Why on earth did Jacinda Arden introduce Matariki Day? Was it part of her apparent agenda to promote divisiveness among New Zealanders? Was the day ancestors of today’s Maoris recognised as the cluster of stars rising in the north-east horizon around the end of May of such vital importance to all New Zealanders that it necessitated a holiday?
It’s not as if this cluster of stars was not known to so many – had never been discovered by Asians, Greeks, Romans and many other peoples over the years …recognised by our European forebears as the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters. Moreover, many of today’s part-Maori have no recollection of their ancestors paying particular attention to, or even mentioning, Matariki.
So why did it suddenly become so important to a Prime Minister whose Labour government so impoverished the country that the present National Coalition has an almost impossible task on its hands trying to arrest our economic decline, and restore us to productivity?
What was behind Ardern’s initiative? There was no compelling reason why Matariki Day should suddenly be introduced as a public holiday, with the inevitable loss of productivity costing this country hundreds of millions of dollars we can ill afford, with a reported $448 million cost to businesses alone. Add on the scores of millions of dollars spent on advertising to hype up on television and elsewhere the importance (but why? ) of this holiday – and one has to ask what is the agenda driving this new, unasked-for holiday? Where is the evidence that the Left’s fellow travellers in the media asked her what on earth she thought she was doing – given a cash-strapped economy, struggling businesses, and families in dire straits?
Wouldn’t it be useful to have, for a change, an objective, balanced media willing to ask the tough questions?
There are many to be asked, including why Christopher Luxon is not fronting up to the very small but belligerent group of part-Maori activists still living in a dream world where their tattooed ancestors were far better off before colonisation inflicted on them – for the first time – legal entitlement to the land they held. Do they regard it as a retrograde step that colonisation outlawed cannibalism, providing alternative (perhaps what they regard as less nourishing) food in the vegetables and crops they can now grow… providing them with housing they would obviously prefer to be without – given their constant railing against the evils of colonialism. Among these we should also include warm, European clothing instead of the much-loved flax skirts and bird feather cloaks – and even worse, cars and air travel – all what they must regard as inflicted upon them – if they genuinely believe that the arrival of our European forebears unforgivably disadvantaged them.
If not, they are hypocritical, constantly playing the victim card and unforgivably imbuing their young with the politics of disaffection. At the bottom of this hypocrisy, or self delusion, is their handout mentality, pushing the gravy train further and further, constantly seeking more media attention with individuals like the multimillionaire Willie Jackson having the nerve to claim he and his few fellow travellers speak for all part-Maori- which they demonstrably don’t. Incredibly enough, Willie Jackson is reportedly not even predominantly part-Maori ,with the largest part of his ancestry revealed by DNA to be Chinese at 34%, 25 Jewish 20%, Polynesian 20% and 18% English. And yet he claims to belong to a disadvantaged ethnic group…
Furthermore, we are being massively let down by the Department of Statistics, which has no objective criteria by which it can determine that an individual is, or isn’t, predominantly genetically Maori. Until the mid-70s, one had to be 50% of Maori descent to be regarded as Maori. However, thanks to the machinations of activists, anyone with a mere smidgen of Maori ancestry can claim to be Maori – even when predominantly by far basically descended from European or other ethnic forebears. Yet such a claim is basically a lie – usually claimed because it offers special advantages – including economic benefits.
The pity of it is Christopher Luxon’s apparently lacking sufficient backbone to stand up to this racist bullying, and wrongly supporting Māori co-governance of our waterways. He should also be supporting ACT’s proposal to hold a referendum on the so-called principes of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Why isn’t he? Radical activists have long been reinventing the meaning of the treaty to gain advantage, and it is high time that the public had the right to be involved in this clarification. Forever, although it is nine months since the last election, Luxon has not given strong directives about restoring the English names to all our government departments and institutions – something by far the majority of the country is fed up with waiting to see done. But it’s not happening. Why?
Even worse. Because this ignorant government has been foolish enough to buy into the whole CO2 global warming scenario, a massive hoax, assisted by our corrupt media who joined a global pact with other media refusing to publish articles by reputable scientists to challenge this canard – prime agricultural land is now being taking up and ruined for the future by planting not only pine and other plantations – but now solar farms, stretched across hundreds of hectares. Colossal wind farms as well,taller even than Auckland’s Sky Tower, are projected to stand 260 metres high, massively expensive and unreliable, dotting New Zealand’s coastal waters. Our government is still wedded to Net Zero, now abandoned for good reason by overseas countries. Given the Prime Minister’s aim to establish charging stations along the country – making further demands upon our already beleaguered electricity supplies, and ignoring the fact that sales of EVs are plummeting overseas, with good reason – we have to ask why we are being so ill-served by such ignorant politicians.
New Zealand is undoubtedly in a state of crisis, and it is going to take individual pressure on our politicians to help restore our democracy. So very few radical activists have caused so much damage. So very few fine individuals and organisations like the Taxpayers Union, the Free Speech Union, Hobson’s Pledge and a handful of others are fighting back, doing a terrific job.
But it is the silence of the majority who d nothing except grumble – or claim it has nothing to do with them – which is costing this country.
It doesn’t take much to ring up parliament- 04 817 9999 – and ask to get put through to the office of the head of a party, or an MP, saying you wish your views to be noted. It is an easy and acceptable procedure . The mystery is why so many do not realise how easy it is to be involved in helping to restore our democracy. But without more individual action, things can only get even worse.
https://www.spectator.com.au/2024/06/kiwi-life-25
The argument can be made that Matariki Day as a public holiday should replace King’s Birthday (the first Monday in June) and not be additional to it. We think it’s quite a good time to celebrate something with lighting displays in mid-winter gloom, and there’s no reason to complain about its Polynesian origin; NZ is part of Polynesia. —Eds
Anna Petley, 
