive little old NZ has lost the plot. Geoff

*Far too lenient and charges watered down. John

*Not just the four but the whole 18 should be facing serious punishment, the hole matter is extremely sad. Mike

*The penalty for treason universally... is the bullet! These treasonous hobos dodged the bullet. Marshalg

*I have always thought the Urewera four and others too were guilty and I don't feel the sentence is nearly long enough. The Police did the right thing for which they have received unfair critisism. Margaret

*It is a pity and the law is so ineffectual and the looney left so powerful. Peter

*Pity the sentences were so light. It's very hard to believe, given the evidence, that the penalties wwere so light. Alastair

*I am proud that the sentencing judge was not influenced by political activism and applied the law of the country! Max

*Sadly because of our mamby pamby life sentence they will not get the sentences they deserve. Howard

*Most certainly it was the correct thing to do & they should have been convicted on all counts. Bruce

*I am sorry that they didn't take complete action. Rick

*Any other Law abiding citizen would have been locked up for years for use of firearms like that. Gerard

*It is a pity the courts are so wrong. Hugh

This week's poll asks:

Do you think the Police were right to charge the Urewera four?

*The Police in this country do such an excellent job but are let down badly by stupidly inept government lawmakers and the PC brigade.
Ultimately they have got away with potentially causing carnage and mayhem to this wonderful country. Take away their benefits, make them work for a living. They wouldn't have time to plan their "war games" in the bush. We The Ratepayers have had to bear the brunt of all the legal aid and appeals of these so called underprivileged, downtrodden individuals. Lucky for them the Labour Government was so dumb and short sighted. In many countries they would have received death sentences. Irene

*Absolutely! And the fact that they've virtually got off with the proverbial wet bus ticket slap is due to the gummint's total inadequacy when it came to writing the anti-terrorism law. Iti is a clown - but a dangerous one - he will have to be dealt with properly sooner or later. Auntie Podes

*If it was in Afganistan the US Government would have spent years pursuing the Urewera four. Charles

*National needs Maori, Maori needs the Treaty, so the Govt., rather than enter the front door went around to the back one and to hell with New Zealanders. If NZ became a republic who would be head of the state the Maori King? Bill

*The bastards didn't get a longer sentence. If any white person did what they did or feet wouldn't touch the ground as they arrested us. They are a total discrase to their people. Graham

*Absolutely and congratulations to the police for being so vigilant. Claudette

*I can go back to the 1960s with these groups. The Police action is correct but very late. Ken

*Unbelievable that the Urewera Four have so many supporters, and that the prosecution and police had so many obstacles to overcome in finding the truth. Peter

*Thank you for your timely and very necessary expose of what was going on. We live in a naive fairy dairy land and sometimes need to be shocked to relaise we don't lve in what Auntie Helen called "a benign environment". Jeremy

*As a licensed firearm owner, subject to Police checks whenever they want, I applaud the charges against the 'Four'. If radical Maori think they can fight and frighten the citizens of this nation to achieve 'ownership' of any parts of NZ, they are wrong. Carl

*Absolutely and overwhelmingly. Thank heaven for an alert police who, this time anyway, did it right, upheld the rule of law and protected law-abiding New Zealanders. In many other countries the Urewera Four could have expected a whole lot less mercy and fair dealing — something they themselves were unprepared to show. Rob

*We don't take this terrorism seriosly enough. John

*But the only ones to achieve anything from this fiasco were the lawyers who made full use of the legal aid gravy train. Like so much of our so-called "law", there is no justice and no consequences for the guilty - especially if you are Maori. Maurice

*Absolutely, a job well done! Kirsty

*A little more information about the non-New Zealanders involved could be interesting to read. John

*Their activities were dangerous and frightening to all New Zealanders. Melva

This week's poll asks:

Do you think the Police were right to charge the Urewera four?

*Although it might have been better to have a fire-fight in the Urerewas and eliminate them completely! Sometimes a democracy is its own worst enemy. It would be interesting to see how the media and the do-gooders would react if the people involved were a bunch of white supremacists. Appeasement never works. Gary

*Opinion rather than fact certainly dominates most major newspapers these days. This situation is evident in most major countries.
It is increasingly difficult to get actual "news" and I wonder where we will be in future years, and what effect this erosion of factual reporting will have on future generations. The outlook is bleak. Eric

*Frightening stuff. Jo

*Don't worry these so called natives would have a go if they thought they would get away with it. Murray

*I think the Police and the Army should have gone into the camps fully armed, caused a fight, and shot them all dead! It would have saved us millions and got rid of the racist b....s whose only ambition is to get rid of the whites and take over NZ. Jayne

*Just another useless, badly initiated exercise. Malcolm

*It's a shame the terrorism law was written so badly, as I believe that these people should have been charged and convicted for terrorism. Also think the whole lot of them should have been charged. Carolyn

*I no longer buy newspapers even though 'deals' are continually being offered. I do not watch much TV news. When it starts on student protests etc I switch it off. For some reason all media support the Left and reporting is cheap and inaccurate.
This incident with Lunatic Tama Iti is just the start, we will see more of it. The treatment of the Police has been appalling, the Courts have let the public down and if I was John Key I would be very worried and would be looking at tidying up several of the laws in NZ. As a 'white' not 'Pakeha' NZer, I am very uneasy. Raewyn

*This incident is only a taste of what's eventually coming to NZ. People at large just want to go about their little lives, in peace and ignorance, and therefore don't want to know about what really goes on in the world. Thus, those of us who KNOW that the entire life that we live is just a convenient sham veneer for the globalists are treated as "conspiracy nuts" - because that way, by putting a label on those who know the truth, the sheeple get to keep their heads in the sand, drink their beer, play their lotto, watch their porn, and waste their little lives away. And that's just the way the globalists want it: the truth there for all to see, but hidden in plain sight by an "owned" media, aided and abetted by a populace who is too frightened of what the truth might be and what it means for them, so are just as happy to believe the lie. George Orwell was right: "In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act". It's clear for anyone with a functioning brain, eyeballs and a willingness to confront reality that we truly live in an age of deceit. Peter

*The racist maori mafia are like a cancer steadilly growing. They must be stopped but unfortunately Finlayson & Key are to cancer as gasoline is to fire. Derejk

*Why were they hiding in such a remote area if they were not planning mischief? Mary

*We were lucky this time but they will not stop. My advice to all people of european decent. One day you will either have to fight to preserve our lifestyle in New Zealand or leave for friendlier shores. Albyn

*It's a disgusting sample of our judicial system that those offenders were not jailed for life. Bryon

*They are a very dangerous bunch of ignorant radicals. Colin

*The revelations must concern all New Zealanders as to the objectives of radical groups who wish to take over our country. Brian

*Wake up government. Dave

*Most definitely and its a pity the others involved could not be charged. David

*Such activities must be halted by strong law inforcement. Graeme

*They have been given a slap on a wrist for planning mass murder and terrorism!! Of course the police would have done a bloody thorough job before they acted. Particularly after the Kahui Twins case. There is no way in hell they would have acted until they were sure of what they were dealing with. What a stuffed up system. Imagine how those cops feel now. They bust their backsides working for a system that appears to be actively working againgst the people it employ's to enforce the law and order it expects. Hard working tax paying New Zealanders and the hard working Police have been thrown into the Lions den! We should write a letter to the Police to let them know we support the decisions they made in this case and express how dismayed we are at the outcomes. Trina

*The Waitangi Tribunal should be sacked. Then NZ might survive. Jill

*Absolutely. Hats off to the Police -what a great job they did. Shame the courts never backed them up with gaol & throwing away the key. Beautiful NZ does not need any of these activists here. Govt should see that the Terrorism Act is amended immediately. Judy

*A serious issue and all involved should be charged. Steve

*They should all have been charged with conducting treasonable actions. Bryan

This week's poll asks:

Do you think the Police were right to charge the Urewera four?

*Absolutely right to act and charge the four. Unfortunately those who were involved in the "fun and games" should have been included in the round up. A pity we dont have a proper prison for terrorists and those advocating treasonous activity. Moreover, I suspect what we have seen is just the tip of the iceberg. We should all learn from this and realise that this is likely to snowball and get beyond our resources to stop it. Consider the make up of our army, what better place to be trained for warfare. Ray

*Itty-bitty-tama and his RACIST moari mates are committing an ACT OF WAR and, as such, deserve only to be tried by a military court marshal. A firing squad WILL quickly be arranged and the tax payer SAVED an enormous bill. Mark

*Thank goodness they were caught. I hate to think what might have occurred. Laura

*Should deport them. Barry

*Should have got a lot longer jail term and no appeal. Bill

*They were most certainly up to the greatest mischief and malevolence they could cause. Some of them names from the past, and some of them many would have recall of acquaintance from the '60s and '70s and who were then a danger to the Queen's Peace and who remain so. More could be remarked! L

*They are not as innocent as they make themselves out to be. Karl

*The only viable alternative that I can see is to wait till they made their move, and either blew up something valuable to innocent NZ citizens (i.e. a dam) or actually killed someone. That, to me, is not a realistic alternative. Laurie

*The Govt should immediately revisit the law the helen rushed through and chaange it so nobody can get off on a technicality again. We all know Tama Iti is a dangerous nogood from way back and should have been disposed of long ago. But then of course he is Maori so they can do anything. Graeme

*It's a shame the police didn't get the legalities correct so these criminals got what they deserved. Ross

*We Need the Police to keep on doing what they are doing by investigating these sort of things. We are a devided nation and the Tama Itis of this world relish the division by preying on it to make more division. Bryan

*Shame all charges weren't laid against them all. Robin

*Should have not dropped the charges against the rest either. Steve

*I truely fear for NZ, one only needs to look at whats happening around the world and the power influences in the background to realize that these countries have a bigger agenda and they are definitely after NZ resources.... Wake up NZ. Mary

*They are all going to be out of prison far to soon which will create the problem all over again. Russell

*It is regretful the process was handicapped by so procedural blocks which to say the least saved Iti and his mates from the initial and full force of the law. At the same time one wonders if 4 and a half years jail is enough for these treacherous sods!! Frank

*All Tattooed indigenous people dhould be fingerprinted and DNA recorded as routine practice now. Kees

*Definitely! - There was far more going on there than just war-games! Ted

*Absolutely right. The justice system needs to be tightened so that the police have wider powers to deal with any similar problems. Phil

*I have read some of the transcripts taken by Police during their surveillance in the Ureweras - very sinister. Graeme

*For firearm charges, yes but not terrorism charges. The heavy handed raid was regrettable. Ron

*If it was none Maori, it would be no excuses. Brian

*Sad that the Judicial system is so pathetically weak that real justice was not achieved. Hugh

*They should have been able to bring charges against everyone who attended those camps, but particularly those in charge. Robbie

This week's poll asks:

Do you think the Police were right to charge the Urewera four?

*They got off lightly. Keith

*Action was essential to maitain the rule of law, while we can. Shane

*The relevant anti-terror legislation must be reviewed and amended to prevent any further illegal and dangerous "training" recurring. John

*If they don't have to Guts to follow it through to the end. Should they have followed it through, YES. David

*What those people did in the Urewera bush was despicable. The fact that NZ didn't have firm and unambiguous anti terrorism legislation to properly deal with such activities is unbelievable. I do hope our politicians promptly address this issue. It's time the fringe Maori elements realised how well off they are and got on with a more productive way of living. Iain

*It surprises me (although I'm not sure why really) how quickly this became a race issue - the maoris in the bush - and how it was police harassment because of their race. The questions were asked would the police have behaved the same if it was in Remuera or Parnell? It could never happen there so is a ridiculous question. The people of Parnell or Remuera would never turn a blind eye for 18 months. It is a sad thing that I know the appeal`will cost more money and allow these people more opportunity to sit smugly in the dock while the bullshit flows and then likely they will get a reduced sentence. Just in case anyone is seen to be racist. Another slide down the slope of decent human relations in NZ. Claire

*Good on the Police for the pains-taking investigation on this matter. NZ needs to be saved from the likes of potential terrorists and foolish and inept media. Walter

*This type of behaviour needs a very strong reaction from the Police, our Politicians and the general public. There is NO justification for any of the informnation to be suppressed other than to protect the identity of investigating officers! Brian

*The 2 1/2yr sentence is about 20yrs short! 'They' will be back! Barb

*It amazes me that there are people out there that think that the 4 have been treated harshly. Any behavior like that should be treated harshly. They are lucky our laws are not like the US. I wonder what the outcry would of been if it was caucasian people that were planning such activities against the Maori. Alan

*There is an obvious liberal doo gooder mamby pamby PC attitude creeping into our media journalism...! Bruce

*If they had been pakehas instead of Maori the wholeshe-bang of them would now be behind bars! Alan

*They got off lightly. Absolutely yes. Mary

This week's poll asks:

Do you think the Police were right to charge the Urewera four?

*The police should have sent in the SAS to give those so called terrorists a dollop of reality, would have saved a heap of money in trial costs. Again the tax payer has been duped. Robert

*You hit the nail on the head w.r.t media, unfortunately polititians react to biased reporting also, most recently Dunn and Sharples on the education reforms. John

*The whole thing has been a debacle. It is shocking that they could have been involved in planning and training to inflict serious harm yet the media reports have been dominated by the view that it was all just a bit of harmless fun. Michael

*The reporting of the case is scary - apart from the Dominion Post back in 2007, it just shows the serious left-wing bias. Who can we trust nowadays for our information? Barbara

*Their offending was so serious they should have all been sentenced to jail! The case just highlights how we no longer have a justice system - it let off too many guilty people. I bet if it had been a far-right group involved in military training, none would have got off! Jim

*Let's hope that this case has scared other wannabe terrorists off! Pete

*The Police did a great job in this case - and good on the Commissioner for standing up for his men. Brian