The following was in the news today:
"The Maori Statutory Board has confirmed they will go to the High Court tomorrow (Wednesday 16 February 2011) after the Auckland Council slashed their budget.
The Maori Statutory Board will take its budget to the High Court.
The Auckland Council yesterday slashed the Board's budget from around $3.4 million to $1.9 million."
When all the various city municipalities like Manakau and Waitakere were being proposed to merge into an Auckland Super City, ACT leader and Minister for Local Government, Rodney Hide, refused to let Maori be given allocated seats on the new Super City council.
Rodney Hide threatened to resign as Local Government Minister rather than have his name on legislation introducing the seats.
Like all good colonial masters and covert racists, he hid behind the "one rule for all" excuse, but Maori have had 170 years of being patronised and, quite rightly, they were angered by Hide's veto, especially since a Royal Commission had recommended Maori representation be enshrined in the new Super City council.
"After a year of consulting Aucklanders, a Royal Commission said one council needs three Maori seats."
Source
So after this initial debacle, some sort of a compromise was reached by setting up a Maori Statutory Board. Now the Mayor, Len Brown, and many of the council's covert Klansmen are saying, in effect, "We can't give Maoris all that money or the rednecks will have our hides!" Or should that be: "Hides"?
They never kick up a fuss when they go on junkets to Sister Cities flying first class, but when a genuine body, set up in law, receives a budget to give a Maori perspective on and Maori input into all aspects of life in a Super City which contains about a quarter of Aotearoa/New Zealand's population, then all the racists start squealing!
As several prominent Maori have pointed out, it's a tiny percentage of the Super City's total budget.
Come on, Rodney and Co, take off those white robes and come and join us in a new Aotearoa, one in which all races are celebrated and accorded respect and dignity. Give the Maori Statutory Board back their mana. Not that they need your approval. I'm sure they already have immense mana and could use that mana to advance Maoridom and Auckland.
When all the various city municipalities like Manakau and Waitakere were being proposed to merge into an Auckland Super City, ACT leader and Minister for Local Government, Rodney Hide, refused to let Maori be given allocated seats on the new Super City council.
Rodney Hide threatened to resign as Local Government Minister rather than have his name on legislation introducing the seats.
Like all good colonial masters and covert racists, he hid behind the "one rule for all" excuse, but Maori have had 170 years of being patronised and, quite rightly, they were angered by Hide's veto, especially since a Royal Commission had recommended Maori representation be enshrined in the new Super City council.
"After a year of consulting Aucklanders, a Royal Commission said one council needs three Maori seats."
Source
So after this initial debacle, some sort of a compromise was reached by setting up a Maori Statutory Board. Now the Mayor, Len Brown, and many of the council's covert Klansmen are saying, in effect, "We can't give Maoris all that money or the rednecks will have our hides!" Or should that be: "Hides"?
They never kick up a fuss when they go on junkets to Sister Cities flying first class, but when a genuine body, set up in law, receives a budget to give a Maori perspective on and Maori input into all aspects of life in a Super City which contains about a quarter of Aotearoa/New Zealand's population, then all the racists start squealing!
As several prominent Maori have pointed out, it's a tiny percentage of the Super City's total budget.
Come on, Rodney and Co, take off those white robes and come and join us in a new Aotearoa, one in which all races are celebrated and accorded respect and dignity. Give the Maori Statutory Board back their mana. Not that they need your approval. I'm sure they already have immense mana and could use that mana to advance Maoridom and Auckland.
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