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!

Challenged By Opportunity

(A dedicatory speech to Māori Party supporters and the Mana Movement)

To all Māori Party and Mana Movement supporters (and the relationship we share), I dedicate this dedicatory speech to you on this day, Tuesday the 21^th of June 2011.

A great wave of opportunity is upon us!  Amongst the tides of uncertainty we have at last reached the clearing of what might possibly ensure a momentous victory.  A victory; 

Not for one person,

Not for one party or movement,

But for a victory in which a people will benefit!!

The relationship between Maori Party and Mana Movement supporters is being tested beyond the limits of comprehension.  The opportunity with which I speak is not one of an idling Māori Party vote, no.  The opportunity with which I speak is one of reunification, the mending of a contentious and problematic split that has shaken the foundations upon which we thrive.  We are being challenged because the opportunity to come together again, united under one kaupapa currently seems to be looking us straight in the eye.

We have been confronted by the prospect of reconciliation between a recently divided people.  We have now come to the crunch of what appears to be a ‘sink or swim’ political phenomenon, where our people are now limited to two crucial, history-defining decisions that will determine the lengthy path ahead upon which our children will have to walk.

SINK:  Split the Māori vote between Māori & Mana.  Keep you vote for the Māori Party candidate and place further strain on the vice of division forcing the futures of both parties to Labour party and eventually National party absorption. 

SWIM:  Consolidate the Māori vote from Māori Party to Mana Movement, serving not your own future and individual interests, but the future and interests of your people and your tamariki mokopuna as a whole.  Rethread the growing gap that polarises a truly a great people.

Te Taitokerau/General Election Voting Logic:

Mana vs. Māori = Labour Party Absorption Of The Two

Labour party = National Party Absorption

National Party = Continued Social, Economical & Ethnological Oppression For A Further Three Years…

The time now has come to rethread the fabric that once interwove a great people.  The great fog of segregation between Mana Movement & Maori party supporters MUST clear in order for our people to effectively co-exist and permeate the days of our tamariki with the fruits of our campaign!  More than ever, it is time now to comfortably embrace our brothers and sisters we once stood alongside in total solidarity.  It is time now to rekindle the past fires that lit our hearts afire with the flame of deliverance and more importantly a vision of and for tomorrow!

Yesterday I wrote to Mana Rangatahi asking the future of our movement to make great sacrifices in order to ensure and further the success and survival of our movement.  Today I ask the whole of Te Iwi Māori to consider such a sacrifice. 

I ask now that you vote Mana and contribute to the building of better future!

I ask now that you vote Mana and renew the vows that represented a people in union with their leaders!

I ask now that you vote Mana and re-bind the threads of camaraderie that once symbolised what it meant and still means to be Māori.

I ask now that you vote Mana and re-sew the fabric of socio-cultural and political harmony that has devastatingly become undone.

Mana Movement;  I ask now that you call upon our Māori party brothers and sisters and invite them to effectively co-exist based on the principle where there was once a time where our peoples lived side by side and that it is possible still.

Māori Party;  I ask that you reposition your vote toward the Mana Movement and enjoy the security of a sufficient working ground-roots movement who returns to frequently meet with the people, vesting power in the people and not single wayward groups or individuals.

VOTE MANA AND JOIN THE GROUNDSWELL MOVEMENT LIBERATING OUR COMMUNITIES!

We are being challenged by opportunity.

The opportunity to recreate a world where our political survival continues to exist sustainably.  That opportunity awaits us in the voting booths.  It is expended by the simple stroke of a pen and with that stroke, a future will be determined by a people who truly want it.  A mouldable future, an achievable future, a future totally dependent on the box we tick come this Saturday 25^th of June 2011.

‘E rere e te huata hopukia, e rere e te manuka tomokia’

‘When the opportunity passes you by, take it!’

VOTE MANA AND ENJOY THE FRUITS OF UNITY WE HAVE LONGED SO MUCH FOR!