Maori like to be consulted – but who did Tuhoe consult about their ban on Urewera hunting?

Nowadays he will need Tuhoe permission.

Alf was never satisfied with the assurances and platitudes from Chris Finlayson, our Attorney-General, about public access to the foreshore and seabed when the issue was being argued a few years ago.

He particularly remembers ACT MP David Garrett being given the brush-off at question time in Parliament.

Finlayson was apt to insist he expected  very little of the foreshore and seabed would end up under Maori customary title through the claims process in the legislation that replaced the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

Uncle Jim hasn’t got his bullet – and the courts don’t have their body-snatch ruling upheld, either

But Uncle Jim’s mana so far is beyond the reach of this lot.

Alf has been keeping an eye out for signs of the Crown wanting to have the law upheld.

But no. The law remains defied and the body of James Takamore remains buried in Tuhoe country, contrary to a Supreme Court ruling on where it should go, which is back to Christchurch and into the hands of the dead man’s wife.

Curiously, so far as the Grumbles’ research can establish, ACT leader Jamie Whyte has been remarkably quiet on this matter. After all, it looks like a clear case of one law for indigenous persons and another law for the rest of us, which is something Jamie has been railing against.

Body snatching a grave offence? It depends (Tuhoe will tell you) on whose law you want to observe

You want me to sort it out?

The headline on a Rotorua Post report on June 19 was more than a mite premature with what it told us.

It said:

Man laid to rest on seventh anniversary of death

Wrong.

The accompanying story told readers that one James Takamore would be laid to rest in Christchurch on the seventh anniversary of his death, but the location was being kept a closely guarded secret.

As it turns out, James Takamore’s body is being closely guarded too.

This thing about non-indigenous creatures in the Ureweras is a worry – how far will it spread?

The fish must go – but can the angler conclusively prove he is indigenous?

The Grumbles are giving serious consideration to moving to the South Island. Somewhere in the Ngai
Tahu’s domain – it doesn’t matter exactly where, although sunshine hours and what-have-you will be among the factors given high priority. A comfortable club for gentlemen with good stocks of whisky is important, too.

If the decision to move is made, advice to follow will be given to all of Alf’s constituents.

Sizing things up with Paul Holmes – we just need to know our history to understand Tame Iti

Paul Holmes – a self-confessed cocky little bastard, although we didn’t really need to hear it from him – got some things right and some things a bit wrong in a column in the NZ Herald today.

He has gone out to bat for Tame Iti and dishes up a few morsels of history to persuade us the stroppy Iti has good cause to be angry because the Tuhoe people have been given a raw deal.

The New Zealand government has always displayed a capacity for savagery and vindictiveness in their dealings with Tuhoe.

No doubt Tuhoe did suffer a raw deal.

Whether we should suffer Iti’s antics as a consequence is another matter.

The Maori Party might be miffed – but not enough (it’s a fair bet) to give up their baubles or their Beehive influence

Alf supposes the Maori Party’s MPs avidly read this blog for a steer on what they should do.

Moreover, he supposes they read his post here yesterday and saw the great good sense in what Alf was saying:

Principles be buggered, it’s winning power and holding it that matters

Alf has done this supposing while munching his breakfast on learning that the Maori Party is signalling it will stay in Government.

Yep, the buggers have had a taste of power and the trappings that go with it.

Ministerial cars and what-have-you for two of them, and the buzz one gets from exercising political influence for all of them.

That influence is reflected in several decisions over the past year or so – flags flying on the Auckland harbour bridge, Tainui’s co-management of the Waikato River, the indigenous rights thing at the United Nations, whanau ora and so on.

The Maori Party MPs will want to keep flexing their muscle, despite a cooling of relations (a momentary cooling, Alf suggests) with Prime Minister John Key.

Tuhoe , the treaty and the politics of separatism – principles be buggered, it’s winning power and holding it that matters

Good one, Boss.

Yep. Alf approves of Prime Minister John Key drawing a line in the sand – at long bloody last – on iwi treaty demands.

He has ruled out Tuhoe owning the Te Urewera National Park as part of its treaty settlement.

Treaty settlement? The buggers didn’t sign the treaty and were proud of it.

It is astonishing, therefore, that Tuhoe’s outlandish request for negotiations wasn’t laughed out of the Beehive from the outset.

TV3, Tuhoe and a teasing item about Treaty negotiations – but why weren’t they keeping tabs on Pita?

It’s a bloody good thing Alf started his round-up of the blogs this morning by checking out what the Busted Blonde had to say at Roarprawn. He had been limbering up to take a whack at Chris Finlayson, our Minister of Treaty Negotiations, after being incensed by a TV3 news item last night.

According to TV3 –

The Government is on the verge of offering the Tuhoe tribe a treaty settlement that could be as groundbreaking as it is controversial.

Tuhoe is hoping it will mean total control of the Urewera National Park, and start the tribe on the way to self-rule and becoming a separate nation.

Well, bugger me, Alf thundered.

A treaty settlement with Tuhoe? Didn’t Tuhoe take great pride in refusing to sign the bloody document?

And what’s all this bollocks about self-rule?

Before we know it, we will be needing a bloody passport to get into the national park, and probably we will have to pay hefty fees to drive on the roads, walks on the tracks and swim in the lakes.