Backlash against Northland’s iwi-led checkpoints is racist, says Kelvin Davis
Backlash against iwi-led checkpoints, set up for travellers heading to Northland when Delta-ridden Auckland opens up next week, is racist, Māori Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis says.
But National Party leader Christopher Luxon says the Covid-19 checkpoints will be disruptive for travellers and tourism operators, while it’s not clear how the roadblocks will work.
Māori never forget their history, they live it.
Up north under the shadow of the mass grave memorials for the Spanish flu and the glorious war dead lies the everyday living of that loss.
History’s relighting of that grief in the immediacy of the present via roadblocks to stop Covid from infecting the poorly vaccinated and poorly resourced Northland demands a nuanced response from the Pakeha majority because we risk igniting a dangerously radical response if we decide our right to a holiday trumps their historic experience.
I’ve previously blogged that I think the most civic thing Aucklanders can do this Summer to celebrate our release from lockdown is to take those holidays in regions with high vaccination rates and that’s why I won’t go North this year.
Kelvin calls backlash against the Northland checkpoints racist, I think it’s worse than that! I think you are being a selfish prick to knowingly risk holidaying somewhere you knew was under resourced and under vaccinated for nothing more than your own pleasure!
Racism can be untaught, being a selfish prick is a sociopathic lifestyle choice!
National have complained about the checkpoints, but if they were honest they would turn a blind eye as well.
Why?
Because Luxon is a coward and after all the big talk he’d rapidly come to the same conclusion Labour did, and that is unless you were prepared to bring in the Army, there was no way you could actually force Northern Māori to stop the checkpoints!
Just game it out!
PM Luxon tells Police to move aside checkpoints or arrest all of them.
Word quickly spreads Police are moving into arrest all of the activists at the Checkpoints, waves upon waves of locals arrive to protect the Checkpoints. Anger quickly starts escalating and getting out of hand.
Violence erupts as Police attempt to take Hone Harawira under arrest. Facebook is streaming it live.
There is rioting overnight and the Police Station set alight.
The next morning PM Luxon stumbles during intense media questioning and agrees with Mike Hosking during his daily ZB Breakfast appearance that he needs to send in the military to enforce safe passage for Aucklanders wanting a holiday up North.
Military assets are met on arrival with a full scale revolt by local Māori who are now incensed that Luxon has sent the military.
Shockwaves of the race war Luxon has lit start mass protests around the county with negative world media asking if Luxon is fit to be Prime Minister.
The martial law orders for curfew are immediately breached in the first weekend with several teenagers shot dead.
Their deaths spark nation wide violence.
The country plunges into a civil war within a month of Luxon demanding the arrest of the checkpoints with National Party supporters declaring the bloodshed would all be worth it so long as wealthy Aucklanders possibly carrying Covid can holiday in their plush batches while infecting the indigenous locals who remember the last pandemic.
See, the ease with which we can descend into a race war is remarkably possible when vapid political leadership mixes with ZB social policy reckons!
You aren’t going to get away with arresting Hone from defending his people from a novel virus and if you honestly think you could without triggering responses that could avalanche beyond your ability to stop, you really shouldn’t be commenting on NZ politics.
Police working with local Iwi stops this from becoming a trigger point.
This is what real political leadership looks like, not a ‘Respect my authority’ posturing!
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As a Northlander, thanks for staying away Martin.
I know the road blockers are aware the disabled community needs to be protected up here as well. Many of who have been under virtual house arrest since this started. Whose lives will only get exponentially worse if Sars-Covid19 gets a free run up here.
Davis probably would not have mentioned racism had the journo not asked “do you think it’s racist” thus creating the “,racism” story.
It seems nowadays anything and everything can be blamed on us whities. Yesterday Marama was claiming that maori violence (mostly on maori) was the result of racism. Go figure!
So Davis only states the obvious because he is primed by the media – Duh!
“It seems nowadays anything and everything can be blamed on us whities.” Do you live in a vacuum – like, haven’t you followed the inquiries that have established the evidence that supports Marama Davidson’s statement?
Take care – your comments suggest as being not only racist but sexist! as well!
His comments are dumb and Seymour calling them thugs is racist, and Davis saying if it was any of the other groups they wouldn’t be labelled as thugs. See more is a dick head anyway he reminds me of one of those puppets on Thunderbird is go. Soon the chosen one, shiny head will take most of those voters who have jumped ship to Act. Also once many NZers see Acts policies they are more than likely to run back to National with their tail between their legs.
Akshully I heard her mention colonialism too…
Frequently…
Davidson is blaming male on female violence upon “ colonialism” or “ colonisation” , blithely ignoring the fact that Pakeha males are the biggest number of violent offenders, not Maori ; she is proposing a Maori solution to stopping male violence over something like a quarter of a century; and if she thinks that a Maori solution which she believes will work for Maori, will therefore be equally efficacious with violent white surgeons from Christchurch, schoolteachers from Hamilton, musicians from Masterton, or Temuka tomato growers, then taxpayer spending based on Marama Davidson’s gleaned opinions rather than on hard core practical evidence is a waste of money, and of little use to anybody. Davidson would probably blame colonialism for the autumn leaves falling from trees if she could.
Ignore aom’s comments Brom and yes Marama Davidson is just one of many Maori who find it easier to blame colonialism etc rather than taking any personal responsibility for their own choices.
“Duff believes it is time Māori moved on from notions of post-colonial trauma.
“How many years are we going to use that excuse? How many years; another 25, another 50, another hundred? How long do we keep saying post-colonialism did this to us before we look in the mirror and say it doesn’t matter what made us like this, what’s going to unmake me like this? It is so simple.”
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018701972/alan-duff-back-straight-talking-with-a-new-book
King hit someone in the city? Colonialism
Gave the kids a hiding? Colonialism
No job? Colonialism
Can’t be bothered getting vaccinated? Colonialism.
The treaty was signed 181 years ago for fucks sake and if we can let’s take a brief pause from our constant flagellation to consider what would have happened to the English if it was the Maori who appeared of the coast of Kent with the ships and the guns . .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moriori_genocide
Treaty was signed and broken the day after, and thereafter up now. With settling land grievance for pennies in the dollar. But, that was so long ago…and none of us was there, to stand up for the injustice huh? Otherwise we surely would have right?
Oh boo funking hoo
You must have been a real asset to the debating team with comments like that.
There are no marine checkpoints so those with boats will travel north by sea…….as usual.
Seeing as half of the Army is Maori I can’t see the military bothering to comply with Luxon’s power move.
Regardless of whether the soldiers are Maori or not I can’t imagine any of them firing on NZer’s – I know I wouldn’t.
So true – blood is always thicker than water.
The full quote is, “the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb” Meaning that the bonds fostered by those who are not obliged to do so as family, is stronger than those we have to bond with as family. Not relevant to this story, but hey.
Pray tell, how does quoting what a person says make one sexist. ? I guess that means that you assume I’m a man. Does that make you sexist?
Covid is coming regardless of roadblocks
I got chills reading that post – The sort you get when the vehicle you’re in has missed a massive smash and pile-up by seconds. Anyone who thinks that (described above) might not happen here is in denial.
It’s all bullshit – some have chosen to not get vaccinated despite 100’s of millions being spent directly on specific groups.
Labour have folded like a deck chair on this.
I utterly disagree with Martyn’s suggestion that it would all kick off – if it’s so bad, just get vaccinated. If not, then get stuffed.
This approach is just appeasement and will have ongoing and lasting consequences. What’s next? Stopping people because of wrong think or simply because they can?
It’s terrible for the cops as they’re going to lose even more respect from the wider society enforcing rules we can all see are a sop to a racist tribal bully
The police spokesperson says it is a waste of time and taking 300 members away from serious policing. They are bring them in from the South Island at great expense. It seems to me the government is covering it’s butt after the poorly organised roll out of the vaccine for Maori generally.
There are businesses owned by Maori and Pakeha that need customers. If they enforced the opinion of asking for vaccine passport before allowed in then the roadblocks would be pointless.
Once these roadblocks are allowed in Northland where do they stop. I am sure there are other areas that would find certain other groups unwelcome .
Maori today seem determined to inherit the “whinging Pom “ mantle revving their whining up to the raru raru stratosphere .
Through worshiping only negativity and the awfulness of life they are nudging the self pitying Irish out of the top spot of people you really don’t want at your Xmas table
Christ you miserable bastards be thankful you live in the best country in the world and stop pinning over the loss of the right to use deadly force on those you disagree with
Those roadblock will only work if they contain the Northland population and stop them coming to Auckland.
What is stopping anyone from treavelling from Northland to Auckland, getting infected with Covid and returning to infect the vulnerable?
Will returning Northlanders have to produce a clear test and or a double vaxed certifficate? If not then the road blocks are a complete waste of time and nothing more than grandstanding plus a waste of Police resources. Not to mention wasting peoples time on ineffective road block measures.
Can only see this building resentment.
Good point, if Northland wants a hard border then it should be shut both ways.
Or Maori could just get vaccinated, like as if they were responsible adults…
Well said Andrew.
Or like, they should all have gone to university. There, that was easy.
Northland’s vaccs rates are TEN TIMES worse than the next region (Whanganui). Yes, Covid is coming anyway, but they need that bit of extra time to get their vaccs rates over the same basic line as other areas.
See https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-data-and-statistics/covid-19-vaccine-data#90pct
What is not being addressed is the impact of the checkpoint locations on Nortlanders living south of them. Under Covid-19 rules for red traffic light areas other than Auckland citizens can travel around freely no need to have a reason for travel or to advise if vaccinated or not. With the location of these checkpoints southern Northlanders will be lumped in with Aucklanders. Thus they have no protection and have the hassle of negotiating the checkpoints. This is at odds with the Covid-19 rules. The checkpoint should be at Te Hana. The media and authorities are not interested.
Dave: “The checkpoint should be at Te Hana.”
There should be no checkpoints.
then take comfort in the one where there isn’t – yours .
Thankfully commonsense has prevailed. South Northlanders only need proof of address. So if stopped just produce this no further questions
Unfortunately there is still a significant proportion of people with – settler, colonial, ignorant, arrogant selfishness – (call it what you want) attitudes in this Country.
Flare ups are sure to happen somewhere and have the potential to get nasty. I hope the police can at least be observers everywhere where strife is likely to happen. Good luck to all the people wanting to protect their areas.
Instead of using the checkpoints to find the potential 8.96% of unvaxxed eligible Aucklanders who may head north, maybe they would be better used to find the 13.25% of eligible Northlanders who are unvaccinated, rising to 19.66% amongst the eligible northern Maori population.
While the Auckland border will open to Northland for the double-vaccinated from 15 December, the border will no longer exist or be policed from January 18. Then, the unvaccinated will be free to move, whether Northland is ready or not.
All based on the premise there hasn’t been the availability of vaccines. Which is bullshit. Pasifika have crushed 90%, and they are the most marginalised in the health metrics. Northland Māori? Just throw a fucking fence up and fuck the rest of the country
A lot of very interesting comments here from what can be described as ordinary or mainstream New Zealanders. The issue is that in the far north of the North Island they are not in the ordinary or even mainstream. There are areas so isolated they don’t have running water and simply live off the land. We sit on the keyboards with our tea/coffees typing away oblivious to a world where generations have inherited a way of life completely unknown to many of us. These are not just my words but from one whom lives in the far North. Her words resounding in the fact she believes Covid is well entrenched in the North, areas without wastewater testing capability and a people whom have no desire to “report” illness. In a sense not to unlike they way certain West Coasters live( you just get on with life and death).
So when comments like Maori could just get vaccinated, like as if they were responsible adults… are made, they clearly don’t know the Maori people of the far North whom have no intention of getting a vaccine come rain or shine. The only thing they are interested in are protecting their heritage and land, whether we respect that or not. We could use the same analogy that people could just own one home and New Zealand would be a better place.
Thanks Hone, as a Northland resident I appreciate your efforts to slow the viral spread up here.
And particularly for sparing us the company of anti-vax loons.
More strength to your arm.
Rueben Taipari was on The Project, speaking about what they’re doing.
I am thankful that Aotearoa has people like him out there still.
Darius Rucker, Wagon Wheel
Darius Rucker, Wagon Wheel
This WILL cost Labour plenty of votes. When the traffic gridlocks worse than ever, Labour will be held responsible. Because they are responsible.
Best they can hope for is everyone south of Northland stays away but that is going to be tough on whose living depends on outsiders coming in!
Honestly checkpoints can remain for years there at this rate. Then what?
‘This WILL cost Labour plenty of votes.” And green lighting Auckland (and the rest of the country?) as proposed by Luxon will win lots of votes? Even a person of the meanest intelligence can see through meaningless vote buying nonsense. Would Luxon’s laundry bag of followers support the chaos that will ensue if the plague runs loose with such a neoliberal proposal?
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