We listened to iwi and provided each of them with funding of $30,000 to better enable them to deliver their COVID-19 response. —Kapiti Coast District Council (KCDC) draft 2020/2021 Annual Plan

How many dips are allowed?

By Roger Childs

The Coalition Government responded quickly to the needs of New Zealanders when the spread of coronavirus necessitated a lockdown. A wage subsidy was provided for those put out of work; businesses who had suffered a 30% loss or more were compensated; special loan provisions were made for small businesses, and the winter energy subsidy for senior citizens was doubled.  These applied to all Kiwis, and yet one group was singled out for even more help – Maori – with a special allocation of $56 million.

But wait, there was more – the May Budget earmarked the massive sum of $900 million “to support whanau, hapu and iwi to deal with the fall-out of Covid-19”. Then local Kapiti iwi had their hands out for even more financial assistance from KCDC. Consequently $30,000 was provided for each of Ngati Raukawa, Te Atiawa and Ngati Toa.

Any justification?

At the national level, the case was put for extra funding on the basis of greater vulnerability. Reference was made to the impact of the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic on Maori. Historian Geoffrey Rice estimates that the mortality rate among Maori then was eight times that of European New Zealanders. At that time most Maori still lived in rural areas and often is very unhygienic villages. They also had poor immunity to European diseases, so there was no question about their vulnerability in 1918.

However, that was more than 100 years ago, and since then there has been a great deal of inter-marriage and urbanisation, as well as major improvements in living standards, health and housing. So in 2020 part-Maori people are no more vulnerable to Covid-19 than anyone else. 

As the Covid-19 crisis has played out, Health department statistics reveal that as of 8 July 8.5% of Coronavirus cases were Maori, a racial group which makes up about 17% of New Zealand’s population.  

How would local iwi spend the KCDC money?

Information provided by the Council through Official Information requests shows that iwi were intending to use the grants for a “pandemic response’ in variety of ways.

Kia Haumaru te Iwi is the name for the Kapiti Maori pandemic response plan. The plan’s goals have been to:

• reduce the number of Kāpiti Māori who contract COVID-19 
• provide access to information, resources and practical guidance and advice throughout the COVID-19 pandemic 
• support Kapiti Maori and provide access to essential resources they need throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

More specifically

• enhancing communication, especially online support
• iwi leaders checking on members wellbeing
• providing health information and news updates
• doing need assessments
• delivering food packs and hygiene packages
• hardship grants for newly unemployed and heating 
• marae sustainability 
• youth mental wellness and anxiety 
• support for small business owners.

For non-Maori Kiwis, the overriding question is – haven’t all of these pandemic response strategies been provided for in central government funding and the special extra allocations for Maori?

“The team of five million” includes all New Zealanders who should have equal access to Covid-19 funding and other assistance. There is no case for signalling out one group for special treatment.  After all, as we have heard many times, “we are one people”.

The plan states the major projects, initiatives and partnerships that will position Waikanae (and the outlying parts of the Waikanae Ward) to grow in a way that is both desirable and sustainable.

This wordage is significantly reduced from the previous strategic plan from a couple of trienniums ago without losing punch, and at the same time not being too prescriptive.

All the board members contributed and now constituents can express views about this draft — please provide your feedback via e-mail to Board Chair James.Westbury@kapiticoast.govt.nz by Friday 31 July 2020.

But remember you can’t eat our food if you can’t swallow our history.  —Bruce Pascoe

Turning Australian history on its head

By Roger Childs

Aboriginal Australians have lived on the continent for at least 100,000 years and the traditional view is that they were nomadic, primitive people surviving by hunting and gathering based on simple skills and tools. Bruce Pascoe puts the lie to this in Dark Emu – Aboriginal Australians and birth of agriculture – which is a comprehensive and highly interesting analysis of these adaptable, skillful and peaceful people, and how they lived comfortably and in harmony with the many environments on the continent. 

These First Nation peoples were the first farmers on the planet by probably as much as 15,000 years, and the extensive, highly intricate and remarkably efficient Brewarrina fish trap system on the Darling River in New South Wales, which may date back 40,000 years, is undoubtedly the oldest human construction on earth. Obviously, his book and others on the same topic have necessitated some rewriting of the origins and development of mankind.

Resourceful and skillful people

The author has pulled together material from a huge range of sources, including the research efforts of many archaeologists, scientists and academics, and he provides many examples of physical evidence in the landscape. Dark Emu has blown the “hunter-gatherer” label for Aboriginal people out of the water, as it includes copious, irrefutable proof that these inventive, adaptable and tolerant people were not only farmers, but also fishermen, engineers, conservationists and builders. Much of the evidence is from the observations of early explorers, travelers, colonists and farmers, and the book is backed up with extensive footnotes and references.

Most First Nation people were sedentary and they stored vast quantities of food, built comfortable, weather-proof houses from a range of materials, and had small towns of over 1000 people. They lived in peace with widespread co-operation between tribes, protecting the environment and sharing resources. They also ate and cooked a multitude of different foods and made flour from native cereals to make delicious cakes and bread. 

Today Pascoe, who has Aboriginal ancestry, lives on a farm in eastern Victoria and practises sustainable agriculture, gentler farming of a variety of native plants that are far friendlier towards  the environment and soils, as they don’t require yearly ploughing, extra water or insecticides. (Emma Harvey)

A tragic recent history

The arrival of British settlers in the late 18th century and those that followed them was devastating for the Aboriginal people, their economy and culture. With the arrogance of all imperialist powers and colonists, the British couldn’t believe that the primitive natives could have been farmers, engineers and builders, and proceeded to destroy settlements, fishing systems and farmland. The Aboriginal people were hunted, poisoned and slaughtered, and, at best, driven off their land to live in the harsh interior. Some were used as slave labour and others who resisted were either executed or placed in chains. A proud people whose had lived successfully and comfortably for tens of thousands of years were reduced to dependents in their own land with no civil rights. It wasn’t until the 1960s that they were given the right to vote and were counted in a census. The treatment of the First Nation peoples is a dark stain in Australian history.

A learning experience

Bruce Pascoe is not bitter, but emphasises that Australians today need to learn how to use the long experience of the native peoples in the future use of the land. For example, the Aborigines had used fire carefully to reduce the build-up of litter in forests with burn offs to prevent the sort of tragic out-of-control fires which are a regular feature of the Australian summers.  

In his final chapter: Accepting History and Crating the Future, the author makes a plea for all Australians to acknowledge what the Aboriginal people achieved and give them a role in planning the future. Restoring Aboriginal pride in the past and allowing that past to inform the future will remove the yoke of despair from Aboriginal people.

This is one of the most important books to come out of Australia and has been widely acclaimed. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

by Geoffrey Churchman

The elements in this film noir are all attractions: the theme of art, art satire, and art dealers, the principal setting on Italy’s scenic Lake Como just to the south of Switzerland — and veteran actors Donald Sutherland and Mick Jagger, the latter in his first movie acting role since 2001.

It was the closing film at the 76th Venice International Film Festival of last September, and was released by the distributor on 6 March 2020, but due to cv-19, which closed most of the world’s cinemas for several weeks, it was rescheduled.

There are basically four main acting parts: the lead is James Figueras, an amoral and greedy critic (played by Claes Bang) who at the beginning delivers a lecture to a group of (apparently American) tourists to a museum in Milan in which he demonstrates that art collectors will believe what critics tell them to believe, a slim tall blonde, Berenice (Elizabeth Debicki), who attends the lecture, is attracted to him and heads off to have fun in his boudoir; a rich art collector named Cassidy (Mick Jagger) who summons Figueras and his companion to his Lake Como estate in a corner of which is a detached house/studio in which he has put up a reclusive, legendary artist, Jerome Debney (Donald Sutherland) and wants Figueras to steal one of his paintings.

The unsubtle satire, apart from what is contained in the lecture at the start, is that Debney has no body of work that anybody’s seen, reinforced by the seeming actual lack of any as the viewer discovers. Well, then, that shouldn’t pose too many problems for an art scholar lacking scruples; and it leads to fraud, property destruction and worse by Figueras, particularly when his new girlfriend possesses more ethics than he does.

The elements, however, don’t make for a satisfying whole and the script has some serious credulity issues, apart from the one mentioned.  Even that wouldn’t be too much a minus when the viewer doesn’t have much time to ponder, but film noir doesn’t lend itself to that.  Mick Jagger is the main draw and worthy aspect of the movie.

The Burnt Orange Heresy (98 minutes) is screening at the Shoreline Cinema.

(Thanks to Margaret Stevenson-Wright.)

This year’s ranking by Reporteurs sans Frontières (Reporters without Borders) has been announced and NZ has been demoted from 7th place in 2019 to 9th place in 2020.

Perhaps Andrew Little’s demands for laws to limit Freedom of Speech was a factor.

It’s probably also a reflection, however, of who owns the media organisations and these owners’ orders regarding news and current affairs coverage.  More on that to follow.

The list of countries ranked from 1 (Norway) to 180 (North Korea) is here

We have separate streams in public policy formation (such as) an unelected and inscrutable iwi leaders forum which exerts influence at the highest levels of government… –Karl du Fresne, Dominion Post Thursday 28 May

Gone from Stuff media

by Roger Childs

Karl du Fresne has been one of the Dominion Post’s most interesting and challenging columnists, but sadly is no longer writing for it. Fortunately, he still writes a weekly column in his online blog — see below.

In one of his last columns for Stuff in late May, he provided a perceptive synthesis of the special treatment given to the part-Maori ethnic group.

Special provisions and rights for Maori

I believe racism is the belief that some races are inherently superior or inferior to others, and that discriminatory treatment is therefore justified. –Karl du Fresne

In his article du Fresne contended that the Politically Correct view of racism in contemporary New Zealand includes virtually any statement or action that is perceived as not favourable to Maori or other ethnic groups. He gives examples such as criticism of spontaneous Covid-19 Maori road blocks and having unelected Maori representatives in local government.

He also took issue with–

• special courts for Maori youth
• special quotas for Maori medical trainees
• iwi involvement on local projects
• control over lakes and rivers.

At the central government level, he questioned why we need special Maori seats in Parliament and wonders why we are calling the country Aotearoa when there has been no official sanction [see this Wikipedia article]. He suggests that a referendum should be held on the country’s name and many would argue that there should also be a vote on the seven special electorates.

With more space he could have touched on the racist nature of the Waitangi Tribunal and the more than 90 pieces of legislation which make special provision for Maori culture and interests.

Addressing a key issue

This is the first article I’ve seen in Stuff which seriously addresses the favouritism given to people calling themselves Maori – who, in fact, have predominantly non-Maori ancestry – and hopefully it won’t be the last.

However, undoubtedly Maori activists brand du Fresne as “racist”.

Many years ago, Labour Prime Minister David Lange spoke of the dangers of Maori separatism for our democracy.

Democratic government can accommodate Maori political aspiration in many ways. It can allocate resources in ways which reflect the particular interests of Maori people. It can delegate authority, and allow the exercise of degrees of Maori autonomy. What it cannot do is acknowledge the existence of a separate sovereignty. As soon as it does that, it isn’t a democracy. We can have a democratic form of government or we can have indigenous sovereignty. They can’t coexist and we can’t have them both.

Read the blog

One hopes Karl du Fresne’s departure from Stuff wasn’t because he was taking a knife to precious sacred cows.  Fortunately, you can still read his take on issues of the day by going to his blog:

http://karldufresne.blogspot.com/

Roger Childs tell us:

Former Victoria University staff member Bud Jones reports that a colleague in the School of Music was recently summoned to attend a meeting to explain what would be the Music School’s response to Black Lives Matter?

One suggestion, not raised at the meeting, but made since, is that pianists could just play the black keys!

On a piano keyboard the black keys represent sharps and flats of which there are only 5 in an octave out of 12 semi-tones — and it would be very difficult to play almost all tunes only using them. However, creating a tune with them is a challenge the Woke / Political Correctness Brigade could take up!

Media release:

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is sceptical that 61% of taxpayer funding for waterway clean-up just happens to be focused on the Northland electorate.

Union spokesperson Louis Houlbrooke says: “The Government has announced that $162 million of taxpayers’ money will be spent on cleaning our waterways. There are 23 projects, but one will receive $100 million, 61% of the total allocation. It is also the only project set to run more than one year.”

“The Kaipara Moana Remediation programme is predicted to create 1,094 jobs over the six-year life of the project surrounding the Kaipara Harbour, most of which sits within the key electorate of Northland. On current polling, New Zealand First needs to win the Northland electorate to return to Parliament.”

“Minister Shane Jones has proved himself to be a unashamed taxpayer money magnet. He has poured Provincial Growth Slush Fund cash into the electorate, earlier this week got more money for buses in Northland, and now the lion’s share of the waterway spending. The dollar-for-dollar value delivered back to taxpayers does not seem to be a concern for a Government which is focused on the electoral politics.”