I find it appalling that the new president of the Māori Party, which managed to poll only 1.2 per cent in the 2017 elections, calls out the Prime Minister of New Zealand for not doing enough for NZ Māori. Really?
Now Che Wilson is demanding the Prime Minister should talk to the Auckland land protesters. Personally, I hope Fletchers takes them to court for the cost delays to building those 480 urgently needed homes.
But hang on, the Prime Minister and our Government have "put a stop to this development until this protest is sorted". Does that mean the protesters can't be sued? I think the Prime Minster has done more than enough; she has interfered in a private business transaction.
Waikato Māori lost the land in question in a battle against the New Zealand Government (a common thing in those days in many countries and still happening overseas today). Land owner Gavin Wallace's descendants hope the development goes ahead to supply urgently needed houses for Māori and other New Zealanders in Auckland.
Latest records show Fletchers paid $19 million in March 2014 when the rateable value was $11.5m, showing that Fletchers did not rip anyone off. Protesters claim the land was a burial ground when, in fact, Māori used it for growing vegetables and the ground was frequently cultivated and turned over. That would hardly happen to a Māori burial site or even a European one. Burial caves adjoin the Fletchers building site but are not on it.
