Liberate Yourself

To all Conservative Māori Voters, I dedicate this dedicatory speech to you on this day, Wednesday the 22th of June 2011.

Kaumātua/Elders

Long have we enjoyed the tradition of the Māori-Labour vote, an electoral convenience we still seem to be practicing today and there indeed was a time where the Labour Party signalled hope for Māori due to slight concessions the party has made in regard to Māori and the idea of ‘Aotearoa – New Zealand’s’ interests over the years.  And indeed it must be noted that the National government has also, though far minimally, have acted in the interests of Māori and again the idea of an ‘Aotearoa – New Zealand’.  The conservatism we place in the Labour party Māori vote seems to be travelling with high velocity in one direction and the needs of the people another.  That is if our voices are being heard at all, as the Foreshore and Seabed ‘meltdown in Māori rights’ saga cleared the last of the remaining fog that disguised the party’s true agendas.  Perhaps there was some good that came of the bill why many of us still vote Labour today – But the questions I ask our people now is;

Is the conservative Māori vote still working for us?  Which further begs the question; ‘Do we know why we still practice this tradition?’

If it is so, that we have locked ourselves into a cycle of continual vote for a party who doesn’t always and/or acts against our interests, then I ask now that you set yourself free!  Relinquish all votes unanswered!  And transfer them to a movement who can guarantee fair representation of your best interests and the interests of your tamariki mokopuna. 

Our love for our Labour party Māori politicians does not remove the fact that they can not be domineered by their own Labour party leaders/superiors whos interests are that yours are suppressed and forfeited.  We often dream of an independent voice in government that best represents the people who appoint it.  Not only do we look at the Labour party for these voices but we look upon other parties to do the same.  But as long as those politicians are accountable to colleagues and leaders who significantly don’t share the same interests, we the people… will continue to dream, as it is not a truly independent voice after all. 

And so I ask the question once again, ‘is the conservative Māori vote still working for us?’

Mātua/Parents

I recall a time where our people refused to vote at all.  A time where our confidence in the system had plummeted dramatically as the pinnacles of information and enlightenment had cast its humble message of consciousness over us which lead to the awakening of a people.  But still the days of our parents were ones filled with unfaithfulness to Māori rights and interests.   And born from the upheaval of the Labour Party’s support for the Foreshore and Seabed Act was the Māori Party – symbolising a new era of Māori leadership in this country.  A leadership that was relatively well received, one with hope and eagerness.  The people of this era had become inspired to head back to the voting booths, as the prospect of a brighter future had appeared upon the horizon.  And so the Māori Party was looked upon with ambition as our people had lived through the times of Labour Party oppression.

Māoridoms recent breakdown with the Māori party moved to split the Māori vote and many of the adults who had refrained from voting in years previous either reverted back to the same practice or even worse, they begun to leave their votes idling by, recklessly searching for something new that might best represent their interests making them vulnerable to exploitation.

But all hope is not lost.  The emergence of the groundswell movement has reached the farthest corners of our communities.  Traditionally divided socio-political/economic and ethnological cleavages have all joined in a belief of unanimity that;

MANA IS THE MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLE!

Yet the conservative Māori vote stands to challenge the Mana Movement and a compellingly achievable way forward. Hone Harawira has lead the charge to liberation!  He has begun the retaliation against National’s policies of social, political, economic and ethnological subjugation.  That a divided people are conquered people and that a people with no voice are a people who surrender tolerance to the harms inflicted upon them.

NO MORE!

JOIN AND VOTE MANA AND LIBERATE YOURSELVES!

VOTE MANA IN THE UPCOMING BYELECTION!