It is too much, I suppose, for key the prime minister, to realise what Ngati Kahu are protesting about in Taipa. He says,
Mr Key said the Popata brothers, who are nephews of Maori Party MP Hone Harawira, are trying to paint the occupation as a protest relating to the foreshore and seabed issue, when it is clearly not.
I don't think they are doing that at all. their protest is quite specific to the land they want back. Obviously that land is on the foreshore and seabed - that is the connection. Get used to it key, this is just the beginning. The threats are what maori have heard for many years, they are nothing new.
Prime Minister John Key says the occupation of land at Taipa in the Far North could damage the Treaty settlement process.
"If there's a genuine claim there," he said, "then the right track is to take that up with the negotiations minister and his team."
Yes that is what you want; that maori fit within your little box and follow your rules designed for your purposes. We will follow the process and we won't. You already have the land but time will bring it back and generations if necessary.
Radio NZ
What a poor example finlayson has set by telling a group of maori to "go to hell" - What right has this person has to curse this group - for any reason. He is losing it - his recent obnoxious interview with Kathryn Ryan and now this. From TVNZ
Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Chris Finlayson has told a Maori protest group in the Northland town of Taipa they can "go to hell".
Hone, from Stuff
Maori Party MP Hone Harawira said he was disappointed Mr Finlayson had spoken "so disparagingly" about the protesters.
"They are simply seeking the return of lands clearly identified by the Waitangi tribunal as having been improperly taken in the past," he said.
"They have been very respectful even when being abused themselves."
The group has re-occupied land in Taipa, a week after they were moved on from a previous occupation on a section next door. The taking over of ancestorial land and building whare is an effective resistance tool as we are seeing up in Taipa. I support this action and this example is a showing lessons that we can all take on board.
From Radio NZ
Protesters moved back on to Taipa Point on Tuesday and are setting up camp on private land, next to the council reserve they were evicted from last week.
And Margaret Mutu states,
Ngati Kahu negotiator Margaret Mutu said on the iwi's website in March that she told a hui "the current settlement cannot be full and final because it does not return all our lands".
Prof Mutu said a 1997 Waitangi Tribunal report agreed that Ngati Kahu's title to the Taipa Point land had never been extinguished.
It is pretty clear that this is their land - give it back as i state in this post.
From Stuff
Far North District Council spokeswoman Alison Lees said the land was given to the council in parts in 1928 and 1963.
Give this land back. And as for finlayson - grow up and start treating people with a bit of respect.
We will see more of this. These protests will multiply.
From Radio New Zealand Copyright © 2010
"John and Wikatana Popata set up camp at the weekend on a former camping ground at the coastal town of Taipa. The land is destined for subdivision. They say their occupation of private land in Northland is to send the Government a message that all privately-owned land in the area should be returned to the Ngati Kahu iwi.
The iwi's chief negotiator, Margaret Mutu, says the land should be returned, even though it's not part of treaty negotiations.
"When they see Pakeha at Taipa building these huge, monstrous luxury houses and desecrating wahi tapu, discharging sewage into our rivers, they've just had enough, she says.
She says the protest has the full backing of the tribe. "These young boys are just reflecting what their elders have been saying for quite some time now."
As the iwi says they are fed up with pakeha disrespecting their land. But the big bogey for pakeha is that the land is under private ownership, albeit a subdivision development. The iwi fully support this protest.
Would other iwi support their people trying to protect the land? Would TRONT come out and say that they support Ngai Tahu protestors trying to protect the land and rivers?
My suggestion to them is to think about these issues because they may indeed need to be considered this year. Our rohe is under threat from many angles, from mining, from exploitation of all resources, from dams and dairy developments and the sacrosant line of "it's private property" is not good enough. Where are our young people with fire in their bellys?
Footnote - interesting news that, "The Far North section being occupied by two protesting brothers is owned by an Auckland businessman, who laments the over-development on New Zealand's coast."
