RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

A common complaint from aggrieved Pākehā is that there should be no special rights for Māori because, before the coming of Europeans the concept of ‘rights’ was completely foreign.  Therefore, Māori should have no rights other than those that Pākehā have. 

This is an example of what is known in psychology as a ‘formal fallacy’, which is a pattern of reasoning that is always wrong because one or more of its premises or justifications is false.  For example it would be true to say, ‘if Bill Gates owns Fort Knox, then he is rich.’  It would also be true to say, ‘Bill Gates is rich.’ But it would be false to then conclude, ‘Bill Gates therefore owns Fort Knox.’

The premise that Māori did not know about ‘rights,’ is false.  In fact, unlike the European settlers who arrived in this country with a cultural zeitgeist that women and children were chattels, the concept of ‘rights’ was not new to Māori at all.  It was, and still is, intrinsic to the holding and exercise of all expressions of Mana with their associated kawenga and herenga (responsibilities and obligations). 

If the same pattern of reasoning used to justify complaints about Māori special rights were applied universally, the rights of women to breastfeed their babies in public, of disabled people to have reserved parking spaces, and of landowners to deny access to the public would also be challenged along with a myriad others. 

I’m happy to note that, not only do Māori have special rights, but our children also have their own unique subset of rights as follows. 

“Maori children have the right to know their Whakapapa and their whānau, hapū and iwi connections; know their marae and waka and the kawa of both; know their korero tawhito (history); learn and be taught in te reo rangatira; know the tikanga of their tūpuna (values and philosophies); be valued and respected as Tangata Whenua in Aotearoa; know the concepts of oranga for the wellbeing of their taha wairua, hinengaro, whānau and tinana; expect the Treaty of Waitangi to be honoured for the benefit of the mana of their Tūpuna and the future of their mokopuna; expect safety, protection, love and hope; know they are descendants of Ātua.”

This statement was developed in 2010 and is now taught as part of the Mauri Ora wānanga.  Unlike the opening complaint, it is not a fallacy. Instead it is a statement of special rights which, sadly, remain a dream for too many of our children.   

Indeed if I have any complaint about special rights, it’s not that they exist, but that they aren’t sufficiently valued, defended and upheld.  That is a right and a responsibility which I am honoured to hold and use.

WOULDN'T IT BE LOVELY?

Wouldn’t it be lovely if we never had another case of child abuse in Kaitāia, Whāngarei, Auckland, Hastings, Wellington and Christchurch ever again now that the nationwide Hikoi Against Child Abuse has finished?  But even as we marched last Wednesday, all of us understood that somewhere in each one of our respective towns and cities there were children crying, or worse still silently cowering, because someone was hurting them.  In fact there still are as I write.  So if that is the case, why did we bother marching and what came out of it?  Where to next?

The purposes of the Hikoi were, for that one day, to give abused children a voice that could be heard throughout the country, and to give adults a choice that could be seen just as widely. 

The Hikoi also gave us another chance in each centre to invite others to join the movement to stop the abuse, start the healing, and protect the children.  That is an open and ongoing invitation.  So, even if you weren’t able to get to any of the Hikoi on the day, or had to leave early, you can still join at any time (https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/330166550432500/).

In Kaitāia we’re humbled at the range of people who have already signed up, and plan to bring us all together later this month.  In the meantime we’re carrying on with what we have at hand across the motu.

Who are we?  We are a movement of ordinary people from across the motu who have chosen to be a proactive part of the most extraordinary mahi there is in this country; that of protecting and helping children to become everything they can possibly be.

We are not funded by any government, iwi or other agency.  That means we have no ties or tags on what we’re able to do with our own resources.  Those agencies have their own roles to play, but they can’t do what we can in terms of coming up with solutions and strategies that ordinary people can use any time or place to stop abuse, promote healing, and protect children.

We’re grateful to everyone who made the Hikoi a visible reality.  It’s a tragedy that we had to do it.  But it would be an even worse tragedy if we just gave up and did nothing.

Last week we gave abused children a voice and made a personal choice one way or another.  This week those children are again living in enforced silence, but we are still free to choose.  Today you can be their voice.  Today you can be part of the solution to their abuse. 

Wouldn’t that be lovely?

THE STEEL FIST

An ad appeared in the public notices of the local newspaper on Tuesday 5th last week under the logotype of the Far North District Council.  At first glance it looked unremarkable, except for the fact that it signalled FNDC’s continued backdown over its boycott against advertising in the Northland Age.  Engari, the content of the ad was extraordinary.   It announced that, at the request of the BBC, Te Oneroa-a-Tohe (90 Mile Beach) would be closed to all vehicular traffic, residents and visitors from Monday 11 March to Sunday 17 March between 12.00pm to 5.00pm. 

Hapū manawhenua from Te Paatu, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāitakoto and Te Rarawa immediately demanded retraction of the notice and an apology from the FNDC.  Two days later they received that apology, but by then the FNDC’s blunder had caught the attention of the media, and even the normally laid back Chair of Te Runanga o Te Rarawa was visibly upset.

Te Rarawa is one of three Iwi (Te Aupōuri and Ngāitakoto are the other two) who recently signed coordinated Crown deeds of settlement.  One of the most-trumpeted planks of those settlements is something that will be called the Te Hiku Beach Board.  But unlike Hapū manawhenua, the Board was waiting on Crown settlement legislation to create it, after which each settling Iwi and a matching number of Crown appointees would all have seats on it.  So to have advertised this beach closure without talking to either the Board or its Chair-in-waiting was extraordinarily bad form, even for the FNDC.

On Sunday they met with their Iwi counterparts and agreed that they won’t wait for the Crown to create their Board, but will get it up and running as soon as possible. 

Meantime Kaumātua of the manawhenua Hapū of Te Paatu and Ngāti Kahu have confirmed that the Te Hiku Beach Board-in-waiting does not have their mandate to represent them on this or any other issue.  Instead they expect the FNDC and other outside agencies to contact and speak directly with them or their nominee(s) before it does anything within their rohe.

One day the details of this single incident will be written about more fully.  Today it is enough that the FNDC have had further practice in backing down.  Ngāmihi ki te meke tira o ngā Hapū manawhenua, me te wereweti karapu o he Iwi. 

Which brings me to the most important thing happening in the country this week, the NATIONWIDE RALLY AGAINST CHILD ABUSE.

“If we can’t stand up for the safety and protection of our children, then what use is it to fight for Te Oneroa-a-Tohe?  If our tamariki have not been nurtured to be the best they possibly can be, what use is fighting for anything?” [RUEBEN TAIPARI – KAITĀIA ORGANISER]

When it comes to our children there is no place for a steel fist, only the velvet glove.

THE WAGGLING TAIL

The self-appointed Better Local Government working party (BLG) proposes collapsing the three district councils and one regional council in Northland into two unitary authorities.  Last week it ran a full page ad in the local papers that included a list of supporters for its proposal.  Who and what is not on that list is more revealing and interesting than who is.  To illustrate:

IWI:  Te Taitokerau Iwi Leaders Forum is an informal collective of individual Iwi Chairs with no legal standing or representative capacity in its own right.  I don’t know why it’s on the list, especially when, of the ten Iwi whose Chairs attend it from time to time, only four are separately listed. 

HAPŪ:  Next on the support list are two Ngāpuhi hapū.  But there are more than 200 hapu in Taitokerau who are not on the list.

COUNCIL COMMITTEES:  Whangarei District Council has six wards and governs through Council and 12 committees.  Kaipara District Council has six wards but governs through four commissioners.  Far North District Council has three wards and governs through Council and three community boards.  The Northland Regional Council has three constituencies and governs through Council and three committees.  Of the four councils and their 21 committees, only one council and two committees are listed. 

BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS:  Four of eight business assocations in the Far North are listed, and none from Whangarei or Kaipara.

COUNCIL-OWNED COMPANIES:  There are only two in the entire region. Far North Holdings Ltd is listed.  Whangarei Waste Ltd  is not.

RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATIONS:  Three of 12 ratepayers associations in the Far North are listed.  Of Whangarei’s 13 and Kaipara’s two ratepayers associations, none are listed.

PRIMARY HEALTH SERVICE PROVIDERS:  One primary health service provider in Kaikohe is listed.  But according to the websites of Manaia PHO and Taitokerau PHO there are more than 40 such providers in the entire region, so at least 39 are not listed.

REGIONAL SPORTING BODIES:  One regional sporting body is listed.  But according to the ASB’s sponsorship website, there are more than 35 regional sporting bodies in Taitokerau, so at least 34 are not listed.

PROMINENT INDIVIDUALS:    One of eight regional councillors, one of three mayors, one of three deputy mayors, one of a number of former mayors and one farming body director from Northland are listed, along with one prominent individual from Auckland.

BUSINESSMEN:  Two Kaitāia businessmen are listed, one of whom is also on the FNDC’s audit committee.  Presumably neither belong to the Kaitāia Business Association which has already been listed.

Since Borough and County Councils were collapsed into District and Regional Councils in the 1970s, local government in Northland has become a barking mad mess.  The BLG is led by men who are part of or peripheral to that mess.  Even worse, as can be seen from the above, its proposal hasn’t been well considered, critiqued or consulted about.  Unless the Electoral Commissioner looks beyond the 6 supportive individuals and 20 supportive organisations listed, and approaches the tens of thousands who are not, the tail will continue to waggle the dog.