All That Is Necessary For The Triumph Of Evil Is That Good Men Do Nothing.

It has been an extraordinary week!

The continuing disaster of the oil leakage off the coast of Florida; the decision of the Judge on the death of Hawea Vercoe; the ducking and diving over the seabed & foreshore issues; the 'feigned remorse' of Minister G Brownlie as he apologised for not telling Ngati Porou and Te Whanau Apanui about the contract to explore for oil off their foreshores, that was already signed with an overseas oil interest; the protest over the attempts to push through amendments to allow local government(Councils) to privatise your water supply; and who could ignore following the news bulletins that became episodes akin to a TV soap, to keep up with the spending habits of our elected representatives of the Crown, especially Shane Jones ?
As someone once said ..

..an event has happened, upon which it is difficult to
speak. and impossible to be silent...

On the bright side, the sight of Jim Hickey's and his team on a wintery visit to the Chathams, experiencing the delights of the island, was great. However, his shots of the closed Post office and businesses, told another story, to those who
who could see. I could not help wondering whether they would have been shut, if the proposal of the Runanga to build a meat processor on the Islands, had not been opposed by the Council, the Iwi Trust, Hokotehi Trust, Enterprise Trust, when the government officials visited the islands in 2005-6 ?
That was a project that had sound scientific and economic research support and was for the benefit of all Chatham Islanders. But the Island rot could not be stemmed . It was a case of playing the person , not the ball and you lost the game. In business, you have to play team. The economy has deteriorated further, whanau are leaving the islands , businesses are closing and that means little or no money coming into the families. What's happening to the schools? What's the cost of things on the island's now ? And so, what now?

FISH? FISH? FISH?

But who's got it? who controls it and who gets the income from the fish inside your territorial waters? Chatham Island whanau or just a few select who can influence the committee's and don't have to rely on their farm incomes. ?

The deal done with TOKM was a shocka...!!

It looks like it might be revisisted..and so it should, if we are want to make sure there are no further injustices done. If we continue on the waka that was set up, it will be like the leaky homes syndrome.....things done for efficiency and commercial gain for those who did the deals behind the cowshed.

No wonder the Iwi Trust and Hokotehi committees are not interested in Treaty rights of Ngati Mutunga o Wharekauri. That would mean, the benefits have to be for all who could whakapapa to Mutunga o Wharekauri .
All members need to have a say in what's happening ... it is written into their contract with TOKM but is ignored.
The tribal right is a collective right , not an individual right, as are the rights bestowed by the Crown, via its various legal entitities. The fisheries settlement was compensation for a customary tribal right.... the rights belong to the tribe... not the committee.... The customary rights to the rohe, the turangawaewae, the papakainga, the taonga, i.e all its assets, belong to the collective i.e all members of th tribe.

Consultation with all its members , has to happen... I could not imagine the Executive committees of e.g. Tainui, Nga Puhi, Kai Tahu, getting away with the things that have happened in the tribal groups on the Islands.

You see, there is a fundamental principle of government ( or governance) at stake here and, it is one that you will need to know about, for example, if government ( or your local Council ), proceeds to privatise water and/or any other service, that you think is free

No taxation without representation....
What this means is, you have to be told before they carry out policies on your behalf, especially if they also incur levies, rates etc, i.e taxes.
If you own property and pay rates, it might be a good idea to write to your Iwi group and your local council. Ask if any services are going to be privatised, i.e like the school bus service on the islands, or your water services. Will a private company from NZ or is the Enterprise Trust, going to take over the water supply?
Click here if you are interested in any more information : www.stopprivatisation.org.nz

So, what prompted this post about things going on around us.?

I met my nephew downtown this week, while I was out on my daily walk and we had a korero over a cup of hot chocolate. What got me was his intense questioning about what was happening to Ngati Mutunga o Wharekauri ?

Questions about why there was nothing for people to learn about , to engage in and, more importantly, to develop economically as an Iwi. He asked why , despite there being a generation of highly skilled, educated and experienced members, but there was still no infrastructure that provided the trust, assurance and confidence, for them to engage in. He asked whether anyone was doing anything about the oil reserves around the islands? Was anyone looking after the Big lake?

Significantly, I was struck by the signals of his conversation about the fact that there was no sense of whanau, hapu or iwi community, that encouraged their involvement in their Iwi development. And that, is a tragic legacy of the committees' of the past 5 years. They have had millions of dollars in the bank, and yet still our whanau have left the islands. So you may wonder why I keep asking

" What were the $6 million of tax payer funds for and where is it now"

What it says is , as with the opposition to the meat processing plant, as with the collusion between the NM Iwi Trust and Hokotehi over the contract with TOKM, as with the continuing lack of accountability and transparency in the current Iwi committees, as with the destruction of the contract to be the education provider for the Chathams when the staff of the Runanga were dismissed, the negative impact upon our iwi whanau, has been significant.

The rules of the game being played by those in control, are destructive, out of date and have set up a process of developmental suicide for our Iwi.

THIS HAS TO CHANGE..
WE HAVE TO GROW OUR WHANAU

As someone once said...

THERE IS NOTHING MORE SCARY THEN IGNORANCE IN ACTION..

There are a lot of good people who just want to live ordinary lives...but sometimes, you just have to round up the mob and do some dagging....

cheers Evelyn