Key is 'trying to bash Maoris' - Paul

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Key is 'trying to bash Maoris' - Paul

3News NZ

Maori Council co-chair Maanu Paul

Maori Council co-chair Maanu Paul

By Patrick Gower

You couldn't have missed the statement Maori party co-leader Tariana Turia was trying to make at the Waitangi Tribunal.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters couldn’t resist commenting on her Tino Rangatiratanga beret.

“Well I thought, here comes Tariana Guevara,” he says, “it’s sort of pretty revolutionary.”

And there have certainly been plenty of familiar faces looking for a revolutionary ruling on whether Maori have ownership rights to water.

“What I call middle class, radical, treaty traveller Maori,” says Mr Peters.

But that's just “classic Winston” according to Maori Council co-chair Maanu Paul.

And its statements from Prime Minister John Key that the council says have been inciting the politics of race.

“I think he's trying to bash Maoris, and I think he's trying to do a Winston Peters, and I think he's not very good at it,” says Mr Paul.

Although Mr Paul has been giving as good as he gets all week.

“We need to sit down and work out how much [the Government] are going to pay us to use our water,” he says.

Mr Key has stayed true to his position – that all he has been uttering is the facts, and that a tribunal ruling will not stop asset sales.

So the divide between Mr Key and the Maori party isn't healing - and Mr Peters has his own take on that.

“Who cares,” he says.

Setting off the politics of race was likely just a side effect of Mr Key’s comments – the concept of Maori owning water is controversial and it goes with the territory.

But there's no doubt Mr Key's tough stance against Maori on this would have given his popularity a boost with core supporters, even if it was an unintended consequence.

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Comments

28/07/2012 9:25:35 a.m.

Gosh wrote:

Pono you really do need to catch up with treaty settlement progress and educate yourself on the true state of affairs between govt and iwi.

21/07/2012 9:36:02 p.m.

pono wrote:

Isn't it funny how europeans in this country continue too discredit,lie,twist and propogate against the first peoples of this Land. They spit through their "Lying" mouths and continue to dishonour their agreements. So keep building your accounts up, for their is one to whom you will answer too,maybe not in this life but most certainly come Judgement Day when "all" will stand before the Mosthigh.

17/07/2012 8:32:42 p.m.

dan wrote:

Oh no this is about water ownership..and maori are not as 'divided' on this issue as key has suggested. I for one am interested on what the Waitangi Tribunals recommendations will be, and what the goverments response is when this whole thing wraps up. If key simply ignores the Tribunals recommendations or legislates against it before...

16/07/2012 12:44:57 p.m.

atrout wrote:

Manu Paul sees no other outcome other than being the toll taker for all commercial activities involving rivers, lakes, bores and geothermal resources. Charmingly arrogant, his opinion is the only one as far as he is concerned. Pay us or don't use it! There is another approach to water issues. Put ownership into a trust-like category, held by the Crown on behalf of everyone and then link it to the existing RMA processes which allocate water use to all those whose use is greater than a certain minimum amount. The mechanism for framing this approach exists in the Land and Water Forum already considering these issues. Maori interests in water can be recognized, short of ownership and preferably in the context of managing the resource according to best practice. Keep it clean and keep the management structure and legislation as simple as possible. Avoid making a claims and lawyers' picnic out of the whole thing. The issue is not really ownership, it is just a matter of wise use/allocation.

14/07/2012 6:50:05 p.m.

E Bidwill wrote:

To give water rights to any group other than all New Zealanders would be an outrage.

14/07/2012 7:44:43 a.m.

jan.. wrote:

Maori Council quoted' {the Government are going to pay us to use our water." he says. The Tangata Whenua Annoucing there Right of Way' there Right of Treasures to Ownership of water including the underground materials land 1000 miles outward to Ocean Pad and or in Patrnership..
The Government lied by saying that no one owns water' but 'I owned my own water and taps..

14/07/2012 7:41:24 a.m.

jonathan wrote:

So the head of the Moari council thinks john key was "inciting the politics of race" I take it that the Maori Council isnt an organisation to promote the politics of race as their name would suggest.

13/07/2012 7:49:34 p.m.

Amanda wrote:

Investors invest to make MONEY not for the hell of it, power is a necessitiy of life and investing at the expense of the poor is called GREED, Investors are not worried about our country all they are worried about is dividends which equals power prices soaring! Once the SOEs are partially sold off its gone forever, and if Maori can stop it then im behind them 100%

13/07/2012 5:51:00 p.m.

David wrote:

So many nasty bigots... I guess you cant expect civility or intelligence from uneducated Nats though.

13/07/2012 2:29:54 p.m.

Mark wrote:

If Maori get the rights to water does that mean Europeans have the rights to cars, tvs, cell phones, computers,clothes, housing, alcohol, sports, money and so on because if europeans didn't come here Maori would have none of this. They had no form of metal at all, they were still in the stone age ( sorry if that comes across as racist but facts are facts) This is going to affect everything if maoris own water from the cost of power to the cost of food. We will lose a lot of tourists and the world will be laughing at nz.