Nah, f*** off, Maori on treaty referendum

[Lilith7]

David Seymour may not get the reaction he wants. That he even has such an intention shows clearly how out of touch he is.


https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/300994...1#cxrecs_s



[b]"ACT wants to push ahead with its Treaty referendum ÔÇô but reporter Joel Maxwell discovers there could be extraordinary pushback from everyday M─üori.[/b]

M─üori are warning of sweeping protests, division and the potential for violence if ACTÔÇÖs proposed Treaty referendum gets across the line in coalition negotiations for the new government.

However, ACT leader David Seymour says he doesnÔÇÖt accept there will be disruption ÔÇô and he has his finger on the pulse of the M─üori world.

┼îtaki man Nathan Kirker said there would┬ábe an ÔÇ£uproarÔÇØ┬áif the government tried to launch the referendum. He said AustraliaÔÇÖs vote on The Voice, the same day as New Zealand's election, was a ÔÇ£prime exampleÔÇØ of how referendums were a numbers game.
Kirker would join any protests, he said, as would many people he knew ÔÇô especially from ┼îtaki, which has a strong reo-speaking M─üori population. ÔÇ£[and] Not just the M─üori, the P─ükeh─ü are great here too.ÔÇØ

Kirker said he would feel real anger if the referendum went ahead.

ÔÇ£If someone tells me, walking down the street, that they would tick for the referendum and say ÔÇÿyesÔÇÖ, that would pÔǪ me off ÔǪ itÔÇÖs like, ÔÇÿNah, fÔǪ off.ÔÇÖÔÇØ

Gina Chaffey-Aupouri, from the East Coast, said the referendum would cause ÔÇ£heapsÔÇØ of division.

ÔÇ£I think theyÔÇÖre gonna cause a war ... theyÔÇÖll find T─üme Iti on their back step.ÔÇØ

The Treaty was hugely important to her, she said, in every aspect of her life.

ÔÇ£I live and breathe and walk by the Treaty; because it is my life, it is my breath, it is my blood that flows through my body.ÔÇØ

Meanwhile, Wellington woman Paula-Maree McKenzie says there have been two nation-defining marches spanning the country in her lifetime. She was at both.

She was there with her wh─ünau in 1975, as a 7-year-old, watching on as Dame Whina Cooper and land marchers arrived in Wellington. As an adult in 2004, she was in the Foreshore and Seabed march.

McKenzie said Seymour probably thought that he was being reasonable.

ÔÇ£I think he doesnÔÇÖt think itÔÇÖs crazy; I actually think heÔÇÖs oblivious that division may happen.ÔÇØ

The vast majority of people hadnÔÇÖt bothered to read the Treaty, she said. ÔÇ£And these people are going to be able to tick a box to determine my relationship with the Crown?ÔÇØ