John Key has given the OK to flying a Maori separatist flag on the Auckland Harbour Bridge and government buildings on Waitangi day, provided the iwi can agree on a flag and explain its meaning. The idea seems to be that as there are two flagpoles on the bridge, one would fly the NZ flag and one the Maori one, symbolising that Waitangi was an agreement between Maori and the Crown.
But this is nonsense. If you wanted to symbolise that, you’d fly the Union Jack and the Maori flag – Waitangi was an agreement between the British government and the Maori.
Note however that it was an agreement with the Maori of the day, NOT with the modern separatist movement. The Maori of the day agreed to a union, therefore the majority were NOT separatist and would probably DISAGREE with this Maori flag.
Or you would just fly the NZ flag, as we already do. The NZ flag already symbolises the fact that the British only formed part of the makeup of NZ, as the Union Jack is only a corner of the NZ flag.
Waitangi was when this country became one nation. To start flying flags representing separate groups undermines the entire purpose of the Treaty. We should be flying the flag of the country formed by the Treaty of Waitangi – New Zealand.
Samuel Dennis 
January 15, 2009 at 10:25 am
Footnote: The Maori could agree on the United Tribes flag of 1835, which was used by the Maori who signed at Waitangi, and thus is the correct flag to use historically and not separatist. But I cannot see the current Maori leaders agreeing on a flag with the St George’s Cross as its main symbol.
http://www.mch.govt.nz/nzflag/history/united.html
Even if this flag were used, my objection to showing two flags rather than one will still remain. Only the NZ flag should be used. But if two are used I would prefer to see the Union Jack and the United Tribes flag flying together than the NZ flag and some modern Maori flag.
January 15, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Samuel Dennis you really dont have a say which flag Maori want to fly – you have no right to tell us what flag is the most appropropriate flag – In fact unless you can prove your whakapapa back to the signing you have no say at all. This is our choice and our choice alone – its ironic that we seek justice and fair play and dambed permission from the thieves the benefactors of stolen goods – as I read it somewhere! yes! look at the impact of your for fathers b4 you accuse and critise us and deny Maori the right to our country our business what pakeha need to do is just get out of our way and let us lead the way because this system which has been thrust upon us is disfunctional unjust and dambed right evil- So leave us alone – get out of our way – infact get out of your way.
January 15, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Wahine, you go fly whatever flag you like on your own property, and good on you. I have no problem with that.
The issue here is what flag should be recognised by the government and flown officially on Waitangi day. And I say that should be the official New Zealand flag.
And why do you call me Pakeha? My whakapapa is none of your business – I am a New Zealander and like most New Zealanders have ancestry from many different people groups, as I am sure you do too. Some of my ancestors have suffered great injustices – some fled from France to England for example because of religious persecution. But I do not blame the French of today for that, it happened in the past and there is nothing I can do about it.
Whether I have Maori ancestry or not is information I am not willing to disclose, because it would allow others to place me in a particular racial category (“Maori” or “Pakeha”), and therefore on one side or the other of a racist debate that some people wish to have, but I have no interest in getting involved in. When in Ireland I do not identify myself as Catholic or Protestant for the same reason. There is no point getting involved in an unnecessary and unproductive fight over the past.
January 15, 2009 at 3:14 pm
By the way Wahine, I have major problems with the following statements in your comment (among others):
“In fact unless you can prove your whakapapa back to the signing you have no say at all.”
Are you trying to say the Treaty of Waitangi was a Maori thing? It was nothing of the sort. It was an agreement between Maori and the Crown – and thus includes all NZers, and all NZers have an equal say on it. Have you actually read the Treaty?
“deny Maori the right to our country”
The Maori agreed in the Treaty to grant sovereignty to the Queen. New Zealand does not belong to Maori, but rather to all New Zealanders, represented by the Crown.
“this system which has been thrust upon us is disfunctional unjust and dambed right evil”
No system has been thrust upon anyone, it was agreed to in the Treaty. I personally understand the civil, democratic society we have now is far less evil and far more functional than the warmongering Maori society that existed beforehand by all accounts, but feel free to disagree if you would actually like to live in that old society.
Te Amohau, of Ngatiwhakaue, stated at the signing of the Treaty:
“Let there be only one road. In former times it was evil; now Christianity has come among us, and we live in peace. In former times we were lost in the dark, but the gospel has come, and now we live.”
And this is typical of the statements of chiefs signing the treaty – they lived then, and knew the old ways were evil, and the new were good. I fear you have been listening too much to some modern revisionism and not reading actual history. The Treaty brought peace to New Zealand. Certainly there were some injustices along the way, I do not deny it, but to claim that society before the Europeans came was good and after was evil is a far cry from the truth.
February 6, 2009 at 9:01 pm
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February 19, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Dennis you are such a gullible humpty dumpty fanatic (KUPAPA). You has been seduced by tau iwi korero ki Hatana. We will save your children cause you are so lost in the mind. MANA ATUA, MANA TANGATA, MANA WHENUA
THREE STRIKES YOU OUTA THE GAME BOY!
February 19, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Dennis!
Te Tiriti O Waitangi 6th Feb 1940
Immigration document
What version do you read?
February 20, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Safari, don’t I have to be Maori to be a Kupapa? You have no idea whether I have Maori ancestry or not, so don’t jump to conclusions. I haven’t been seduced by Satan and I am not in the least frightened by your hollow threats.
The Treaty is very clear who the signatories were, – the United Tribes plus other tribes who signed as independents, and the British crown:
Ko nga Rangatira o te wakaminenga me nga Rangatira katoa hoki ki hai i uru ki taua wakaminenga ka tuku rawa atu ki te Kuini o Ingarani ake tonu atu – te Kawanatanga katoa o o ratou wenua.
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/read-the-treaty/maori-text