Post by Kiwi Frontline on Jun 1, 2019 8:36:30 GMT 12
Dear Editor, (Sent to the NZHerald 26/5/19)
Clearly Tim Howard (letters 23/5/19) has never read Te Tiriti that 540 chiefs signed? Article One clearly states ceding entire sovereignty to the Queen of England for ever.
The chiefs ceded FULL sovereignty (kawanatanga) and they knew it, read the chief’s speeches in Colenso’s record, further supported by chiefs speeches at Kohimarama 20 years later. It is utterly absurd therefore to say that in Article 2, they somehow retained it.
He further discredits himself in referencing a racially stacked and therefore biased Waitangi Tribunal report, who the then Attorney General Christopher Finlayson rebutted in the media “There is no question that the Crown has sovereignty in New Zealand. This report doesn't change that fact."
Auckland University Professor Paul Moon also stated at the time "I was shocked by some of the statements contained in the report," he said. "This is not a concern about some trivial detail, but over the fundamental history of our country, which the tribunal has got manifestly wrong."
Perhaps Mr Howard could explain if the chiefs still thought they had full chieftianship then why did they release their slaves, ceased cannibalism, female infanticide and tribal warfare?
GEOFF PARKER, Whangarei
Letters to Ed. (Sent to the NZ Herald 25/5/19)
Dear Lizzie, I love your music but am not so keen on your grasp of history concerning Cooks first week in New Zealand.
Observing the hatred toward Cook generated by others who are also ignorant of the truth, and such things as cause and effect, I am left to ponder what sort of place we would live in had Cook kept on sailing toward Queensland.
What language would we be speaking? Would young Kiwis be doing there OE in Paris instead of London? Would we have rolled over in the dark days of 1939 and invited Germany and then Japan to walk on in?
The reality is that on the strength of Cooks arrival, and subsequent visits, opened this country up to Queen Victoria and the reality that this became one of the richest, most stable, enlightened and admired countries the world has seen.
Cook was a celebrated explorer who treated his people well and respected those he encountered along the way. We should be very, very glad of his contribution.
Lizzie, If you promise not to re write history I will promise not to ever sing in public.
MURRAY REID, Cambridge
Dear Editor, (Sent to the NZ Herald 23/5/19)
Tim Howard’s (Treaty Settlements letter 23 May 2019) suggestion that some people have different ideas on what did or didn’t happen 180 years ago is a topic which can consume many hours - or decades. The more important discussion for us is what we want New Zealand’s future to look like? In detail please. No nice words or generalisations. Just hard facts so we, the people who work hard and pay our taxes, understand exactly where he and his ilk are trying to lead us.
Then perhaps he can tell us what established, successful constitutional arrangement does he want our country to emulate? I’ve tried looking but for the life of me, I can’t find one example of tribalism in government where the ordinary people prosper. But then this quest for power may not be about the wellbeing of ordinary people.
FIONA MACKENZIE, Whangaparaoa
Dear Editor, (Sent to the Otago Daily Times 19/5/19)
I would like to add a few more facts to Suzanne Menzies-Culling’s letter of the 18/5/19.
For instance, I wonder if she is aware that Major Thomas Bunbury and Captain Joseph Nias RN proclaimed Sovereignty over the South Island on June 17th 1840 on the basis of cession, after Bunbury had obtained the signatures of a number of chiefs.
Also, was she aware that Ngai Tahu have had five full and final settlements, this after they sold much of the South Island before the Treaty was signed and the Treaty commitment to investigate pre 1840 land sales enabled the chiefs to sell the land again in 10 deals from 1844 onwards for a total of £14,750.
In regards to the 1866 Oyster Fisheries Act, I understand this applied to all New Zealanders not just Maori as Menzies-Culling implies.
The 1867 Maori Representation Act was an interim measure for five years because the Maori Land Court established in 1865 was expected to resolve title issues for Maori who wanted to vote but could not meet the electoral requirement of individual ownership of a freehold estate to the value of £25. This Act was extended a further five years in 1872, and extended again in 1876, this time indefinitely.
Since 1840 many statutes have been passed to help Maori adapt to changing times. However today, as Suzanne has done, these well intentioned statutes are twisted to put them in bad light.
Lastly, Article 2 of the treaty refers to property rights of all New Zealanders (not just Maori) therefore the only tenable meaning of rangatiratanga in the context of this Article and the Treaty as a whole is ‘full possession’.
GEOFF PARKER, Whangarei
Dear Editor, (Sent to the Wanganui Chronicle 13/5/19)
Potonga Neilson letter May 13th “put no deadline on justice” does’t know the true history of Taranaki. The fact is the Taranaki people first lost their land to the Waikato Maoris in 1830/34, they then sold most of it, which in Maori lore did not belong to them.
It was the governor who paid off the Waikato owners and then returned it in 1841 with the protection of British law and order. The leasing of the returned land was a means of the Maori owners receiving a return on very productive land they were uninterested in developing or farming. Not only have they benefited by the leases on the land but also from the taxes the farmers have paid to the government over the years.
A full and final settlement has already been made and honoured by the people of New Zealand in 1946 for land confiscated by the crown in 1863. The British made it possible for the Taranaki Maoris to return to their defeated lands as well as receiving a return for 100 years without even lifting a finger, but still Potonga wants more.
By 1860 Taranaki had been fully purchased three times. Now our government is talking about teaching the real history of our country, this will never happen as they haven’t got the guts to do it.
IAN BROUGHAM, Wanganui
Dear Editor, (Sent to the Bay of Plenty Times 13/5/19)
Some people want to believe that maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. To be indigenous you would have to be first on the land which maori are not.
NZ Government and United Nations have no hard evidence who can prove maori are indigenous John Key allowed Pita (Peter) Sharples to sign the United Nations Declaration of the rights of indigenous people, New Zealanders not knowing this until the following day.
Ngapuhi chief David Rankin says “maori are not the indigenous people of New Zealand” there were many other races already living here, long before maori.
Other maori community’s talk about waitaha, Turehu, and Patupairehe “ When our ancestors arrived at the shores there were people here to greet them.
People like Captain Cook, Julius Van Hasst and Alfred Newman mentioned there were people here before Maoris.
An extract from a book first published in 1559 by Jean Alfonse a sea pilot of Portuguese birth, gives a story of Captaine Jan Alfonce discovery of New Zealand. They called us “Isle de Hommes Blanis” (Island home of the whites). There were seen people who were white and strong, similar in facial appearance to Germadic races.
Who were these people, they were the Patupairehe, Kapupungapunga, Waitaha, Ngati Hotu/celts Turehu, Moriori and others which most of them were caucasion.
IAN BROUGHAM, Wanganui
sites.google.com/site/kiwifrontline/letters-submitted-to-newspapers/unpublished-letters
Clearly Tim Howard (letters 23/5/19) has never read Te Tiriti that 540 chiefs signed? Article One clearly states ceding entire sovereignty to the Queen of England for ever.
The chiefs ceded FULL sovereignty (kawanatanga) and they knew it, read the chief’s speeches in Colenso’s record, further supported by chiefs speeches at Kohimarama 20 years later. It is utterly absurd therefore to say that in Article 2, they somehow retained it.
He further discredits himself in referencing a racially stacked and therefore biased Waitangi Tribunal report, who the then Attorney General Christopher Finlayson rebutted in the media “There is no question that the Crown has sovereignty in New Zealand. This report doesn't change that fact."
Auckland University Professor Paul Moon also stated at the time "I was shocked by some of the statements contained in the report," he said. "This is not a concern about some trivial detail, but over the fundamental history of our country, which the tribunal has got manifestly wrong."
Perhaps Mr Howard could explain if the chiefs still thought they had full chieftianship then why did they release their slaves, ceased cannibalism, female infanticide and tribal warfare?
GEOFF PARKER, Whangarei
Letters to Ed. (Sent to the NZ Herald 25/5/19)
Dear Lizzie, I love your music but am not so keen on your grasp of history concerning Cooks first week in New Zealand.
Observing the hatred toward Cook generated by others who are also ignorant of the truth, and such things as cause and effect, I am left to ponder what sort of place we would live in had Cook kept on sailing toward Queensland.
What language would we be speaking? Would young Kiwis be doing there OE in Paris instead of London? Would we have rolled over in the dark days of 1939 and invited Germany and then Japan to walk on in?
The reality is that on the strength of Cooks arrival, and subsequent visits, opened this country up to Queen Victoria and the reality that this became one of the richest, most stable, enlightened and admired countries the world has seen.
Cook was a celebrated explorer who treated his people well and respected those he encountered along the way. We should be very, very glad of his contribution.
Lizzie, If you promise not to re write history I will promise not to ever sing in public.
MURRAY REID, Cambridge
Dear Editor, (Sent to the NZ Herald 23/5/19)
Tim Howard’s (Treaty Settlements letter 23 May 2019) suggestion that some people have different ideas on what did or didn’t happen 180 years ago is a topic which can consume many hours - or decades. The more important discussion for us is what we want New Zealand’s future to look like? In detail please. No nice words or generalisations. Just hard facts so we, the people who work hard and pay our taxes, understand exactly where he and his ilk are trying to lead us.
Then perhaps he can tell us what established, successful constitutional arrangement does he want our country to emulate? I’ve tried looking but for the life of me, I can’t find one example of tribalism in government where the ordinary people prosper. But then this quest for power may not be about the wellbeing of ordinary people.
FIONA MACKENZIE, Whangaparaoa
Dear Editor, (Sent to the Otago Daily Times 19/5/19)
I would like to add a few more facts to Suzanne Menzies-Culling’s letter of the 18/5/19.
For instance, I wonder if she is aware that Major Thomas Bunbury and Captain Joseph Nias RN proclaimed Sovereignty over the South Island on June 17th 1840 on the basis of cession, after Bunbury had obtained the signatures of a number of chiefs.
Also, was she aware that Ngai Tahu have had five full and final settlements, this after they sold much of the South Island before the Treaty was signed and the Treaty commitment to investigate pre 1840 land sales enabled the chiefs to sell the land again in 10 deals from 1844 onwards for a total of £14,750.
In regards to the 1866 Oyster Fisheries Act, I understand this applied to all New Zealanders not just Maori as Menzies-Culling implies.
The 1867 Maori Representation Act was an interim measure for five years because the Maori Land Court established in 1865 was expected to resolve title issues for Maori who wanted to vote but could not meet the electoral requirement of individual ownership of a freehold estate to the value of £25. This Act was extended a further five years in 1872, and extended again in 1876, this time indefinitely.
Since 1840 many statutes have been passed to help Maori adapt to changing times. However today, as Suzanne has done, these well intentioned statutes are twisted to put them in bad light.
Lastly, Article 2 of the treaty refers to property rights of all New Zealanders (not just Maori) therefore the only tenable meaning of rangatiratanga in the context of this Article and the Treaty as a whole is ‘full possession’.
GEOFF PARKER, Whangarei
Dear Editor, (Sent to the Wanganui Chronicle 13/5/19)
Potonga Neilson letter May 13th “put no deadline on justice” does’t know the true history of Taranaki. The fact is the Taranaki people first lost their land to the Waikato Maoris in 1830/34, they then sold most of it, which in Maori lore did not belong to them.
It was the governor who paid off the Waikato owners and then returned it in 1841 with the protection of British law and order. The leasing of the returned land was a means of the Maori owners receiving a return on very productive land they were uninterested in developing or farming. Not only have they benefited by the leases on the land but also from the taxes the farmers have paid to the government over the years.
A full and final settlement has already been made and honoured by the people of New Zealand in 1946 for land confiscated by the crown in 1863. The British made it possible for the Taranaki Maoris to return to their defeated lands as well as receiving a return for 100 years without even lifting a finger, but still Potonga wants more.
By 1860 Taranaki had been fully purchased three times. Now our government is talking about teaching the real history of our country, this will never happen as they haven’t got the guts to do it.
IAN BROUGHAM, Wanganui
Dear Editor, (Sent to the Bay of Plenty Times 13/5/19)
Some people want to believe that maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. To be indigenous you would have to be first on the land which maori are not.
NZ Government and United Nations have no hard evidence who can prove maori are indigenous John Key allowed Pita (Peter) Sharples to sign the United Nations Declaration of the rights of indigenous people, New Zealanders not knowing this until the following day.
Ngapuhi chief David Rankin says “maori are not the indigenous people of New Zealand” there were many other races already living here, long before maori.
Other maori community’s talk about waitaha, Turehu, and Patupairehe “ When our ancestors arrived at the shores there were people here to greet them.
People like Captain Cook, Julius Van Hasst and Alfred Newman mentioned there were people here before Maoris.
An extract from a book first published in 1559 by Jean Alfonse a sea pilot of Portuguese birth, gives a story of Captaine Jan Alfonce discovery of New Zealand. They called us “Isle de Hommes Blanis” (Island home of the whites). There were seen people who were white and strong, similar in facial appearance to Germadic races.
Who were these people, they were the Patupairehe, Kapupungapunga, Waitaha, Ngati Hotu/celts Turehu, Moriori and others which most of them were caucasion.
IAN BROUGHAM, Wanganui
sites.google.com/site/kiwifrontline/letters-submitted-to-newspapers/unpublished-letters