Where to from here?

The welcome to Waipapakauri Ramp is temporarily on hold for those who do not live there. Picture / Peter Jackson

There is still at least a week of lockdown to go, but some thoughts are turning to how life is going to change, perhaps forever, once the Covid-19 crisis has run its course. Will there be massive, lingering unemployment? Will small businesses fail to re-open? Will we retain our new-found pleasure in close familial bonds? Will the freedoms that have been taken from us be fully restored?

Time will tell, but there is another issue to ponder. Will this crisis begin to close the gap perceived between Māori and other New Zealanders? Or will what is an ever-widening rift continue to grow?

There are good and bad signs. The reaction to Hone Harawira's Easter Sunday trip to Auckland is one of the latter. Mr Harawira's explanation probably won't placate those who accuse him of not practising what he preaches in terms of unnecessary travel, and the red mist will continue to descend on some who need only the mention of his name to take offence. The bigger picture though is a much more positive one.

There can be no denying that the Te Hiku iwi at least have stepped up to this pandemic big time. They have made huge efforts, in conjunction with all sorts of other organisations and agencies, not only to minimise the risk of the virus reaching their communities but assisting those who are struggling to cope with the lockdown. The need for support, in many cases, is very real, and all five iwi have mobilised on their behalf.

Most encouraging, perhaps, has been the attitude of NgāiTakoto, whose spokesman, Craig Hobson, made it very clear at Waipapakauri Ramp last week that the iwi's concern in terms of keeping Covid-19 out of the village was not just for its members but the whole community. Mr Hobson went to some lengths to convey that message to residents, some of whom supported the plan to block access to 90 Mile Beach while others opposed it. He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata, Mr Hobson said, included everyone, not Māori alone.

Whatever individuals' views might have been regarding blocking access to the beach wasn't important. The significance was that NgāiTakoto saw itself as a part of one community, and was proposing to act on that basis.

This is nothing new. Te Rarawa chairman Haami Piripi has long displayed a desire for inclusiveness, a philosophy that goes far beyond aspirational. Te Rarawa, by its deeds, is very much an integral part of its wider community, as opposed to a distinctly separate ingredient. So what? Sadly, many communities in this country are still working towards achieving that degree of assimilation, that level of mutual respect, and acceptance that a community united will always be stronger than one divided.

If our response to Covid-19 helps some of us understand that we are all in this together, that we can all contribute in different ways to surviving the crisis, that we all have our neighbours' backs, then something very good will have come from a potential catastrophe.

Some do need to try harder though. Earlier this week Far North Mayor John Carter was accused by Hobson's Pledge of "confirming" his support for unauthorised, illegal checkpoints stopping private vehicles on public roads. Fiona Mackenzie said Hone Harawira had been operating 'medical checkpoints' on public roads at the main entry points to the Far North, while other "activists" had been blockading public roads in other regions.

Not only was that illegal, she said, but it was contrary to the government's Level 4 pandemic lockdown instructions to the public to stay at home to protect families/whānau and communities.

Mr Carter had told her that Mr Harawira had approached the Far North District Council for support, and had been told by him that the council could not help with costs, and had no authority to sanction the checkpoints. Mr Harawira had been directed to talk to the police. That seems reasonable, but Ms Mackenzie said she understood that even if the police provided supervision, they had no legal right to delegate their responsibilities to untrained, self-organised members of the public.

"What has our country come to when police and mayors such as John Carter are publicly supporting such vigilante behaviour?" she asked. "People can't go for a swim yet they can impose checkpoints on private vehicles on public roads? It appears that the police and local councils either support or are afraid to challenge this illegal behaviour."

Mr Carter, who, she added, accused her of supporting the spread of disease, told the Northland Age that he did not support unlawful activities. He had been liaising with Northland Police District Commander Superintendent Tony Hill, who was working with iwi. It was his understanding that any checkpoints would be supervised by police, and aimed at raising awareness of the pandemic and ensuring the safety of all involved.

It's a bit of a stretch to interpret that as indicating support for "vigilante behaviour." The use of the word vigilante might be technically correct, but has very negative connotations that are totally unwarranted, even if the checkpoints are illegal (which, according to the Transport Act, they undoubtedly are). Hobson's Pledge, which normally confines itself to arguing against government policies based on race rather than need, and the treating of all New Zealanders as equal regardless of their ethnicity, surely has bigger fish than this to fry.

If we are going to gain anything from this crisis, let's have no more of them and us. Let's have a little more understanding, a little more willingness to allow for the fact that we all see the world a little differently, but at the end of the day we all have the same desire to emerge from this pandemic as unscathed as possible.

We all want to be healthy and happy, and to watch our kids thrive and prosper. We all want our communities to be happy, safe places for all. If some individuals test our patience, view them as individuals, not as an entire race. In Te Hiku at least, Māori and Pākehā are inextricably entwined. We are as close to being one people as any community in the country, probably closer than most. There will always be disagreements, but we should consider the motivation behind actions and words rather than those actions and words alone.

While we ponder a future that we are told will not look quite the same as it did before anyone heard the word coronavirus, let us be a little more tolerant, a little less eager to judge, a little slower to seek out grounds for umbrage.

And if we can't quite manage that, we can at least give thanks that we live in a special part of a special country, where most people, however far back they can trace their New Zealand ancestry, rub along pretty well.

And while we're wishing for a better world after Covid-19 than before, let's hope that whoever came up with the idea of spending a few billion more on widening footpaths so we can go about our daily lives again one day without getting within two metres of another pedestrian is busy reskilling for another line of work.