From Muriel Newman (and it’s a story of disgrace and greed unparalleled in NZ history)
‘…Haami Pipiri, the leader of the Northland iwi Te Rarawa, claimed that the shocking rate of unemployment amongst Maori youth indicated that Maori have been “marginalised”. He said, “The feature of that experience has been the development of our economy in this region without us”.[1]
What he failed to mention is the vast amounts of Treaty-related money that has gone into the region. The Crown Forestry Rental Trust alone has pumped over $20 million into Northland over the years to help iwi prepare their Treaty of Waitangi claims. A further $13 million has been provided directly to Northland claimants over the last three years. In addition, tribes have received a share of the millions of dollars in funding provided by the Office of Treaty Settlements and the legal aid system each year.
Documents from the Crown Forestry Rental Trust show that Te Rarawa received over $1.2 million during the last three years to help prepare their Treaty claim.[2] Their settlement will be worth $20 million in taxpayer funds and assets. As well as cash, they will receive forests, a local Court House and Police Station, 10 local schools, and two Landcorp farms (along with a number of other deals that include changing the names of Northland towns, harbours and beaches).[3]
In addition to land claims, the Treaty of Waitangi fisheries settlement gave Maori 37 percent of the country’s total fishing quota, which is currently worth $4 billion. Iwi allocations were based on their population and share of the coastline. The eight iwi in Taitokerau in the North received almost $30 million in cash and shares, with Te Rarawa gaining a $7 million asset base. In 2005, Northland-based Ngapuhi alone received the equivalent of $67 million for its fisheries settlement.[4]
What all of this means is that talk of Maori marginalisation is self-serving nonsense. A recent government report estimated the total value of Maori corporate assets at a whopping $37 billion.[5] Thanks to the generosity of New Zealand taxpayers, the Maori aristocracy has become very rich, and is getting richer. Maori leaders could use their vast resources to lift the performance and aspirations of their people. They choose not to…’
And that’s only a fraction of the gigantic scam being perpetrated against the NZ taxpayer. She has much, much more in the rest of the article.
