MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

The first political red herring in this election year has been floated with a tentative proposal to change the national flag.  This is a classic bait-and-switch tactic in which a relatively minor political change (the bait) is introduced to the public in order to try and smooth the passage of a vastly more controversial and major change (the switch). In this case a changed flag is the bait, but the ultimate objective is the signing and passing into law of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement [TPPA].  

If the New Zealand public falls for this switch, then they may as well also change the national anthem; at which point I will nominate Sting’s Message in A Bottle for their consideration.

Just a castaway, an island lost at sea
Another lonely day, with no one here but me
More loneliness than any man could bear
Rescue me before I fall into despair

That’s what happens to those who fall for red herrings – kua ngaro rātou ki roto i te whare miere – they go pōrangi with bees in their bonnets. 

Meanwhile i te ao taiao, the whānau hapū iwi of Ngāti Kahu are just getting on with the mahi of supporting Papātūānuku to deal to the corrupt politicians (including some of our own) who pimp her to various corporates.  These are the ones  who commodify and muck up her freshwaters and fisheries, deny and do nothing about climate change, and water down the laws meant to protect her.  

At the same time, te take pāpori for Ngāti Kahu hapū is their health, housing, education, work and language.  And as always, their bedrock remains te Whakapono (their faith), He Hakaputanga o Te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni (the 1835 declaration of sovereignty), Te Tiriti o Waitangi (1840), and the principle of Mana Motuhake.  In 2014 that will see them focus on constitutional transformation.

We are about to commemorate the 174th year since the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which is not the same as the fraudulent Treaty of Waitangi.  That’s 174 years of broken Crown promises and atrocities against them.  Yet most of Ngāti Kahu seem to have survived with an unbroken and undeterred spirit. 

Well, they are going to need every bit of that spirit shortly, because they are about to come under huge pressure to sign a settlement this year, and join the other iwi corporates who have already ceded their sovereignty. 

But Ngāti Kahu also know that the biggest threat of all, the one ring that  binds all other threats to the environment, wellbeing and sovereignty of all New Zealanders, and not just Ngāti Kahu, is the TPPA. 

Wake up.  Wise up.  Rise up.  Resist.  That is the message. 

Walked out this morning, don't believe what I saw
A hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore
Seems I'm not alone at being alone
A hundred billion castaways looking for a home