You can read it here
Lots of funny quotes - much is made of the Maori Party's attitude towards Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe :
Labour's John Tamihere says the Maori Party is soft on indigenous dictators such as Mugabe. "So long as it's a black fella kicking a black fella it's OK," says Tamihere, who is fighting a strong challenge from Sharples in Tamaki Makaurau. "But a white fella kicking a black fella - no, that's not OK."
so saith John Tamihere, as he kicks his candidate and fellow brown fella, Dr Pita Sharples. I guess its OK for a brown fella to kick a brown fella too, eh, John? I heard you didn't take too well to Chris Carter either, so its alright to kick a gay fella too. And lest we forget what you do to cats and your valiant reassertion of the Kiwi Bloke (at the expense of the Kiwi woman holding you up) ...
Do us a favour and shut the fuck up, John.
But, whenever I've been involved in any (online) discussions concerning indigenous rights in this country, the inevitable spectre of the Mow-ree radical arises. You can, quite easily, be branded a radical these days. All you have to do is hold a viewpoint that differs from those held by 'mainstream' Brash New Zealand. An easy thing to do when you are part of an ethnic, or in fact any, minority (and most of us are, in some way), and believe in emancipation for your people.
But the Mow-ree radical apparently wants to throw all the white people out of the country. And I always wandered whether that was factual or just another urban legend cooked up by hysterical scare-mongers. Now I know :
The 1980s was the period of Poananga's greatest rage and severity. During a conference in Australia she referred to New Zealand settlers as the riffraff, flotsam and jetsam of Britain and said they should return to their homeland. The reference to riffraff, she says, came from Pakeha historian Keith Sinclair. And the advice to return home was provoked by a racist question from the audience, saying "Maori are all savages who have just come down out of the jungle".
Of course, she doesn't believe that now, she says. "Well, this is everyone's home, isn't it?"
Asked about her praise of the Fiji coup, she is less categorical. That too was taken out of context, she says. "There is a media machine which, to me and to a lot of other Maori people, constantly tries to pick out one thing and condemn rather than trying to understand the context of things that you are saying."
So there you go. Next time you're arguing Tino Rangatiratanga with someone and they accuse you of being a radical who wants to throw all the white people out of the country, don't just nod deviously and say "Yes. What an emminently practical suggestion. Now if you'll just step through this doorway..."
Now you can nod deviously and say "Yes, just like Aunty Atareta told us. If you'll just step through this doorway..."
She apparently uttered these words sometime in 1985, twenty years ago just like the Rainbow Warrior. I like the way 'the media' (in this case the Sunday Star-Times) still doesn't give us a reasonable perspective on what led her to say what she did. It glosses over her points for not condemning Mugabe, but makes much of what Tamihere has to say - most of it derisive against his own culture and sexist to boot (there's a later comment on how well Ponanga scrubs up. The only scrub round here is Tamihere!) Why the fuck do people bother to ask Tamihere his opinion? He doesn't know shit - its like listening to one of those toilets continually flushing that no-one will use because the sound is too disturbing. Do you think he's worked it out yet?
Now I'm not a staunch Maori Party supporter or of any Party. Let's just get that clear. But I do find it interesting to know just how many former activists, academics, community leaders and revolutionary thinkers1 are in the candidate and party lists. I've visited the party website a couple of times to try and find something out about their policy but haven't had much luck, so I'm relying on what the candidates themselves have to say. I'm not an expert on predicting electoral outcomes, but personality-wise I've heard that Atareta isn't as 'personable' as Parekura Horomia. Yes, to the rest of the nation he is remembered for his weight problems, but here on the Coast he is well-respected for fulfilling his duties (he personally visited the Burrows whanau grieving for their son who died in Cairo ... not many MPs do that) and paying attention to what his constituents want, while remaining a steadfast Labour stooge.
So no-one's holding their breath that she will take the seat. But you never know. I still have trouble believing that people will vote for Brash but there are enough selfish, ignorant, tight-fisted bigots out there that probably will.
I'm certainly interested in whether the Maori Party are going to be able to throw off Labours stranglehold over the 7 Maori seats. Here (East Coast) and Tainui are the strongest Labour supporters.
Regardless of whether they do or not makes little difference to the overall outcome of the national elections (where its predicted that Winston Peters might be Kingmaker again just like in 96); but I think it will make a huge difference in Maori politics and how they are percieved by the Maori population.
So in the meantime, all the best to Atareta. I enjoyed the comments she made about retunring to her tribal homeland (which I think is what most of us want to do later if not sooner) and for this quote :
"The received version of our history - it's mostly been non-Maori academics who have written it - says women were subservient to Maori men in our history. Well, I just totally refute that."
Spoken like a true Nati girl.
1 : Note deliberate shunning of the use 'radical' - its too loaded a word these days.
x-posted from my live journal
