Maori Racism At Waitangi

It's no surprise that once again, some local Waitangi maori are riding the Treaty gravy train... by charging non-maori media to enter the lower marae.

Want, want, want...

Last year, media was charged $500 to enter and report on NZ Day action at Te Tii Marae, just across the river from the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. More fool those that paid it! Others told the Te Tii moneygrubbers where to go...and negotiated entry by paying a "koha" (or gift) of up to $40. The interesting thing is: there's no record of whose pockets these financial gifts went into! Did Inland Revenue ever check?
For this Sunday's national day (Feb.6th.), lower marae officials are pulling the same scam again, but this time "Whitey", it's $1,000! The only media group that doesn't have to pay...is brown-skinned.

Spot the clown!

David Rankin, leader of NZ's largest iwi (tribal group) - Ngapuhi - has condemned the decision as racist and shameful: "These self-appointed bullies are doing great harm to our people." He says many people depend on tv news for info about Waitangi Day, and this small group is threatening to ban media coverage for the sake of its own personal greed: "This is not koha, it's income because it's demanded from people. It goes completely against our culture of hospitality to visitors."
Rankin says the fee is 'cultural apartheid' and he's advising all media that the marae is open and free of charge this NZ Day/Waitangi Day. But Te Tii Marae committee chairman Hama Apiata says if media don't pay, they won't be allowed onto the marae: only the local Maori radio station is exempt.
Well, of course there's a very simple solution: don't pay their extortion attempt. Don't go to the lower marae. Don't give them any publicity. Focus instead on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.
Let's be honest: most of the time, all we see anyway from Te Tii Marae are foulmouthed protests, mudthrowing, insults, bleeding hearts, divisive actions intended to hurt and humiliate, the Harawira circus...
If NZ Day is truly about nation-building, instead of a live televised maori protest, then media should use their brains and not play into the hands of the radical fringe.

PS: 04 Feb.2011 - Widespread condemnation of the $1000 "koha" (Bay Of Plenty Times), (Labour Party), (the PM on Voxy), and a call for financial investigation of Te Tii Marae. The greed backfires.