May 20, 2014
Male, pale and stale fear Maori voice
A Rotorua District Councillor says the council needs Te Arawa more than the iwi needs the council.
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait says the council is working through opposition to a proposed new board that will replace the 20-year-old Te Arawa Standing Committee.
The proposal has already led to councillor Mike McVicker quitting as leader of the council’s Sustainable Economic Growth Strategy group after he leaked the proposal and denounced it in the media as race-based electoral privilege.
Mrs Raukawa-Tait says some people feel threatened when Maori ask to share in decision-making.
"But I believe it’s a generational thing. They tend to be male, pale and stale. Their benchmark is Pakeha leadership, and so they fear if Maori have a go at decision-making and leadership, we will display the same Pakeha leadership traits they have always seen, which is avariciousness, greed and self-serving," she says.
Merepeka Raukawa-Tait says Te Arawa along with other iwi around the motu have seen their assets used to develop New Zealand’s economic base, and they now want more say in the future direction of their communities.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH MEREPEKA RAUKAWA TAIT CLICK ON THE LINK
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