Gisborne council to include iwi input in installing Endeavour replicas
Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz has admitted she regrets voting in favour of installing two new replicas of Captain Cook’s ship, Endeavour, in the city without consulting local iwi, and will now allow them to have their say.
Good to see Rehette Stoltz has changed her mind and will support councillors Tony Robinson, Meredith Akuhata-Brown & Josh Wharehinga in facilitating community and iwi input on how the Endeavour models could be displayed publicly.
Unfortunately Gisborne District Council still doesn’t prioritise citizen-led processes for deliberation on complex issues, consultation is down the lowest end of public engagement processes – we need our democracies to mature a lot so we can move on from the outdated representative model that should’ve been left behind long ago.
Deliberative Democracy is a step on from Participatory Democracy which is a step on from Representative Democracy and the low-level expectations of citizens to be informed/consulted rather than having a direct role in issues we care about.
C’mon Local Government New Zealand – help our communities improve the way we organise ourselves instead of pandering to the vanities and select interests of elected representatives.
Manu Caddie is Kaihautu of Innovation & Regulation at Rua Bioscience
I didn’t much understand your comment, Manu.
We all admit Rehette is a ‘good keen woman’ if not perfectly understanding. Prefer her to Meng or Harry. On their ego-piste.
Sumsuch: “I didn’t much understand your comment, Manu.”
I agree. I note that the original (so to speak) replicas of the Endeavour were for many years a part of the cityscape. Council’s intention was simply to replace them with new replicas, made of aluminium, I think, as opposed to the original wood.
Therefore the Council didn’t actually need to consult with any citizens at all.
The new mayor does indeed come across as a commonsense individual. It sounds as if she’s been bullied into carrying out a completely unnecessary consultation.
I think Maori over in Gisborne have issues with Captain Cook and with the recent desire for commemorations are now looking at everything again. When it comes to Maori that have great feelings for the earth and their place on it, as all long-settled people do, it is best to listen to these and seek to come to an agreement between the parties .
Greywarbler: “I think Maori over in Gisborne have issues with Captain Cook…”
Yeah, I know quite a bit about that history. But it doesn’t at all follow that the Council is obliged to undertake any further consultation.
“…Maori that have great feelings for the earth and their place on it, as all long-settled people do…”
Of course they do. As do we all, it must be pointed out. But in the current context, it’s beside the point. The Council is not obliged to consult, every time it replaces pieces such as these. Were it to do so, processes would descend into a reductio ad absurdum. This is a small city, and ratepayers must foot the bill for all consultations.
Manu, anything, anything, anything Maori do now in a mass way, whether positive or negative, will re-spark NZ demo-cracy. The 1991 benefit cuts were, in retrospect, the declaration of a 30 year war on Maori.
I know you have prospects but your people and your country need leadership. Like several I’m willing to donate to the people’s leaders.
sumsuch: “….anything Maori do now in a mass way, whether positive or negative, will re-spark NZ demo-cracy.”
In the case of Gisborne, what Maori evidently want has little to do with democracy. From what I’ve seen, they want the Endeavour replicas gone. This bespeaks revisionism of the most pernicious sort: it’s an attempt to elide a part of the history of this country. I’d characterise it as censorship. Our history is our history, warts and all.
“The 1991 benefit cuts were, in retrospect, the declaration of a 30 year war on Maori.”
I’ve commented elsewhere on this claim. That’s not at all how I remember the situation back then. At that time, there were many pakeha on benefits of various sorts. In fact, where I then lived, the protesters were overwhelmingly pakeha.
The benefit cuts were a part of the neoliberal project; neoliberalism isn’t concerned with ethnicity, never has been.
You’ve been running Māori down for a long time on these blogs now I would kindly ask that you cease.
Sam: “You’ve been running Māori down for a long time on these blogs now I would kindly ask that you cease.”
You’ve been misinterpreting what I write on these blogs for a long time now. I request that you desist: do yourself a favour and read what I actually wrote. Then comment on that: not what you think I wrote.
How doe you “remember the situation,” dester? Is that you remember pakeha doing thought than Māori? Poor you.
Sam: “How doe you “remember the situation,” dester? Is that you remember pakeha doing thought than Māori? Poor you.”
Say what? If anyone else here knows what the hell you’re talking about, I’d be pleased if they could enlighten me. And the rest of us, of course.
I repeat: read what I actually wrote. Comment on that, not on what you think I wrote.
The benefit cuts could be a war on Maori and also hurt Pakeha, d’Esterre. According to my 101 ‘Critical Thinking’ paper. You’re my only fish to rise to the surface, so if someone else can point out where my logic has gone wrong?
Anyway there is nothing but climate change. Or, slow boiling, by which we humans succumb as surely as crayfish. Hahahahah.
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