Carla blogged about this. It’s a familiar story. National, Act and New Zealand First (the parties to the right of NZ) often spout slogans along the lines of “one law for all, one standard of citizenship, etc…” (This sort of concept was not so popular when Maaori outnumbered non-Maaori New Zealanders).
It sounds nice and fluffy. Treating everyone the same is a good thing, right? It’s fair. Kind of a variation on the Golden Rule. Trouble is, you can’t treat everyone the same when they’re not.
I wish I had two of my favourite cartoons nearby, so I could scan them. One has a picture of a tiny, skinny little guy, looking up at a huge Goliath like giant, in the middle of a perfectly flat sports field. One of the spectators is saying to another “It should be a great game, on account of the level playing field.” In the other cartoon, an assortment of animals are lined up in front of a desk; there’s a penguin, an elephant, a goldfish in a bowl, a bird, a seal, a dog, and a monkey. The man behind the desk is saying “For a fair selection, everyone has to take the same exam: Please climb that tree.” The monkey is looking pretty pleased with itself. The point of both cartoons? Equality is not the same for everyone.
Bill English and his mates often use the third article of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (a treaty between Maaori and the Crown) to attempt to justify their stance. The third article guarantees Maaori the same rights as British subjects. Act/National/NZF have tried to twist this article so it fits with their notion of “one law for all.” But the article is about protecting the rights of Maaori people – and sometimes that may involve treating people differently. Maaori are a minority within the population, and as a group they continually experience social, economic and political disadvantages. The government has an obligation to address this situation, and that’s going to mean treating Maaori as unique.
Treating everyone the same tends to result in assimilation and control.
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I worry about the future of Te Tiriti. Children aren’t taught about it in schools, they aren’t taught much about the history of this country, about the injustice, the blood that has been spilled on this soil. If they don’t know about the issues, how can they make informed choices? What’s to stop them going along with Bill English and his “one standard of citizenship” slogans.
Then there is the fact that more and more people are immigrating here. They don’t know anything about Te Tiriti, and they don’t have much of a reason to care.
And of course, there’s talk about the country becoming a republic, which throws up a whole new question. If the treaty is between Maaori and the Crown, what happens if the Crown is taken out of the picture? We’ll probably have to come up with a constitution. Hey, that sounds like fun. I vote we don’t ask Mr English for his input.
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On a more trivial note, this is my 100th blog entry. I feel as though I should throw a party or something :)
your average Maori in Australia earns more than your average anyone in New Zealand, without the help from a nanny state. Government should perhaps therefore concentrate on their cultural, as opposed to financial security.
will there be coke and/or chippies at this party?