Waatea News Column: Why Waitangi 2021 became so politically important for Maori
And it’s Willie Jackson for the win!
This Waitangi Day looked like it would be another wasted transformational opportunity beyond the gesture of next years Matariki Public Holiday but the decision last week by the Government to end the anti-Māori petitions at local Council has been matched with the extraordinary review by Willie Jackson of law changes that lift barriers to Māori building on their own land.
The bureaucratic nightmare that has stifled Māori ability to build on their own land has been finally challenged by Labour and creates an opportunity for a level of self-development that is further proof of how much good a Government with will can truly build.
The amendments to the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act makes building cheaper, faster and far less cumbersome. They represent changes that were long overdue and actively held up development.
Land held by multiple owners has always been a difficult concept for Pakeha laws of private ownership to get around and made the issues of succession and dispute resolution almost impossible to navigate.
The changes represent the biggest commitment a Government in modern political times has made to actually empowering Māori with the ability to self develop, the fact it took so long (Jackson has been arguing for these changes since 1999) is embarrassingly shameful.
The media may have focused on the Davidson vs Collins fight, but the real issue here is that Labour have quietly and humbly delivered more this Waitangi Day for Māori in real terms than most Governments manage in decades.
First published on Waatea News.
Fine if they intend to build wooden structures with raupo roofs.
Nothing else is sustainable.
Thats a lovely thought bubble but no thank you.
There is nothing wrong and everything right in building organically based shelters using environmentally minimalised destruction.
Earth houses are not new to NZ nor are thatched roof structures.
All humans evolved from ancestors that used mainly simple shelters some of which are reflected in so called “underdeveloped” regions such as parts of Africa today.
The colder climates of Europe and the Asian continent saw much more substantial dwellings but still made from materials in the immediate environment.
Humans extended their realm by using clothing as insulation and protection against winds and lack of solar warmth.
In NZ we live in an environment where bodily protection from climate is varying according to season.
But clothes made from wool appear to have taken over from flax / kiki fibre and foreign grown cotton has emerged to be popular and functional.
Cotton is not native and unless a strain is developed for our climatic conditions, then is probably not a contender for NZ production.
So presently we have plant fibre, various wools and animal skins for clothing without importation.
Forget the synthetics and high tech fabrics,
Prior to 1800s the local NZ population kept warm by using local resources. The greatest damage they did to the environment was to deplete animal food sources and clearing bush using fire to establish gardens to crops of introduces tubers mainly..
Tubers could be kept over many months in pits so provide necessary carbs for health and survival. Today we use imported grains to provide winter carbs.
Building dwellings partly into the ground gave a balance of insulation in the cold and ventilation in hot weather.. No energy source needed but for a cooking fire which if indoors acted as a heating source.
So when today’s population is faced with loss of imported goods, much reduced energy harvesting and only local food and materials, supply. then Earth housing and thatch will be the reality longer term. Our forests have already been decimated as have our wetlands and early settlers to these shores relied on both.
Our population will decrease either by intelligent planning or trauma.
Choices will be minimal
The computer network I am using will be long gone so urgency to use the resources available now to construct a more practical model of survival in NZ is immediate.
Where the hell is the left wing of the Labour party. Where are their plans and proposals to help the poor and the working class. Once again the Maori Caucus deliver for their people.
That’s because they are a lot smarter than us pakeha. We as a group don’t care about each other like the maori culture does.
Sounds like you’ve been punting around in Gamestop Calls. Doesn’t count unfortunately. Willie Jackson did this running Iwi Radio and trading multiple different initiatives leaders positions over decades. Thats how you get influence. How to do it properly.
Well said Frank . I support Maori be recompensated for some of the injustices they suffered but looking from the side line it does not seem to make much impact on those at the bottom of the ladder. That is not to say this is any different than how it works in the pakeha system .
Trevor Maori or anyone of the indigenous races, will not be compensated for European invasion/colonisation no matter how much hot air is released on the subject.
Rebuilding an expanded nation that has used resources once held by Maori, goes into the realm of how we create a joint social organisation where the environment is not further deliberately degraded, and the wealth created by work (labour) is shared among the family who provide the labour and not given to off shore investor empires.
Ownership of land is a key issue to allowing the top heavy wealth structure enjoyed by the few, to develop overtime.
The so called treaty settlements are a drop in the bucket and get gobbled up by an elite who invest in business mainly..
How many Maori cooperatives are funded by settlement money.
Arguments that aren’t actually arguments, are about as useful as an attack of explosive Diarrhea whilst making an important speech… Assumption and self serving bigotry aren’t a basis for realistic dialogue.. Johnny and franky the ( )ank, you should both be ashamed that all you ever do on here is blow it out of your rear orifice and call it good… it’s idiocy like this tripe that makes me realise that Australians are actually smarter than the “average kiwi” in many ways… And that is saying very little indeed.. As one who has spent time criticising this government for their inaction, it is now time for me to give them due respect for doing the right thing… Making snide, smartarsed comments that are more reminiscent of how the colonial party has operated in my living memory simply exposes a narrow mindset..