Politics overshadow Waitangi celebrations

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Mon, 06 Feb 2012 7:44a.m.

Protestors at yesterday's celebrations

Protestors at yesterday's celebrations

By Kim Choe

The lead-up to Waitangi was once again marred by vocal protesters, who forced John Key to cut short his visit to Te Tii Marae.

Politics overshadowed what was meant to be a national celebration, fuelled by Maori opposition to offshore drilling and the sale of state-owned assets.

A group of protestors attempted to rush Mr Key as he came onto the marae, but were held back by Maori wardens.

The heckling forced Mr Key to cut his speech short and he quickly left the marae, but says he didn’t feel in danger.

“I don’t think it was, sort of, ‘Get off the marae’ – the consensus view was that I couldn’t be heard, and… that wasn’t going to go away because the protestors were in such close proximity,” he says.

“Probably I was wasting my breath.”

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples also left early after coming under fire for his party’s close relationship with National, receiving shouts of “Traitor” as he was speaking.

Dr Sharples says the insults “really hurt” and he couldn’t understand why they were directed at him.

Activists said the opportunity to make their feelings clear on oil drilling was too good to pass up.

However, Labour leader David Shearer couldn’t have asked for a better Waitangi Day – protestors had disappeared by the time Labour and the Green Party arrived.

Mr Shearer said he was “amongst friends, in a way” and found the event welcoming.

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Comments

06 Feb 2012 05:31p.m.

Lynn G wrote:

"Waitangi Day" or NZ Day (whatever you want to call it) is a joke. It has hardly ever been a day for celebration of New Zealand - it's an opportunity for the minority to voice their opinions in front of the media and the media to tend to be one-sided in reporting the dissent. The majority of New Zealanders unfortunately probably go to the beach, enjoy a day off work and generally relaxing with family instead of celebrating (as one) this country and all the positive things it has to offer. There are plenty of other days in the year for the media, protesters and politicians to focus on their own agendas ......... For years I have wanted to enjoy the celebration of being a kiwi but this has always been over-shadowed by the politics. Apart from reading the evening news on the 'event' I have spent the day in the garden avoiding the 'celebrations' and the disappointment.

06 Feb 2012 04:38p.m.

David wrote:

Isn't it a bit ironic these maori's protesting how the government is governing the country on the day commemorating when maori chiefs signed over governorship of the land to the british crown? of course it is their right to protest, it just seems inappropriate that it should be done on this day at that place

06 Feb 2012 02:05p.m.

John wrote:

"Dr Sharples says the insults “really hurt” and he couldn’t understand why they were directed at him." - that right there is called "ignorance". It's OBVIOUS why people are calling him a traitor - National represent the self-serving, greedy, scum-filled half of the "Europeans" that arrived on Maori land all those years ago. As a kiwi myself, with no Maori ancestry, I am ashamed of what National represents and I can't understand why the Maori party would ever have anything to do with them.

06 Feb 2012 09:54a.m.

Ruz wrote:

For many Waitangi Day has always represented politics and protest. I doubt that the majority of New Zealanders consider Waitangi Day to be a genuine national day of celebration. It's simply an annual event where the main players are Maoridom and the Government (representing the Crown).

06 Feb 2012 08:11a.m.

Fellowes wrote:

Like it or not, the right to protest is an inherent part of being a democracy. Should we become like China, where people are not allowed to protest? When polled, 97% of New Zealanders were against the sale of the Crafar farms and yet their voices were ignored. No wonder people are feeling frustrated and angry.