At almost 700 pages long the Te Rarawa Deed of Settlement was written mostly by the Crown, but is interspersed with some nicely presented Te Rarawa history. Between the Crown core and the Te Rarawa wrapping, it's easy to get confused about what it all means.
I read it with two simple questions in mind; at the end of the day, who controls what happens? and how do those with rangatiratanga benefit? The answers are so comprehensively bad it’s not possible to cover them all; so here are just the 10 worst things about it:
NO CHANGE ALLOWED:
The Crown has stipulated that no change to the deed is allowed.
LITTLE LAND RETURNED:
Less than 3.5% of Te Rarawa's original land base will be returned.
LAND RANSOMED:
Most of that <3.5% will be “sold” to Te Rarawa, and has to be paid for (ransomed) before the Crown will release it.
LAND ENCUMBERED:
The rest of that <3.5% will be “given” to Te Rarawa with encumbrances on it that ensure the Crown keeps control of it.
RANGATIRATANGA REPLACED:
In exchange for less than 3.5% of its land and some cash, Te Rarawa gives up its native title that even the Waitangi Tribunal said it still has; Crown sovereignty will replace hapū rangatiratanga.
CROWN CONTROLS 90 MILE BEACH:
Te Rarawa will become advisors to the Crown, Northland Regional Council and Far North District Council on the management of Te Oneroa-a-Tohe (90 mile beach); the Crown refuses to acknowledge the beach is still owned by the five iwi.
CROWN CONTROLS THE WARAWARA AND OTHER ‘CONSERVATION’ LANDS:
Hapū will get to nominate advisors to the Minister of Conservation on the management of the Warawara, and iwi will get to nominate advisors on the remaining conservation lands in their rohe. But it’s the Minister who will decide whether the iwi advisors will be appointed and when they will be removed. The department, Minister and New Zealand Conservation Authority can then amend any plans made by the iwi advisors; the Crown refuses to acknowledge the lands belong to hapū.
CROWN CAN ALLOW MINING ON OUR LAND:
The Crown has reserved the right to allow prospecting and mining anywhere it sees fit in Te Rarawa – including in the Warawara forest.
CROWN CAN SELL OUR LAND:
The Crown has also reserved the right in the future to sell any land it retains control over – including the Warawara; Te Rarawa will have right of first refusal.
CROWN CONTROLS SOCIAL WELFARE:
Te Rarawa will become advisors to 11 government departments on matters of social welfare; the Crown refuses to allow the iwi to control its own social welfare.
On the facebook page, Te Whenua i te Whakaaria Mai – the promised land, I have described the deed as: one ugly piece of Crown crap being sold to you as fertiliser.
You see, besides the Crown itself and those who get shoulder-tapped as its ‘advisors’, I cannot see how one single rangatira in Pawarenga, Panguru, Ahipara or elsewhere will benefit from this deal.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
HOPE IS THE THE THING
“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul,
and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.”
Last Wednesday (30 November 2011), listening to Margaret Mutu being interviewed on the Ngāti Kahu radio show, we heard the sound of a text message being received and her tone change as she finished responding to the host’s question. “Something has distracted her,” I said to my husband. Then we heard her ask the host, “Have you heard anything about a fire up home?” He had not.
The text Margaret received that night was how many of us first learnt of the fire at Karikari that contributed to the deaths of two men later that night.
I never met John “Prickles” de Ridder but I know his name and it is held for good. I did meet Willy MacRae and he is a good man. As I think of them both flying through that night over our burning whenua, dipping down to the waters of Rangaunu, seeking to find and help our distressed people who had run there to escape death; I recall Emily Dickinson’s poem about the bird of hope.
“And sweetest in the gale is heard; and sore must be the storm
that could abash the little bird that kept so many warm.”
The next day, as messages and questions poured in from all over the world, the extent and nature of the losses were becoming horribly clear. Property and acres of land with all its fauna and flora were burnt. Fanned by strong winds, the fires were threatening more destruction. But the worst news of all was the deaths of John and Willy beneath the waters of Rangaunu. Traumatised and bewildered, the people all gathered in one home.
By the end of that day both men had been recovered from the sea and Te Taumata Kaumātua o Ngāti Kahu had placed a rahui from Wairahoraho Stream on the Rangaunu side, around Whakapouaka and down to Matai Bay on the Tokerau side.
Ever since then, it is upon the bereaved families of Willy MacRae and John de Ridder that the aroha and karakia of Te Whānau Moana, the hapū of Karikari have remained focused. Because they know that, while they can and will rebuild their homes, only God can and will resurrect these men from death.
The fire is being treated as suspicious by the police and a very few people have tried to use that to push their own causes and prejudices. But the vast majority have simply offered Christlike charity and comforting hope.
In the midst of this shared tragedy, may we will all listen for the song of that sweet bird.
“I've heard it in the chillest land, and on the strangest sea;
yet never, in extremity, it asked a crumb of me.”
Haere atu ra e rua nga tangata hautoa ki to mātou Matua i te rangi. Haere haere haere atu ra.
and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.”
Last Wednesday (30 November 2011), listening to Margaret Mutu being interviewed on the Ngāti Kahu radio show, we heard the sound of a text message being received and her tone change as she finished responding to the host’s question. “Something has distracted her,” I said to my husband. Then we heard her ask the host, “Have you heard anything about a fire up home?” He had not.
The text Margaret received that night was how many of us first learnt of the fire at Karikari that contributed to the deaths of two men later that night.
I never met John “Prickles” de Ridder but I know his name and it is held for good. I did meet Willy MacRae and he is a good man. As I think of them both flying through that night over our burning whenua, dipping down to the waters of Rangaunu, seeking to find and help our distressed people who had run there to escape death; I recall Emily Dickinson’s poem about the bird of hope.
“And sweetest in the gale is heard; and sore must be the storm
that could abash the little bird that kept so many warm.”
The next day, as messages and questions poured in from all over the world, the extent and nature of the losses were becoming horribly clear. Property and acres of land with all its fauna and flora were burnt. Fanned by strong winds, the fires were threatening more destruction. But the worst news of all was the deaths of John and Willy beneath the waters of Rangaunu. Traumatised and bewildered, the people all gathered in one home.
By the end of that day both men had been recovered from the sea and Te Taumata Kaumātua o Ngāti Kahu had placed a rahui from Wairahoraho Stream on the Rangaunu side, around Whakapouaka and down to Matai Bay on the Tokerau side.
Ever since then, it is upon the bereaved families of Willy MacRae and John de Ridder that the aroha and karakia of Te Whānau Moana, the hapū of Karikari have remained focused. Because they know that, while they can and will rebuild their homes, only God can and will resurrect these men from death.
The fire is being treated as suspicious by the police and a very few people have tried to use that to push their own causes and prejudices. But the vast majority have simply offered Christlike charity and comforting hope.
In the midst of this shared tragedy, may we will all listen for the song of that sweet bird.
“I've heard it in the chillest land, and on the strangest sea;
yet never, in extremity, it asked a crumb of me.”
Haere atu ra e rua nga tangata hautoa ki to mātou Matua i te rangi. Haere haere haere atu ra.
Thursday, December 01, 2011
BRAVE NEW WORLD
O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world!
That has such people in it!
Miranda’s speech, taken from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, aptly describes the mood of the nation, as the Prime Minister John Key assembles a new government.
Earlier in the week, the PM told Radio New Zealand he would continue the model used during the last parliament. He said that Peter Dunne, Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples had been very effective ministers for his government and they would likely retain their portfolios. And he mused (perhaps mischievously) that John Banks might suit the corrections portfolio.
This mixed bag cabinet is more to Key’s liking than a clear majority of blue ties around the table because the Māori Party, United Future and ACT leaders, once they’ve signed confidence and supply warrants in return for their portfolios, will be far less trouble than his own people.
Minor disciplinary infractions and infighting will be “their” problem, and giving them freedom to publicly disagree with his Government, without fear of non-confidence, takes some of the heat out of question time for him.
These small party partners will also act as a buffer for Key and National against the backlash over the coming austerity programme. If the European nations fail to meet the challenges they face, our debt crisis will evolve into a credit crisis and foreign lending will stop completely. When that happens, asset sales here will be accelerated against a backdrop of massive programme cuts.
The resultant carnage will be like that scene from Murder on the Orient Express where Inspector Poirot and Doctor Bianchi examine the scene of Mr. Ratchett’s murder. The body has twelve stab wounds of varying depth; some inflicted by a left-handed person and some by a right handed person. Handkerchiefs, buttons, a pipe cleaner and other things litter the scene, each pointing to a different suspect. Finally Poirot turns to Bianchi, and asks, “Has it occurred to you that there are too many clues in this room?”
As it turns out, twelve different people have stabbed the victim at least once with the same blade.
Well, the New Zealand we knew as children is about to experience a similar death of many cuts. Why?
Will the gap between rich and poor narrow? Will the outflow of New Zealanders stop? Will Papatūānuku be better cared for? Will our children be healthier? Will our country still be ours?
Whatever the outcomes of this ‘brave new world’, in three years time, John Key will simply point to his partners and remind the electorate that there were many hands on the blade.
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world!
That has such people in it!
Miranda’s speech, taken from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, aptly describes the mood of the nation, as the Prime Minister John Key assembles a new government.
Earlier in the week, the PM told Radio New Zealand he would continue the model used during the last parliament. He said that Peter Dunne, Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples had been very effective ministers for his government and they would likely retain their portfolios. And he mused (perhaps mischievously) that John Banks might suit the corrections portfolio.
This mixed bag cabinet is more to Key’s liking than a clear majority of blue ties around the table because the Māori Party, United Future and ACT leaders, once they’ve signed confidence and supply warrants in return for their portfolios, will be far less trouble than his own people.
Minor disciplinary infractions and infighting will be “their” problem, and giving them freedom to publicly disagree with his Government, without fear of non-confidence, takes some of the heat out of question time for him.
These small party partners will also act as a buffer for Key and National against the backlash over the coming austerity programme. If the European nations fail to meet the challenges they face, our debt crisis will evolve into a credit crisis and foreign lending will stop completely. When that happens, asset sales here will be accelerated against a backdrop of massive programme cuts.
The resultant carnage will be like that scene from Murder on the Orient Express where Inspector Poirot and Doctor Bianchi examine the scene of Mr. Ratchett’s murder. The body has twelve stab wounds of varying depth; some inflicted by a left-handed person and some by a right handed person. Handkerchiefs, buttons, a pipe cleaner and other things litter the scene, each pointing to a different suspect. Finally Poirot turns to Bianchi, and asks, “Has it occurred to you that there are too many clues in this room?”
As it turns out, twelve different people have stabbed the victim at least once with the same blade.
Well, the New Zealand we knew as children is about to experience a similar death of many cuts. Why?
Will the gap between rich and poor narrow? Will the outflow of New Zealanders stop? Will Papatūānuku be better cared for? Will our children be healthier? Will our country still be ours?
Whatever the outcomes of this ‘brave new world’, in three years time, John Key will simply point to his partners and remind the electorate that there were many hands on the blade.
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