“Mandarin-speaking communities are so familiar with Winston, we have nicknamed him ‘Lao Pi’. Lao Pi is like that grumpy neighbour everyone knows is a problem. Except he’s not a random neighbour. He is the foreign affairs minister and former deputy prime minister.” — Mengzhu Fu.
Read More
“It is not impolite to name racism, to document it, or to organise against it. What is impolite is telling a New Zealander of 30 years to go home. What is indecent is a cabinet that shelters him.” — Mohan Dutta.
Read More
“The fear of Māori having a place at the table outweighed both the evidence and the truth about what the law actually did.” — Environmental planner Tina Porou on the government’s decision to remove Mana Whakahono ā-Rohe.
Read More
“Does the state belong only to those Māori who are willing to minimise their culture, and to think and reason in public life according to someone else’s culture?” — Dominic O’Sullivan.
Read More
“It’s clear that the justifications for the bill don’t have any real basis, and that it would have significant impacts on New Zealand’s constitutional conventions, protected rights, and international obligations.” — Laura MacKay on the government’s attempts to shut down Mike Smith’s court case.
Read More
’Waenga’ is very much a family affair. It was written by Hariata Moriarty, 25, and her brother Tamati, 23, who also star in the play. Dad, Jim Moriarty, is directing the play, and mum, Helen Pearse-Otene, is the dramaturge, providing guidance on the story. — Atakohu Middleton.
Read More
“The Crown cannot easily look a High Court judge in the eye and argue that statutory Treaty obligations are vague, unworkable, or a threat to democratic certainty when the executive branch has formally executed international documents telling the UK and EU the exact opposite.” — Nicola Hoobin.
Read More
“It’s the most damaging collection of legislative Treaty proposals I’ve seen in my career, breaching Te Tiriti on a scale and breadth that we haven’t yet witnessed in our lifetimes.” — Carwyn Jones.
Read More
“Those in power love to ‘acknowledge’ and ‘recognise’ the inequities in Māori health outcomes, while still ploughing ahead to dismantle the tools that we’ve designed to address them.” — Louisa Wall on Pharmac proposals to change Māori and Pacific access to diabetes drugs.
Read More
“Stirring deep in my belly is the call to action. I’m going to do my level best to ensure that every eligible whānau member in my considerable network is registered to vote, is conscious of the issues, and is ready to turn out and vote come election day.” — Denis O’Reilly.
Read More
“I declare, in the shadows of my ancestors, that the sun must set not just on the British empire but the whole project of empire.” — Marama Davidson addressing the Oxford Union.
Read More
“When ordinary people finally manage to get their concerns before a judge, the government can simply change the rules midstream to ensure the case never reaches a conclusion.” — Mike Smith on the government’s intention to override the Supreme Court.
Read More
“Once again, as has been the case throughout this parliamentary term, the government is ignoring the recommendations of experts, in favour of further trampling on Te Tiriti o Waitangi.” — Luke Fitzmaurice-Brown.
Read More
“Without a plan for constitutional protection of Te Tiriti, we risk any progress being laid to waste again within a few years. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to go through this again.” — Tina Ngata on voting to protect Te Tiriti.
Read More
“When the prime minister spoke at Waitangi he set out a terribly distorted view of the country’s founding document.” — Carwyn Jones.
Read More
“As soon as the Committee began its questions, I knew we were in the right place at the right time. The questioning was fast, direct, and showed they understood the situation in detail.” — Roimata Smail, on the UN trip to deliver evidence of government discrimination against Māori.
Read More
“Behind the review lie some questionable assumptions about the tribunal, including that it has overstepped its role … by actively scrutinising contemporary government policy.” — Carwyn Jones on the government review of the Waitangi Tribunal.
Read More
“The relationships that schools and kura have with Māori endures despite directives from the right-wing.” — Awanui Te Huia.
Read More
“We have a government willing to reshape constitutional understandings without genuine consultation, careful process, or respect for long-standing norms.” — Mark Feary.
Read More
“The proposal effectively deprioritises Te Tiriti so that it sits as a supporting objective. We believe, and have advised, that this will not have the desired effect.” — Rahui Papa.
Read More
“The system was designed by individuals who believed in a specific version of New Zealand — where everyone was theoretically equal, yet the structures of equality were calibrated for only one culture.” — Mark Feary.
Read More
“If a ‘knowledge-rich’ curriculum isn’t grounded in te ao Māori and the very people and things that make Aotearoa unique, who is determining the knowledge and where does it come from?” — Jessie Moss on the ideology behind education reform.
Read More
“The idea that people educated in this country should devote a small fraction of their undergraduate study to understanding our history and its relevance to all citizens today ought to be unremarkable.” — Emeritus Professor Alison Jones on Auckland University’s decision to drop proposed compulsory courses.
Read More
“Same-day enrolment isn’t a flaw in our democracy. It’s one of the few things that works for us: for Māori, Pacific peoples, rangatahi, and anyone who has ever felt like the political system wasn’t built for them.” — Eden Fusitu‘a.
Read More
“It’s one thing to be out of touch with the reality of New Zealanders’ lives. But it’s another entirely to make your contempt and disregard for most of the population so obvious.” — Brian Tweed.
Read More
“Our ministers have chosen carefully crafted diplomatic language buried under joint country statements to influence the situation in Gaza, while at the same time protecting relationships with allies, particularly the US.” — John Hobbs.
Read More
“Dismantling public housing infrastructure is short-sighted and socially damaging. It also occurs within an environment where homelessness is rising faster than our population is growing.” — Rebekah Graham.
Read More
“When a young parent and their baby sleeps in a car, it’s not just a housing failure, it’s a failure of our collective memory and responsibility to one another and our most vulnerable.” — Lizzie Strickett.
Read More
David Seymour “referred to himself as an ‘Indigenous New Zealander’ . . . He was employing a tactic we’ve seen domestically many times: invoking his ancestry to deflect criticism of his racist behaviour.” — Tina Ngata.
Read More
“Racism is not a dirty word. It’s a precise diagnostic tool that helps us understand how systems work to the advantage of some while disadvantaging others.” — Dr Sereana Naepi, who edited ‘Oceans Between Us’, a new book that tackles racism against Pacific people.
Read MoreE-Tangata is an online Sunday magazine specialising in stories that reflect the experiences of Māori and Pasifika in Aotearoa.
We welcome submissions or inquiries to:
editor@e-tangata.co.nz
Sign up for our email newsletter and get the latest E-Tangata stories sent straight to your inbox.
SubscribeYou can support E-Tangata’s kaupapa by contributing through PressPatron. With your help, we can tell more Māori and Pacific stories.
