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Dr Muriel Newman
The Waitangi Tribunal finding that Maori have property rights to water was predictable, but is nevertheless a reminder of how well organised the tribal elite have become. They have their own political party, with political leverage through a coalition agreement with the government. They have the taxpayer-funded Maori Council, which is able to organise activists into substantive claimant bodies. And they have the taxpayer-funded Waitangi Tribunal, to re-write history and deliver quasi-legal deliberations in favour of tribal claimants.
As you will be aware, ever since the New Zealand Centre for Political Research was first established in 2005, we have been fighting against racial privilege. We firmly believe that all New Zealanders should be equal in the eyes of the law. There should be no special treatment based on race. With the Maori Party spending $4 million to convince New Zealanders that a new "written" constitution based on the Treaty as supreme law, is in the best interest of the country, we are taking a stand.
In 2003, the late Dr Michael Crichton, a best-selling author with more than 200 million books in print including Jurassic Park and State of Fear, was asked what he thought was the most important challenge facing mankind. He explained: “The greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda. Perceiving the truth has always been a challenge to mankind, but in the information age it takes on a special urgency and importance. We must daily decide whether the threats we face are real, whether the solutions we are offered will do any good, whether the problems we’re told exist are in fact real problems, or non-problems.”
Without a doubt, the welcome sound of the New Zealand National Anthem ringing out from the London Olympic Games rekindles that wonderful sense of pride in being a New Zealander. The Games serves to remind us of what a powerful motivating force competition is. It is the very thing that pushes the boundaries of human endurance and effort. How tragic that the guardians of our education system have progressively removed competition from our schools, when striving for success is such an important driver of achievement.
On the afternoon of Monday, 13 June 2006 Auckland Police received a telephone call from a staff member of Kidz First Children’s Hospital, situated adjacent to Middlemore Hospital in Otahuhu, advising that hospital staff were treating two seriously injured twin infants. Their names were Christopher Arepa Kahui and Cru Omeka Kahui. Police went immediately to the hospital to investigate the causes and circumstances of the twins’ injuries.
Masquerading as servants of their peoples, an elite group of tribal leaders, assisted by advocates in many different areas of public life have persuaded governments to give them public riches they do not deserve. Today they are claiming the ownership of New Zealand’s water. Last year they were given the right to make secret deals for the ownership of our publicly held, mineral-rich foreshore and seabed
Submissions on the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill close next week on Thursday July 26th. All New Zealanders should be asking whether they are happy with the performance of their local council – if not, here is an opportunity to have a say. Submissions can be made on-line here >>>
In spite of the dedication and hard work of tens of thousands of New Zealanders - and the support of hundreds of thousands - sadly, we have been unable to gather enough signatures to trigger a nation-wide referendum on restoring Crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed.
Next week the Waitangi Tribunal will be hearing the Maori Council’s claim for the ownership of New Zealand’s freshwater. To most people, water, like air, is part of a natural cycle and is regarded as a ‘common good’ –managed by the Crown on behalf of us all, through Regional Councils.
There is a strange irony about New Zealanders. While some are extremely vocal in opposing foreign ownership of land or assets, many turn a blind eye when a foreign group like the United Nations effectively takes over aspects of our governance and institutional arrangements.
