Winston Peters, Militants, Racism and the Maori Party

Well Winnie is up to it again - claiming to be above political showboating by being a political showboat. As many had predicted, the recent police raids have set off a storm of political huffing and puffing across the country.

The thing is that while the Maori party is trying to decry racist actions on behalf of the police and government, the evidence on the ground is rather light. It seems to be a case of trying to pre-empt any backlash that may arise.

What they haven't counted on is Winston Peter's ability to spot the political hot topics that mainstream New Zealand is concerned about and then exploit it to gain their support. Darn it if he hasn't hit upon a formula and knows how to use it.

Some of what he has said has a certain agreeability to it - and his Maori heritage wont be hurting his cause either. Here is Winston standing before White Middle Class New Zealand saying "look, I learnt to join the group and be a New Zealander first. I understand you."

His party may look dire in the polls - but this is not uncommon for NZ First. What the Maori Party needs to learn is to play the MMP game the way Winston does. He's a survivor and knows how to negotiate to keep in parliament.

Personally, I find him an odious man - but I do think that he's got it right. This is not about racism, but rather it is about generating a new kind of racism.

What I don't agree with is his view that there shouldn't be a Maori Party. I feel that Maori have genuine issues culturally and historically, and we live in a country where certain promises were made by the founders of our nation. The Maori need to have someone who represents their concerns in parliament. But they need leaders who will negotiate and talk. Not stand up and threaten or demand. The Maori Party could benefit from finding some allies to help build a future for Maori that is inclusive with the rest of the country.

Winston is no stranger to playing the racism game in politics - if Pita and Turia think they can win by taking on his comments, then they seriously have underestimated his understanding of politics. Their current statements are feeding seperatist thinking and worrying a large number of New Zealanders. Winston Peters knows this and is willing to manipulate it to get his party back in the spotlight.

Rather than targetting the police, Winston Peters or Government - maybe they need to look at how Tame Iti and friends have damaged Maori Mana. Regardless of their guilt, Tame Iti and his friends actions were stupid enough to stir up a hornets nest of trouble that has lowered views of Maori activists and environmentalists across the country. Hell, more people marched for Destiny Chruch's anti Civil Union protests than for the Urewera 17.

That should be concerning. Most New Zealanders want resolution, regardless of race. For that to happen, we all need to stop going to the knee-jerk reactions and start thinking about how to help each other and compromise. The Maori Party is in the position to start the move to reconciliation - but for that to happen they need to stop trying to play the racism argument at every opportunity, and start thinking about how Maori interests can unify with the rest of the nation rather than work against it.

This can be aided by working to educate NON-Maori in Maori culture. Learning to communicate why such issues as the Foreshore and Seabed aren't necessarily a threat to non-Maori. Show how money from treaty settlements have helped Iwi become a part of the nation - for example, my boss is involved with several groups that have wisely invested money to generate Maori owned and operated businesses that benefit both Iwi and the country.

Conan

Currently Reading: Promethean: The Created
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Mood: Worried about the state of the country...