pn824. NZ, Tonga, New Caledonia Snippets

Meng Foon

NZ. Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon says what unites us is stronger than what divides us. It's as well to remember this as 2,000 anti-vaxx protesters marched through Wellington streets today, thankfully far less than the 50,000 Brian Tamaki forecast. 

Siaosi Sovaleni

Tonga. The newly-elected Tongan PM Siaosi Sovaleni could lead Tonga on a different path than his predecessor.  Kalafi Moala writes, "And speaking as a Tonga High School ex-student, thank you Tonga for giving us the best gift we could have expected for our 75th Anniversary in 2022. Sovaleni is the President of our THS Ex-students Association, and he is one of the most distinguished graduates of the school being Dux in his final year." (A personal aside: I taught 'Eakalafi at THS in the early 1960s, and started the Dux system). 

New Caledonia. The French are claiming a victory. Most people voting in the recent referendum voted against independence but almost all of the Kanak (native) population shunned the referendum by not voting. They dismiss the results.  

pn 782. Fiji’s Politicians – "Narrow, opportunistic and uncaring!" by Rajendra Prasad in Auckland

The wolves of Fiji politics have again found the bone of racism to tear the nation. To some the amendments to iTaukei Land Trust Act (see also pn768) represented progression and to others, imbued in politics of ethnicity, an opportunity to stir the hive of racism for political gains.

 This is likely to become a regular feature of Fiji politics, as the 2022 election draws nearer. If one reflects on the history of elections in Fiji, politics of race is at its ugliest just before every election when indigenous Fijian leaders allude to it unfailingly, demonizing Indo-Fijians as a threat to indigenous Fijian land ownership, culture, customs and traditional rights.

The fear so created has galvanized indigenous Fijian unity, which translated to block voting for the so-called champions of indigenous Fijian rights and interests. Behind this façade, they hoodwinked their trusting and devoted followers to vote for them to fight the (non-existent!) Indo-Fijian threat.

pn783. The Good News from Ōtaki, a town on the Kāpiti Coast

Tainui

I was fascinated by Tainui Stephens' description of Ōtaki published in e Tangata.  How different things are now from the Ōtaki I remember in the late 1960s when I taught at  Ōtaki College. 

Tainui writes,   

 "The most recent statistics show that 50 percent of the town’s Māori population and 13 percent of the total Ōtaki population of around 6,000 people are able to use the language. Nationally, 20 percent of the Māori population, and 3 percent of the general population speak Māori."  

Māori Wards, Yes, No and Maybe -- someday (pn714)

I suspect that most NZ adults could not care one way or another whether there are Māori wards in the local council, but it's likely that if pressed, most Pākehā would say no and most Māori yes. If they votes on the issue, the results would be obvious. Māori are out-numbered almost everywhere. 

Hence Government's move to  prevent petitioners overthrowing local council decisions to introduce Māori wards. 

Nine councils wanted the wards introduced before next year's local council elections. Of these, Tauranga has decided yes, Hamilton said yes, then no, and is now undecided. A vote will be held on May 10^th. Palmerston North/Manawatū said yes then no. A petition led to a vote of 69% no, 31% yes. A final decision will be made on May 6^t.h. Other councils will decide in the similar time frame.

What is actually at stake?

Those in favour of Māori wards say Māori are either under-represented or not represented at all on their local council, they speak of the need for a Māori view, especially on environment, land and resource issues, and of the Treaty partnership, 

Those against, such as Don Brash and Hobson's Choice, feel threatened by a Māori  takeover. They say there no partnership was intended in the Treaty and if Māori want to be on Councils, they can stand for election just like everyone else. Māori wards will lead to separatism.

Those voting in Māori wards would be elected from the people enrolled to vote in the Māori parliamentary constituencies. They would have only one vote, like everyone else. Other Māori would vote in the “normal” wards.  So I don't think there's an issue of favouritism or expanding separatism.

Unfortunately, what is really at stake —deep down—in the depths of our psyche is probably another instance of unrecognized racism. And for Māori, the need to defend some Māori space.

– ACW

Related  Matamata-Piako

History in Schools – an opportunity and challenge (pn692)

Click here to read the article and check out the Maxim Institute which I've added to the list of recommended blogs and websites.  See right side bar. 

II. Emotional challenge: They'd "never heard of the (Māori) New Zealand Wars " (pn661)

Yesterday we asked what NZ history would be taught (pn660);  today we look at possible student reactions.

Students face emotional challenge confronting NZ history, study warns

The compulsory study of Aotearoa New Zealand history is set to generate strong emotions for some students, a new study warns.

Taita College head of social sciences Dr Michael Harcourt asked 1889 students at 20 high schools around the country for their main feeling after reading a passage about the effects of the land wars on Waikato Māori.

The largest number (39%) chose sadness, followed by anger (11%), frustration (10%), shame (6%), grief, resentment and guilt, presumably the remaining 34%.

Harcourt said teachers, who will be required to teach NZ history from 2022, should be alert to those emotions and actually draw them out.

He told Tim Dower he found a lot of students aren't being taught much about our history at all. "I was amazed at how many students I spoke to had never heard of the New Zealand Wars before, including young people in the Waikato."

pn629. Maori children are not objects. Opinion: Oranga Tamariki CEO should step down; if Kelvin Davis does not sack her, he should step down

The latest development in the Oranga Tamariki saga is that the Court has ordered Newsroom to remove a video  and related articles damaging to Oranga Tamariki's already damaged reputation, thus removing graphic evidence of how the agency works. Oranga Tamariki and the Court said the four children involved could be identified; Newsroom denies this saying their faces were blurred, adding "We will argue for its return, in the public interest, at a hearing next month."