“If those poisoned men can keep standing up for their people and lands while sick and tired, the rest of us can stand with them.” — Catherine Delahunty on the continuing fight for redress by sawmill workers exposed to PCP.
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“The curse is not just the environmental risks of mining — it’s what happens when people in need of money see the glitter of wealth in a time of extreme inequality.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“What is clear from He Whakaputanga is that there was never a ceding of any kind of sovereignty to Britain. Not then, nor five years later, when Te Tiriti was signed at Waitangi.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“I realised during those meetings that people who are not Māori aren’t often exposed to the ongoing effects of colonisation. They seldom take the opportunity to listen to tangata whenua.” — Catherine Delahunty on the campaign to educate voters about Māori wards.
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“We ignore the fact that our dependency on imported palm kernel expeller is hurting the environment and communities where it’s grown. It’s another form of colonisation: outsourcing environmental harm for the sake of cheap animal feed.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“Westminster culture doesn’t care about intent or the dignity of people — it cares about its rules. And they are rules that privilege one culture.” — Catherine Delahunty, former Green MP.
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“Our more middle-class economic status . . . owes everything to the housing and health policies of the former welfare state in the 1950s, and nothing to gold.” — Catherine Delahunty, whose great-grandfather was a miner in the Thames gold rush.
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“It was like a glimpse of the country as we want it to be: diverse and respectful and Māori-led.” — Catherine Delahunty on the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti.
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“I am haunted by the lives that do not matter to us. There are more than 80,000 people displaced in the highlands of West Papua . . . Why do these neighbours’ lives mean so little to us?” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“The Crown can’t legitimately hold this debate without the other parties — the hapū and iwi of Aotearoa — and they haven’t been included.” — Catherine Delahunty on the Treaty principles bill.
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“Behind the rhetoric about prosperity and clean energy, I hear the voice of a kuia from Hauraki who educated so many of us, including judges, about the vital tests for assessing the value of minerals.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“The fast-track bill to nowhere breaches Te Tiriti and is an attack on tangata whenua rights as well as a disaster for te taiao (the environment).” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“You could feel the anger but also the restraint. Ngāpuhi were in charge and were respected. No one threw a dildo. But did the Crown feel the depth of the disgust towards their policies?” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“The challenge to tangata Tiriti is what we’ll do to support a fightback led by tangata whenua. Will Pākehā, in particular, be prepared to march in solidarity with tangata whenua and all people directly affected by the neo-racist political programme?” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“In a country built on colonial racism, it takes such little encouragement and validation for racism to show its face. And then out come the white sheets and petrol cans for a laugh.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“Why is there such a soft landing for racism right now? Is it the election? Or is it just the persistent underlying intolerance that has always been simmering below the surface of our communities and our politics?” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“Wars in Europe, such as the Ukraine tragedy, are centre stage on our news. But the war for West Papua is barely mentioned despite the bombing of villages, the plight of the refugees, and the killings and torture by the Indonesian military.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“I have no criminal record despite having been in numerous political protests for many years where I could‘ve been arrested and possibly charged. It’s almost as if I have a form of immunity.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“Times have changed, but the debate over the co-governance of water has highlighted how far we have to go in local government, and how the allergy to genuine power sharing is still widespread.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“It’s easy to laugh at these cereal lies, but the truth is that these stereotypes and racist assumptions still exist — in my classes, in debates on social media, and in the community where I live.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“The people who didn’t vote for James Shaw at the AGM have said we need a radical voice on the inside as well on the outside. And I agree.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“When tangata whenua share their world with the rest of us, it doesn’t mean we should claim a special insight or position. If we do this, we risk being told to stay in our lane.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“I have never met a more inspiring person with a greater influence over so many of us for the good. Let’s hope that we can now be worthy of his generous challenges to us.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“Pākehā culture faces some barriers to stepping up to Matike Mai. One barrier is the numbers of us still pretending we are not a visible group holding on to power.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“Our everyday practices need to follow Maōri authority and tikanga Māori in managing water. If water is protected from agricultural or urban pollution, everyone benefits.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“We want the land and the beach to be left in peace. My dream is that one day the rich will be made to give up having to own the view.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“The story of SWAP (Sawmill Workers Against Poisons) is more than the terrible and the tragic. It’s also about racism, class issues, and a kind of leadership that’s so often ignored and underestimated.” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“How does that maunga in Aotearoa that you’ve claimed to be ‘toku maunga’ become your mountain? And what gives you the right to claim that river as yours? It’s not ancestry. It’s not an inherited story. So, what is it?” — Catherine Delahunty.
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“Indonesia is as brutal in its tactics as all colonisers.” — Catherine Delahunty on West Papua’s fight for independence.
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“A lot more of our people are beginning to realise that social change led by Indigenous wisdom is about how we organise and how we treat each other, as well as what we’re fighting for.” – Catherine Delahunty.
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