Quite interesting to read this today:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10590496
Call to fly Maori flag with NZ Flag flies
The Maori flag should fly on all days of significance, not just Waitangi Day, Maori say.
“People are saying (the flag should fly on) days of significance and other times as well.
“Some are saying that whenever or wherever the New Zealand flag is flying, the Maori flag should also be able to fly,” Ms Katene told The Press newspaper.
“If that’s what people want, we (the Maori Party) would certainly push for that.”
Flying the flag on Waitangi Day is one thing. It is about bringing together two peoples and the birth of a nation. It is about unity and that is why the flags representing the two peoples who came together should fly. I have no issue with that.
However a separate flag to fly all the time? This isn’t a them an us game. We came together as a nation, there is one flag of this nation. That is the flag that should fly that represents the nation. It is as simple as that. And if you do not like the current flag by all means join the campaign to change it, but don’t go arguing that your own separate flag should fly at all times.
If Maori want their own flag to fly at all times why can this not be extended to Pakeha, to Pacific Islanders, to Asians, to all those ethnic groups that over the last 150 years have made New Zealand into what it is today. There is no possible way that you could argue that they should because they are Tāngata Whenua because I am certain that prior to European arrival Maori had no flag, let alone knew what one was or what it symbolised in European culture.
So coming back to Civil War for a minute. The instant that I read this I remember this quote from 2004:
“could unleash civil war on the scale of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” – Margaret Mutu
That quote was in relation to the Seabed and Foreshore act. The war didn’t happen (but a good book on it was written by David Slack). However, part of me is waiting for some fool to try and say a similar thing again over this.
