[pf] Denial of the effects of colonisation in New Zealand?

· Here's an example of the sort of political debate a State can have if
some form of Proportional Representation is used. (Ours, here in New
Zealand, is MMP: Mixed Member Proportional.) 

· You should be able to get representation from all sectors of society; in
our case: large numbers of women (in The Greens, women are a majority of
the MPs); Mäori; Pacific Islanders (Auckland has the largest number of
Pacific Islanders of any city in the world); Asians (1 woman); a person who
has changed their sex; more than one homosexual; as well as the usual
right-wing, left-wing and "out in front" radicals.

· Not bad for a unicameral Parliament of 120, IMO!

· There are two letters from Peace Movement Aotearoa below (the first at
the end of last month, the other below _X_X_X_X_ ), which describe the
political situation well, IMO.

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At 16:21 31/8/2000 +1200, Peace Movement Aotearoa <pma@xtra.co.nz> wrote,
with:
Subject: Denial of the effects of colonisation ?

Kia ora,

The backlash against comments made by Tariana Turia in her address to the
Psychological Society Conference on 29 August, has been astounding in two
respects. Her remarks have either been inaccurately reported, or
misrepresented; and the reaction to them strongly suggests a total denial
of the facts of the colonisation of this country.

On the first point, ‘The Dominion’ today began its front page article
‘Turia stands by Holocaust remarks’ with:

[Dom:] “Associate Mäori Affairs Minister Tariana Turia is unrepentant about
comparing the European colonisation of New Zealand with the Nazi Holocaust.

[Dom:] The comparison sparked a flood of calls to the Prime Minister’s
Office, talk-back fury and almost universal criticism yesterday.”

What Tariana actually said was:
 
[TT:] “Do you consider for example the effects of the trauma of
colonisation? I know that psychology has accepted the relevance of PTSD
(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

[TT:] I understand that much of the research done in this area has focussed
on the trauma suffered by the Jewish survivors of the holocaust of World
War Two. I also understand the same has been done with the Vietnam veterans. 

[TT:] What seems to not have received similar attention is the holocaust
suffered by indigenous people including Mäori as a result of colonial
contact and behaviour.

[TT:] The Treaty of Waitangi Tribunal made such a reference in its Taranaki
Report of 1996 and I recollect what appeared to be a “but our holocaust was
worse than your holocaust” debate. A debate I must add, I do not wish to
enter.”

She did not compare “the European colonisation of New Zealand with the Nazi
Holocaust”, and she specifically stated she was not into competitive
holocaust debates. What she said was that the trauma of the colonisation of
this country (and elsewhere) had not received the same kind of attention -
and in this she is obviously correct, the reaction against her comments
alone is proof of that. 

Indeed, the reaction indicates a widespread denial of the facts of the
impact of colonisation on Mäori. The Collins 1993 English Dictionary and
Thesaurus gives the first meaning of ‘holocaust’ as “great destruction or
loss of life or the source of such destruction, esp fire.” Given the great
destruction of Mäori culture, economic base, political systems and
religious belief and the loss of life of approximately 30% of the Mäori
population within two generations of settlement, then ‘holocaust’ seems a
reasonable description of the impact of colonisation on Mäori.
 [I agree.  D.M.]

Within this overall loss are of course specific examples of atrocity - the
armed invasion of Parihaka [a Mäori community absolutely committed to
pacifism.] is one which comes readily to mind, with the opening of the
Parihaka Exhibition in Wellington this past week. Nine hundred and fifty
five armed volunteers and six hundred and forty four Armed Constabulary
were sent to deal with people who were peacefully resisting the theft of
their land. More than four hundred resisters were arrested before the
invasion. The invasion was marked by rapes; the looting of the resisters
property; the burning of their homes and uprooting of their crops; the
forced relocation under armed escort of 1507 men, women and children;
arrests which continued for three weeks after the invasion; then
imprisonment without trial in dank caves for periods of up to two years. 

Part of the backlash against Tariana’s comments has come from those of the
‘it’s time to move on’ school of thought. However, it is a basic principle
of conflict resolution that before people can move on from any hurt and
harm they have suffered individually or collectively, their loss and
suffering has to be acknowledged. What is clear from the reaction to her
remarks is that many people do not have the slightest inkling of the
devastation and destruction colonisation has wrought.

Of the various statements issued by politicians condemning Tariana Turia
the most startling has come from Jenny Shipley. It features incendiary
mixed metaphors such as: [JS:] “Comments like Tariana Turia's widen gaps
rather than close them. They have the potential to cause huge division and
seriously damage race relations in New Zealand. Her latest bombshell has
thrown petrol into an already sensitive area.” We have included the full
text of her statement at the end of this alert because it is a truly
appalling indication of the level of understanding amongst some politicians. 

Jenny Shipley, of course is an expert on serious damage to race relations.
You may recall her comments in parliament on 16 May 2000 during the debate
on the sale of the high-tech radio spectrum:

[JS, May16:] “ ... this government is saying that, somehow or other, Mäori
cannot cope on their own; that, somehow or other, a racial allocation in
the form of a discount is needed to close the gap. Where is the 5 percent
discount for Pacific Island people, if they are actually causing trouble as
well? They climb in the windows of other New Zealanders at night. It is not
only Mäori.”

Interesting how there was very little backlash against what  Jenny Shipley
said.


* What you can do

One of the major concerns we have from the mass media coverage are the
reports that Helen Clark’s office has been inundated with complaints about
Tariana Turia’s speech. If you would like more information than that
included above, we can email you a copy of her speech so you can read it
for yourself. 

If you wish, you could contact Helen Clark’s office and express your
support for Tariana’s remarks. You could also contact Jim Anderton as
Deputy Prime Minister, and / or the Cabinet. Contact details are: phone
calls and faxes (all to be prefixed by 04 by those of you outside of
Wellington): Helen Clark, Prime Minister, office - tel 471 9998, fax 473
3579; Jim Anderton, Deputy Prime Minister, office - tel 471 9011, fax 495
8441; The Cabinet (collectively), office - tel 471 9743, fax 472 6332. 

You could also let Tariana Turia’s office know of your support, contact
details are tel (04) 470 6571, fax (04) 495 8472.

If you wish to let Jenny Shipley know what you think about her comments,
the contact details for her office are tel (04) 471 9838, fax (04) 472 2075.

Alternatively you can write to any of the above, your letter should be
addressed to the relevant person and posted (no stamp needed) to Parliament
Buildings, Wellington.

_____________________________

Is Tariana Turia Speaking For The Government ?
National Party press release, 30 August 2000.

[JS:] The Prime Minister must reject out of hand the Associate Minister of
Maori Affairs' views on colonisation, the Treaty and the position of Maori,
Opposition Leader Jenny Shipley said today. 

[JS:] "Comments like Tariana Turia's widen gaps rather than close them.
They have the potential to cause huge division and seriously damage race
relations in New Zealand. 

[JS:] "Her latest bombshell has thrown petrol into an already sensitive
area. Helen Clark must make it clear to New Zealanders where the Government
stands. 

[JS:] "As a Minister outside Cabinet Tariana Turia is part of the Executive
and is bound by the convention of collective responsibility. 

[JS:] "On the face of it, when she speaks as a Minister she is speaking on
behalf of the Government. As a Minister, she must represent Government
policy. 

[JS:] "In the past Helen Clark has made allowances for Tariana Turia,
saying she was 'inexperienced.' 

[JS:] "The Prime Minister cannot ignore these comments. She must make an
unequivocal statement about whether she supports the Minister's views or
not. If not, she should censure her Minister immediately, before she does
more damage to race relations in New Zealand. 

[JS:] "This event builds on others which are causing real disquiet. 

[JS:] "If Tariana Turia is indeed driving Government policy toward Maori
then New Zealanders have real reason for concern. We are seeing the Treaty
being written into the health legislation, which could have all sorts of
consequences. 

[JS:] "While all political parties in my experience are genuinely committed
to closing the gaps that exist in health, welfare, education and
employment, this won't be achieved by rewriting history," Mrs Shipley said. 

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At 13:53 4/9/2000 +1200, Peace Movement Aotearoa wrote, with:
Subject: Update: Denial of the effects of colonisation ?

Kia ora,

This is an update of our alert  ‘Denial of the effects of colonisation ?’
(31 August 2000) and is written in response to Helen Clark's interview on
Radio NZ this morning [Monday]. There are a number of issues raised by that
interview.

The first is that Helen Clark appears to have gone along with the mass
media interpretation of what Tariana Turia said as illustrated by the
following:

“Firstly, I drew her attention to the fact that the word holocaust has a
very special meaning and while we have incidents in New Zealand history
that we’re not particularly proud of, I’m afraid none of them can be
compared with the trucking and railing of six million Jews to gas chambers
for extermination, so that word must never be used again in a New Zealand
context.”

As we pointed out in our earlier alert ... “ [Tariana] did not compare “the
European colonisation of New Zealand with the Nazi Holocaust”, and she
specifically stated she was not into competitive holocaust debates. What
she said was that the trauma of the colonisation of this country (and
elsewhere) had not received the same kind of attention - and in this she is
obviously correct, the reaction against her comments alone is proof of
that.” (PMA, 31 August 2000; above).

It is not clear to us to whom the instruction “that word must never be used
again in a New Zealand context” is directed. 

Secondly, in response to the question “Do you believe colonisation has in
any way had a negative impact on Mäori child abuse statistics?” Helen Clark
responded: “No, I would not be as specific as that at all. Look, what we
know is that when my forebears and your forebears came into this country it
changed forever but then history is full of those changes. I think there’s
a point where you have to move on. We can all look at context, it may be a
very interesting subject for academic debate and research but what I want
Ministers focussed on is the here and now of very real problems in the
community which we must deal with because the level of child abuse in this
country is a disgrace”. 

Again it is not clear to whom the “you have to move on” is addressed, is
she speaking to Mäori or to the Jewish community - there has been very real
(and justified) distress from both in the past week or so. If she is
speaking to one community, but not the other, then why is that ?

As we pointed out in last week’s alert  ... “it is a basic principle of
conflict resolution that before people can move on from any hurt and harm
they have suffered individually or collectively, their loss and suffering
has to be acknowledged. What is clear from the reaction to [Tariana’s]
remarks is that many people do not have the slightest inkling of the
devastation and destruction colonisation has wrought.”  By her apparent
dismissal of the impact of colonisation on Mäori, it is not readily
apparent that Helen Clark herself has an appreciation of some of the
atrocities which occurred here. 

In the same interview, Helen spoke of her forthcoming trip to The State of
the World Forum where she will be ... “talking from the perspective of a
leader of a small country which has taken a leading role on nuclear
disarmament” ...  it will be interesting to see her response if anyone uses
the phrase ‘nuclear holocaust’ there, a phrase often used by nuclear
disarmers and politicians warning of the dangers of the possible use and
uncontrolled proliferation of nuclear weapons.


* What you can do

If you wish to contact the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Cabinet
or Tariana Turia’s office/s, their contact details are: phone calls and
faxes (all to be prefixed by 04 by those of you outside of Wellington):
Helen Clark, Prime Minister, office - tel 471 9998, fax 473 3579; Jim
Anderton, Deputy Prime Minister, office - tel 471 9011, fax 495 8441; The
Cabinet (collectively), office - tel 471 9743, fax 472 6332; Tariana Turia,
Associate Minister of Mäori Affairs, office - tel (04) 470 6571, fax (04)
495 8472.

Alternatively you can write to any of the above, your letter should be
addressed to the relevant person and posted (no stamp needed) to Parliament
Buildings, Wellington.


<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
              Peace Movement Aotearoa
          the national networking peace group
    PO Box 9314, Wellington, Aotearoa / New Zealand.
    tel +64 4 382 8129, fax 382 8173, <pma@xtra.co.nz>
        website < http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/>
   Internet Peace Gateway <http://www.peace.org.nz>
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

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sent to Positive Futures discussion list by David.
(David MacClement) davd@ihug.co.nz 
http://www.emucities.com.au/member/davd/index.html#top
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