Protest erupts at Key's Waitangi welcome

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Protest erupts at Key's Waitangi welcome

3News NZ

A group of 50 protesters is also positioned near the marae, which has been the site of major protests in earlier years

A group of 50 protesters is also positioned near the marae, which has been the site of major protests in earlier years

Prime Minister John Key made a hasty exit from Te Tii Marae today after a run in with protesters during Waitangi Day celebrations.

A group of protesters charged towards Prime Minister John Key at Te Tii Marae in the Bay of Islands this morning but were held back by Maori wardens.

There was a rush forward of about 20 people holding the Maori flag and signs saying "Stop Deep Sea Drilling".

The protesters got about 10m before they were tackled by Maori wardens. They did not get close to Mr Key. A cameraman suffered a gash to his forehead during the scuffle.

Mr Key and other dignitaries then left the location insisting there was no possibility for sensible talk as the crowd was unable to hear what he was saying due to the commotion.

"At no point did I feel in danger," Key told Stuff.co.nz. "It was a lost opportunity because I wanted to present the Government's perspective on issues that they are debating.

A group of 50 protesters is also positioned near the marae, which has been the site of major protests in earlier years.

Controversy over asset sales and job cuts at Te Puni Kokiri, the Ministry of Maori Development, has raised tensions ahead of the annual event at the marae.

Mana Party leader Hone Harawira told NZ Newswire he hoped Mr Key got the message that Maori would not budge when it came to treaty obligations by the Crown or he would "have a fight on his hands".

Mr Key planned to raise the asset sales issue with iwi leaders on the marae.

Leader of the Opposition David Shearer is expected at the marae after Mr Key has made his way to the treaty grounds.

Leaders from the Mana Party, the Maori Party and the Greens are also expected.

Signed in 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi is New Zealand's founding document which established British law while at the same time guaranteeing Maori authority over their land and culture.

3 News/NZN

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Comments

9/02/2012 12:58:11 p.m.

Axel wrote:

I am aware of what the Treaty calls for. I am also aware that there are those, like Mutu, who cling to it as if it were written by the hand of God. It was not. It was signed by men and women who, though well intentioned, did so without the foresight of conditions that would exist nearly 200 years later. The Treaty of Waitiangi is a divisive document that separates people, based on the false idea that this land is owned by anyone but the God of Heaven who created it. Until the descendants of those who signed it come to acknowledge that reality, they will continue to play eye for eye, finger for an eye, money for land, land for murder, etc. etc. games. I am guilty of engaging in divisive games myself as my previous comments toward Professor Mutu shamefully prove and for that I apologize. The whole thing is frustrating and I see her as the wind in an already scorching flame that is burning much more than a piece of land on the Karikari Peninsula. I believe that finding a higher law to live by, whatever that may be, will enable everyone to move beyond the separations which the Treaty has exacted. The conditions are no longer the same. Only 1 in 7 people in New Zealand identified as Maori in the 2001 census. Though, according to the Treaty, that should not have happened, it did. Striving to find peace in 2011 according to the provisions of that Treaty, will prove to be an unrealistic expectation in the years to come.

8/02/2012 8:16:36 p.m.

jah wrote:

The Treaty of Waitangi n the late 1830s, there were approximately 125,000 Maori in New Zealand and about 2000 settlers. More immigrants were arriving all the time though, and Captain William Hobson was sent to act for the British Crown in the negotiation of a treaty between the Crown and Maori. The Colonial Secretary, Lord Normanby, instructed Hobson that: ‘All dealings with the Aborigines for their Lands must be conducted on the same principles of sincerity, justice, and good faith as must govern your transactions with them for the recognition of Her Majesty's Sovereignty in the Islands. Nor is this all. They must not be permitted to enter into any Contracts in which they might be the ignorant and unintentional authors of injuries to themselves. You will not, for example, purchase from them any Territory the retention of which by them would be essential, or highly conducive, to their own comfort, safety or subsistence. The acquisition of Land by the Crown for the future Settlement of British Subjects must be confined to such Districts as the Natives can alienate without distress or serious inconvenience to themselves. To secure the observance of this rule will be one of the first duties of their official protector.’ On 6 February 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands by Hobson, several English residents, and approximately 45 Maori rangatira, Hone Heke being the first. The Maori text of the Treaty was then taken around Northland to obtain additional Maori signatures and copies were sent around the rest of the country for signing, but the English text was signed only at Waikato Heads and at Manukau by 39 rangatira. By the end of that year, over 500 Maori had signed the Treaty. Of those 500, 13 were women. The Treaty of Waitangi is now on permanent display in the constitution room of the National Archives in Wellington

7/02/2012 8:26:04 p.m.

Axel wrote:

I'm sure that Margaret Mutu is behind the mob mentality demonstrated this week at Waitangi. She and those who support her are the single greatest terror threat to the interior of New Zealand. She infects the minds of Maori youth from her pulpit at the University with her divisive doctrines. This is the result and we can count on it to continue so long as she remains at the head the Dept. of Maori Studies. She seeks personal gain, in the form of prestige and power, at the expense of peace and stability. She is a deplorable example of how one can receive degrees and yet be wholly uneducated. She uses her knowledge to manipulate her likewise uneducated subjects and awakens a savage mentality within them to further her own Maori supremacist agenda. For the public safety, I feel that knocking Margaret Mutu off the throne she has erected for herself should be the utmost priority for every Kiwi interested in the future peace and stability of Aotearoa. Her hand is in this. Whether directly or inadvertently, the whole thing reeks of her reverse racist contagion.

6/02/2012 6:46:03 p.m.

key wrote:

Boring...this repeated waitangi day protesting.Couldn't they choose another day to protest and let all NZers enjoy 1 day of harmony ?.Why are they allowed any where near the event anyway ?.

6/02/2012 2:24:13 p.m.

jan.. wrote:

Chistopher and george, you are only here because of the Treaty and the Crown and without the two, you are nothing Pals..
Bare in mind, without the Treaty this entire country still belongs to the Tangata Whenuas and that what the Treaty stands for as we were well aware that someday' this would happened, so the Treaty is very important in this country otherwise the Tangata Whenuas has the right to protest and claim their entire Aoteroa Country back..
RESPECT THE TREATY OR GET OUT' you fools..

6/02/2012 9:52:23 a.m.

Sue wrote:

The 'Treaty of Waitangi' was dreamt up by Hobson before he came out here and foisted on New Zealanders. Only some Maori tribes signed it and 'ownership' in present-day understanding was certainly not understood by Maori back in those days. The Treaty as viewed today could be better referred to as 'The Trendy' = a fashion statement.

6/02/2012 8:21:54 a.m.

AT wrote:

The English and Maori versions of the Treaty sined in 1840 differed significantly, so there is no consensus as to exactly what was agreed to. High time this consensus be resolved by all authorised parties concerned...

6/02/2012 7:51:44 a.m.

richard wrote:

you cant alienate maori from our own country

6/02/2012 6:55:11 a.m.

Jack wrote:

do you realize that the depletion of oil in our earth is causing the lava and tectonic plates to shift?

5/02/2012 6:10:44 p.m.

Emma wrote:

Sorry, I can't take any comment seriously if the author cannot spell their own name correctly...'Chrsitopher'