Pakeha are indigenous too says Mallard

By AUDREY YOUNG

It is a myth that the Treaty of Waitangi gives Maori extra rights over other New Zealanders, said Trevor Mallard in his first major speech as Co-ordinating Minister for Race Relations.

Under the treaty, Maori were given the same rights as other British subjects.

"Article three was an explicit equaliser and promise that Maori were not to have race-based legislation passed against them," Mr Mallard said.

"Maori have no extra rights or privileges under the treaty or in the policy of the New Zealand Government.

"When Maori claim resources under article three, they are asking for what they see as their equitable share in relation to other citizens and in proportion to their needs."

Mr Mallard said Maori were not alone in having ancestors who were victims of British power structures.

"Power was as unbalanced in the Lancaster mills as it was on the Waikato or the Punjab.

"Maori and Pakeha are both indigenous people to New Zealand now.

"I regard myself as an indigenous New Zealander - I come from Wainuiomata.

"We've left behind a British identity. This has meant that we no longer easily understand the people who tried to tear up the treaty and went to war with Maori in 1863. Once Were Warriors. Once were British."

Mr Mallard was given the job to address the impact of National leader Don Brash's Orewa speech in January, including ensuring Government funding is needs-based, not race-based.

He described National yesterday as "the North Korea of New Zealand politics".

"The National Party has dug itself into a bunker and thinks there is a race war going on," Mr Mallard told the Stout Research Centre at Victoria University. "Such a party cannot create a New Zealand that is unified and at peace with itself."

He said the debate about New Zealand's future was not well-served by people making dangerous generalisations, such as claims about Maori "constantly skiving off to tangi".

And, he said, "services must be on the basis of need and not because of a sense of race-based entitlement."

Mr Mallard said there was no mystery to the spirit of the treaty.

"The spirit of the Treaty of Waitangi is a bond between New Zealanders that should transcend disputes over conflicting intentions and linguistic wrangles over different texts," he said.

He also believed the treaty was "open-ended, not a straitjacket".

"It was a preliminary agreement to an ongoing relationship under the same law and Government."

There was "considerable freedom to fill in its considerable gaps".

Mr Mallard also said the so-called treaty grievance industry had to be seen in perspective.

Since 1989, around $680 million had been paid out in treaty settlements. Last year Telecom had made a $700 million profit, the Government collected around $850 million in tobacco excise tax and total taxation revenue was over $40 billion.