So...Tainui want something they never made
I find it very difficult to reconcile Tainui's ownership claim to the Waikato River, even if it is through spiritual means, a tupuna, or sacred ancestor. For some reason, I find it difficult to even sense a justification in that when so many people up and down the central North Island of New Zealand, so many other Iwi, Hapu and people in general benefit from the great Waikato River.
It is just by shear fortune that the Waikato River runs through Hamilton, Ngaruawahia, Huntly, through in essence Tainui's back yard that they have it in the first place. It disappoints me that Tainui (albeit Tuku Morgan himself and perhaps one or two others) are acting independant of the Tainui organisation as whole, but this seems to me, a money grabbing opportunity.
People up and down the Waikato, businesses and the like would be very concerned as to what Tainui would do with the river if they did own it. Hell I would be very concerned if my sole business operation depended on the river. Such as...oh now let me see, Genesis Energy. If Tainui owned the river, what is then stopping them from essentially removing the rights to the water, unless they got a HUGE ownership of the company. CHA-CHING $$$$ and everyone in the Tainui management is being driven around in 40 foot limos and owns waterfront properties with huge boats on coastal docks. While the rest of Tainui langusihes is the same level of poverty and worthwhile ventures go un-noticed. Such as, why dosen't Tainui inject money into helping the education system become better for those Maori kids who leave school instead of blaming the government. No education system is perfect. Why dosen't Tainui create a better stop smoking programme, to reduce the number of Maori who are smokers, or a fat-free programme, to reduce Maori health programmes.
I watched over the years as my own Iwi squandered thousands of dollars on a fight between themselves and a Hapu far down south for a block of land no-one was going to use, and yet on our own Marae land, stand a building which should be condemned and one that has stood for nearly 15 years, is to this day still un-finished. I have seen a waka which was held with so much mana and pride when it was first brought onto the Marae, become so derelict that it is no longer sea worthy and no one from the iwi itself will invest in it to become the statement of pride it once was. Now, there is little or no money going into the community. To the kids who need it. The ones who suck on fizzy and pies for breakfast, cocco pops for lunch and fish and chips for dinner. Maori I think its time to step up to the plate and work towards a future that does not revolve around a century or more of hate and anger.
Who created the water? Didn't God do that? So Tainui wants to own something, that is made by divine powers? The Government doesn't even do that. Sometimes I think they overstep the bounds of their administration but for the most part, the Waikato is not a restricted waterway. Anyone can go to it. Anyone can fish from it. Anyone can bathe in it, and so help me if anyone wants to strait but you could drink from it.
See, I see this from this perspective. If they can claim that they own the water, what is to stop them claiming that they own the air? Water and Air are two resources everyone has regardless of race, creed, colour or background free access too.
I do not believe in this claim by either Tuku or Tainui (if in fact this was backed by Tainui as a whole). I do not believe that it is based on anything substantial. Its a money grabbing opportunity by a few and only a few would gain. What would Tainui propose to do with it? That was a question I asked my iwi if it got this land...what is it going to do with it?
Hang on, I feel a Tui ad coming on. Tainui own the Waikato River
YEAH RIGHT!!!
It is just by shear fortune that the Waikato River runs through Hamilton, Ngaruawahia, Huntly, through in essence Tainui's back yard that they have it in the first place. It disappoints me that Tainui (albeit Tuku Morgan himself and perhaps one or two others) are acting independant of the Tainui organisation as whole, but this seems to me, a money grabbing opportunity.
People up and down the Waikato, businesses and the like would be very concerned as to what Tainui would do with the river if they did own it. Hell I would be very concerned if my sole business operation depended on the river. Such as...oh now let me see, Genesis Energy. If Tainui owned the river, what is then stopping them from essentially removing the rights to the water, unless they got a HUGE ownership of the company. CHA-CHING $$$$ and everyone in the Tainui management is being driven around in 40 foot limos and owns waterfront properties with huge boats on coastal docks. While the rest of Tainui langusihes is the same level of poverty and worthwhile ventures go un-noticed. Such as, why dosen't Tainui inject money into helping the education system become better for those Maori kids who leave school instead of blaming the government. No education system is perfect. Why dosen't Tainui create a better stop smoking programme, to reduce the number of Maori who are smokers, or a fat-free programme, to reduce Maori health programmes.
I watched over the years as my own Iwi squandered thousands of dollars on a fight between themselves and a Hapu far down south for a block of land no-one was going to use, and yet on our own Marae land, stand a building which should be condemned and one that has stood for nearly 15 years, is to this day still un-finished. I have seen a waka which was held with so much mana and pride when it was first brought onto the Marae, become so derelict that it is no longer sea worthy and no one from the iwi itself will invest in it to become the statement of pride it once was. Now, there is little or no money going into the community. To the kids who need it. The ones who suck on fizzy and pies for breakfast, cocco pops for lunch and fish and chips for dinner. Maori I think its time to step up to the plate and work towards a future that does not revolve around a century or more of hate and anger.
Who created the water? Didn't God do that? So Tainui wants to own something, that is made by divine powers? The Government doesn't even do that. Sometimes I think they overstep the bounds of their administration but for the most part, the Waikato is not a restricted waterway. Anyone can go to it. Anyone can fish from it. Anyone can bathe in it, and so help me if anyone wants to strait but you could drink from it.
See, I see this from this perspective. If they can claim that they own the water, what is to stop them claiming that they own the air? Water and Air are two resources everyone has regardless of race, creed, colour or background free access too.
I do not believe in this claim by either Tuku or Tainui (if in fact this was backed by Tainui as a whole). I do not believe that it is based on anything substantial. Its a money grabbing opportunity by a few and only a few would gain. What would Tainui propose to do with it? That was a question I asked my iwi if it got this land...what is it going to do with it?
Hang on, I feel a Tui ad coming on. Tainui own the Waikato River
YEAH RIGHT!!!
posted by Wiremu Bayliss at
5:19 pm
1 Comments:
Yes, I tend to agree with you on this issue. How can one group of people own a natural resource such as a river, and a river as big as the Waikato?
Many people use the river for a number of purposes. It needs to stay that way. We can't have one group owning it. Because, as you said, they will be able to make a lot of money from it. They'll end up charging people to boat on the river, swim in it, and charge the power companies to draw water from it to run their power stations - as if our electricity wasn't expensive enough! Perhaps they would put tolls on all the bridges crossing the river!
But then you have Mount Tarawera which is in private ownership. You have to pay to climb it!
And that's right, if they can own the water then why not the air above it too? Wasn't there a tribe in NZ a few years back that wanted to charge airlines for flying in the airspace over their land? I heard they even wrote a letter to NASA wanting to charge for all spacecraft that orbited over their land. I could imagine NASA's response - YEAH RIGHT!
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