For some reason I was thinking this morning about my Roman Catholic childhood. I was thinking about the National Party’s blatant lack of good faith regarding Crown Land up here in Auckland. It might be the kind of thing they’d take to the confessional… dunno.
If they did, it might go something like this…
Forgive me Lord for we have sinned.
It is quite a few days since our last confession.
Since then, we have gone back on our word (again).
So, there was this agreement we had with Ngati Whatua. Part of the Treaty of Waitangi settlement. Basically we agreed that we’d give the iwi first dibs on purchasing any Crown land we were going to dispose of.
Sure, this is land that was theirs to begin with – acquired by nefarious means. BUT, really, in this day and age, and with the value of land and the need for HOUSING, we think that someone OTHER THAN Ngati Whatua should be able to buy the land and make money from it. A big multinational company. It doesn’t even need to be NZ-owned. We like to share our land around. An Aussie company would be good.
So, I don’t think this is REALLY going back on our word.
Is it?
What do you think?
I’d appreciate any comments.
More information can be found here (thanks to TV3)
Ngati Whatua Orakei Treaty Settlement.
Heni Irihapeti's Blog 
Something in your childhood instilled a strong sense of social justice and a deep kinship with Maori – those have always been evident. Now it is lovely to see your poetic sensibility flourishing. And I thought you were going to paint!
Yes, who’d have thought it.