Don vs Jeanette
It’s becoming very clear that New Zealanders face a stark choice on September 17 when it comes to the sense of national identity they want projected by their government. Don Brash and Jeanette have had a bit of a duel on this subject today.
Don started with a speech in Tauranga, in which he said:
We stand on the edge of an even deeper divide. It is the divide that separates those who want all Kiwis treated equally before the law and those that want further racial division written into our law.
No one believes a Greens/Labour Government would reverse the divisive direction we’ve seen accelerate in the past few years. No one believes a Labour/Greens Government would peel back the suffocating political correctness.
The Greens believe in Maori spiritual healing, they support race-based funding and they have an unspoken agenda to support Maori sovereignty. A Labour/Greens Government is a recipe for instability, not stability. It is a recipe for high taxes and poor incentives.
It is a lurch to the left at a time when mainstream New Zealanders want real progress.
Jeanette shot back:
Dr Brash’s series of attacks this morning on a Labour-Green Government illustrate he’s gravely concerned about the success we’re having at working together. Kiwis are rewarding Labour and the Greens for being ready to govern together and punishing National for failing to understand that, under MMP, you have to build good working relationships with like-minded parties.
It’s sad that Don Brash persists in spreading views about Maori that are outdated, vicious and irrelevant to New Zealand’s modern reality. The Greens will never give in to Brash’s agenda on race because he essentially wants Maori to be brown Pakeha. His explicitly assimilationist agenda, copied from the play book of the failed ‘White Australia’ policies across the Tasman, would cause great harm to the social cohesion and race relations in our country.
The Greens stand for a proud, diverse, tolerant society, and for a state which treats Maori with respect and understanding. Our country was born in a partnership between Maori and Pakeha, and we’re not about to renege on that partnership just because Dr Brash sees a few votes in doing so. We want Maori to be free to be Maori and to celebrate their heritage and their culture.
Jordan Carter also has a useful commentary on the issue here.
August 30th, 2005 at 3:38 pm
Go Jeanette. All good stirring stuff. Ignoring the irony in Jeanette’s statement about “Brown Pakeha”. I’m a bit of a brown Pakeha, and there are many brown, yellow, white and red pakeha’s that stand shoulder to shoulder as proud Kiwis.
Problem is, people are coming at this from all different angles. The Greens might discover one mans conservationist is another man’s cunning plan to grab exclusive logging rights.
Eye on the ball, indeed. But don’t forget to check over your shoulder, or the tackle could be a killer.
August 31st, 2005 at 12:03 pm
What Don seems to miss is that the Maori thing is not a racial issue - it’s a cultural issue. Being Maori is not based on the colour of your skin, but your acceptance into your local iwi.
My mother has been adopted by the Te Atiwa(sp?) iwi, as she spent a lot of time learning the maori language and ceremonies. And she’s a 100% British immigrant.
Perhaps a better approach to this issue would be to make sure membership into the maori community is entirely managed by iwi, not bloodlines, such that if a person get involved, then they can join the Maori electoral roll, and benefit from the Treaty of Waitangi provisions.