Sigh.
Ok, so 100 woke folk have demanded Shane Jones public execution for calling our magnificent Pania Newton a flower which is condescending and belittling and cishet patriarchal privilege etc etc etc.
Now, I think Pania is an incredible human being and an amazing leader. I nominated her for Young NZer of the year and believe she is amazing, and while Shane Jones is certainly condescending and desperate for attention, the virtue signalling performance outrage manages to utterly miss the actual reason you should be outraged by Shane Jones.
His point blank refusal to honour the Treaty over settling it!
“It reflects the fact that Pania is a new flower in the endeavour of Māori politics. And like all new flowers, they have to prove their tenacity. Full marks to the campaign they have run, but the SOUL group has no authority to invert the settled infrastructure and architecture of the treaty (of Waitangi) settlement process.
“The problem with language nowadays, a seasoned chief like myself can’t criticise anyone without it having some ‘ist’ to it. The reality is it is not an offensive term, there will be absoutely no day that I or New Zealand First ever agree with the SOUL group and herself inverting the settled infrastructure of the treaty settlement process. Quite simple.
“This issue does not loom large in the range of … problems afflicting Māoridom. This issue of Ihumātao, for a small piece of land in Auckland, is not top of the pops when I go around New Zealand dealing with Māori tribes.
…Time and time and time again he says, “no authority to invert the settled infrastructure and architecture of the treaty (of Waitangi) settlement process”, and this is Pania’s lasting influence, the voice of the next generation of activists who look at the settlement process and the utter pittance paid out as compounding the injury and insult of confiscation and economic dispossession, not healing it.
THIS is why you should be outraged, that he refuses to honour the Treaty over settling it. Pania’s generation look at that ‘settlement’ as the pretence it is and refuse to accept the one sided unjust nature of settlements. This terrifies the establishment because Settler NZ is economically built upon stealing indigenous land and never paying full reparations for that theft.
This is where the argument lies, this is the issue that needs debating, this is the gift and legacy of Pania, yet what do we get? Personal offence at a condescending remark as if policing micro-aggressions was somehow on par with the hegemonic structure of Colonisation Capitalism.
Identity Politics activists are so focused on screaming at the tree for not being identified properly to notice that the forest is actually on fire.
Sigh.
This is what millennial politics is now, personal offence at condescension dressed up as a political statement while the real debate gets eclipsed by the outrage olympics at who can be more offended.
Well I do think it was a huge ask to expect Pania to catch the high ball the Jones lobbed at her. She should have leant on her training as a lawyer but I suspect Pania dropped the ball because she’s surrounded by people and advisors who are just saying the first thing that comes to mind. Now all that Sole has to do is to oversee what ever deal is struck with the crown.
Matua Jones is on the money Martyn when he says,” ” …. a hapu group. A hapu group reflects classical traditional Māori leadership. And a host of … political mosquitos descending upon a piece of land does not represent classical established hapu or Māori leadership. And we should not be upending (that) just because social media has breathed life into a group that the majority of us know nothing about.”
The twitterati dont like people voicing their opinions and facts so when the hear an opposing opinion, they do what …. they go for the typical group twitterati attack! Wankas.
Its sad that Pania has to burden their misguided anger and frustrations.
But hey, ka kete, they’ll get over it and get to be tangiweto again another day.
Pania knows that Te Tiriti is regarded as a living document open to change to meet current situations.
I think Shane is forgetting that, though he has been to Harvard. That sort of higher education seems to put a little right-winger stuff into the drinking water, and it ends up lodged in the bone marrow of the recipient.
Full marks to the campaign they have run, but the SOUL group has no authority to invert the settled infrastructure and architecture of the treaty (of Waitangi) settlement process.
For every little change that Maori might make to The Treaty process, there is a countervailing push from the old white guys that litter the country, trying to turn the clock back and rasping on about the Maoris who are using the Treaty to unfair advantage. Middle-class Maori can get caught up in the social ladder too; not everything that those in the public eye say is in tune with what Maori want when they get together, korero and decide.
They actually just said they would not put up with any belittling of women involved in the self-determination struggle of Maori. It’s no different to people saying the same thing about old white male politicians attacking the Swedish teenager.
Okay so just to clarify in this context there’s no difference between Shane Jones and old white men. So if your old, white, male or Māori you can’t belittle any woman involved inppwith Māori things?
So old men in general aren’t allowed to protest about there rights being withdrawn by one hundred woman. Do you follow me here or is the drain damage to severe? Genuinely interested because if we are not mean and nasty to each other then we are unfit to Devine a national pathway.
And so am I correct to assume that in this context males should just roll over?
I see where your going Sam. It’s more a matter of Division between the Genders at play. Dear ole double chin, double talk Shane-ster get’s his head handed to him by a Young Feisty hot headed Femminist who is easily led by her FBF followers of gender based fashion. There’s no middle ground in this issue, so it ends up as a media bunfight between the Sex’s, Race’s, colours and Creeds. As country Joe said “Whopee we’re all going to die”. Maybe it could be settled by head banging each other until one of em drops? Division politic’s at its, well, not finest…Classic lose-lose argument…
Well Pania went into it wanting to confront corrupt practices, she and I still hold the belief that the Whenua should be returned.
Only when you get to this level of notoriety you realise that the whole game is rigged and everyone just ignores you if you can’t play the game properly. This is a big problem the greens in government is facing also. The Greens aren’t given committee chair positions until they take industry money. That’s just they way the game is played. That’s all they do is ring people up and sell themselves privately and then put on a public persona.
And as I say people who come from the left have to put there lawyers jacket on and Don a poker face, and don’t where your feelings on your sleeves because unscrupulous charlatans will use that proprietary information for personal gain, lie, cheat, steal.
The so called seasoned chief who I have never been a fan of, reeks of arrogance. I think he is just looking for votes and so he is appealing to the NZ First red neck base of which there are many. He talks about having a mandate yet he is only there because of Winstone and so are many of the others. NZ First will lose a lot of there voters this election so now is the prime time for them to start Maori bashing. Jones needs to show some humility and humbleness but he won’t its not in his DNA . Perhaps he has been seasoned with too much salt and pepper not enough mana and his seasoning has made him bitter and twisted.
Glad we agree on one think re Jones at least .
People always have some common ground Trev they just need to find it
I’m no fan of Shane Jones, but it’s pretty clear in context that “new flower” is simply a reference to Pania’s youth. I bet he’s wishing he’d referenced a Maori proverb by using the phrase “new net” instead (when the old net is worn out, the new net goes fishing).
I agree with Bomber that it would be great if SOUL and its supporters could have landed some more substantial criticisms than nit-picking Jones’ choice of words, using the news media attention his comments got. No doubt many of them were making such criticisms. But they don’t get to choose whether the corporate media reports on those, or floods us with clickbait garbage focused on the inevitable Titter tantrums.
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