158 the contemporary pacific • spring 2004 Native Hawaiians must be ever vigi- House prepared to speak out fearlessly lant and continue to assert themselves on behalf and in support of Mäori, in the name of social justice. no matter how strident the media and tracie ku‘uipo cummings opposition attacks on her become. Many Mäori hoped she would be included in cabinet, as she had cer- References tainly earned such a posting. Her appointment as a minister outside Keesing, Alice. 2000. Charter Schools Ready to Empower. Honolulu Advertiser, cabinet sent a clear message that the 10 Jan. Labour caucus is still uncomfortable with Mäori who consistently support Lingle, Linda. 2003. Testimony before the their own people. US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, However, Turia is no longer the 25 Feb. Available at <http://indian.senate .gov/2003hrgs/022503hrg/ lingle.PDF> or only Mäori member of Parliament <http://www.hawaii.gov/gov/copy_of_ able to articulate Mäori aspirations headlines/Members/steveb/Focus / accurately, clearly, and consistently. govtestimony.html> Metiria Turei, a first-time member in the Green Party, is showing con- Reynolds, Jerry. 2003. Hawaii’s Governor Lingle’s Campaign for Native Hawaiians. siderable potential. Although the Indian Country, 10 Sep 2002; posted 27 mainstream media ignores most of Mar 2003. <http://www.indiancountry her press releases, her party does .com/article/1048780915> not appear to be censuring them. Georgina Te Heuheu of the conserva- tive National Party, on the other hand, has increasingly found herself having ¯ Maori Issues to contradict her party leader. After The July 2002 general election deliv- the party failed miserably in the ered 20 members of Parliament who general election, the National leader identify as Mäori, out of a House of abandoned any pretence of support- 120 members. Ten of them are in the ing Mäori aspirations and set out to Labour caucus of 52 that leads the attack any policy or program aimed at coalition government. All 7 of the improving Mäori circumstances. He Mäori seats went to Labour. Mäori called for the abolition of the seven therefore expected to see at least Mäori seats in Parliament; demanded 3 Mäori cabinet ministers, with the that the government legislate to vest same number or more becoming min- the foreshores and seabed in the isters outside cabinet. It was indicative Crown, effectively confiscating those of things to come that only 2 Mäori areas from Mäori; he argued that cabinet ministers were appointed, Mäori should be given no special along with another 2 outside cabinet. consideration in any matter and that One of the ministers outside cabinet all New Zealanders are the same (thus was Tariana Turia, who returned to willfully disregarding all socioeco- the House with a very substantial nomic indicators that contradict this); 7,536 majority in the new Taihauauru he attacked the government for setting seat. Turia has developed the reputa- aside money in the budget for a tion of being the only member in the Treaty of Waitangi education pro- political reviews • polynesia 159 gram; he attacked the Waitangi its personnel by refusing to speak to Tribunal for saying that Mäori have mainstream journalists. The media an interest in the country’s oil and appeared to lose interest completely gas resources; and he promised to after having attacked the service stop Mäori from making claims under continually over the previous twelve the Treaty of Waitangi and to remove months. By January the budget allo- those aspects of the Resource Man- cated by government to set up the agement Act and Local Government service had increased from NZ$6 Act that protect Mäori relationships million to $13 million with hardly with their ancestral lands (National a murmur of dissent. Legislation for- Party website: <http://www.national mally setting the service in place was .org.nz/>). His racist outbursts have eventually passed in May 2003 after not improved National’s showing in years of strenuous efforts to stop it. the opinion polls. The opposition eventually supported In April 2002 the government indi- the legislation and its passing into law cated that it intended to introduce went unmentioned in the mainstream legislation setting up a new Supreme media. Court to replace the London-based The allocation of fisheries quota by Privy Council. More than 90 percent the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Com- of Mäori who made submissions to mission continued to be bogged down the Select Committee hearings in 2003 in disputes among Mäori. Eleven years opposed the proposed legislation. after the so-called “settlement,” the Many called for constitutional reform allocation is still not complete. In to precede such a move. Such reform December the new commission chair would have to entrench the Treaty of tried to force an agreement and ran a Waitangi in the constitution before propaganda campaign claiming that many Mäori would consider the 96 percent of Mäori supported the introduction of a Supreme Court Commission’s allocation model. The in New Zealand. Submissions often mainstream media believed the propa- noted that the present judicial system ganda, praising the chairman as the discriminates against Mäori, with savior of warring Mäori factions. Mäori being convicted and impris- However, the media subsequently oned at a far greater rate than non- ignored the fact that a large number Mäori. The Privy Council is perceived of hapü (groupings of extended fami- as independent of New Zealand and lies) and iwi (tribal groupings) initi- not tainted with the same racism that ated litigation to prevent the model exists in the New Zealand courts. from being entrenched in legislation. Many felt that a Supreme Court made The litigation failed and the matter is up entirely of New Zealand judges now in the hands of the Minister of would continue to discriminate Fisheries. against Mäori. In December the Local Government In May 2002 a very successful Act passed into law. Mäori had hoped Mäori businessman was appointed for some major reforms to ensure that to guide the setting up of the Mäori they would play a more active and Television Service. He managed to meaningful role in the decision stop media attacks on the service and making of local authorities. For it 160 the contemporary pacific • spring 2004 is at the local authority level where prying into their personal affairs. Mäori resources are most immediately Many Mäori, including members of affected, where decisions are made Parliament from other parties, spoke that directly affect their ancestral out against the cruel treatment by the lands, waterways, seas, and within media. By contrast, the suspension of them, the wähi tapu (the sacred sites ex-Minister Maurice Williamson from and places of special significance the National Party in July made head- that have been ritually restricted). lines for a couple of days and then Although there are provisions in the vanished. No mention was made of Resource Management Act 1991 to either his family or his private and recognize and provide for these mat- personal affairs. ters, the lack of knowledge and polit- Media assaults on Mäori came ical will to implement the relevant under attack from an unusual source sections of the act means that Mäori this year: a columnist in the New cultural and spiritual concerns are Zealand Herald. Since February 2002 constantly trampled on by developers Tapu Misa has been contributing whose actions are fully condoned by weekly columns in the country’s consent-granting local authorities. largest newspaper. In a column Those whänau (extended families) headed “Media perceptions of Mäori and hapü who can afford to do so still pretty distorted,” she noted that are increasingly resorting to the courts “misunderstanding and misinforma- for relief. Yet the reforms sought by tion abound and I’m beginning to Mäori were so watered down during think some of it is willful. Mäori have the passage of the legislation that all complained for years at the way an judgments about whether Mäori overwhelmingly Päkehä mainstream should be included in decision making media continue to shape and distort were left entirely in the hands of the perceptions about them” (NZH, 27 existing local authorities. To date, only Nov 2002). While the newspaper one of the eighty-six local authorities continues to publish items attacking has made provision for Mäori repre- Mäori, its new editor has yet to with- sentation on their authority, and only draw Misa’s columns in the way that twelve have chosen the Single Trans- columns supportive of Mäori have ferable Vote polling system, which been withdrawn in the past. The would give Mäori a greater chance to Herald continues to publish letters be elected. The overall result appears attacking Misa’s columns, although to be a recipe for continued litigation there has also been the occasional against local authorities by Mäori. letter supporting them. Keeping up their tradition, main- In at least seven of her columns, stream media have persisted with Misa (who is Samoan) has raised the their attacks on Mäori members of issue of racial discrimination not only Parliament. This year it was Donna against Mäori but also against Pacific Awatere-Huata’s turn. When the Islanders, drawing on topical issues right-wing act New Zealand party that demonstrate that racism is alive suspended her in February, the media and well in New Zealand. Media harassed her and her family for weeks, attacks on Mäori for seeking protec- political reviews • polynesia 161 tion for their wähi tapu have occurred billion and NZ$3 billion respectively on at least four different occasions in (Mutu in press). As the Ngäti Ruanui the past year. The Race Relations Treaty Claims Settlement Bill passed Commissioner was vehemently criti- into legislation, Tariana Turia warned cized for defending Mäori because he Parliament that NZ$41 million repre- had compared New Zealand’s colo- sented only a tiny proportion of what nial history of vandalizing Mäori was lost.