‘Greedy people’ mar value of treaty

Press, 7 February 1986, Page 5

‘Greedy people’ mar value of treaty

PA Tauranga The Treaty of Waitangi was good in both spirit and letter, but there were greedy, bad people of both races who marred its full implementation, said the Rt Rev. Manu Bennett yesterday. Speaking in a sermon from the top of Mount Maunganui, Bishop Bennett reaffirmed his people’s continued belief in the treaty and urged all New Zealanders to work towards a more just society. “We have come here today to offer our thanks to our ancestors who accepted and trusted in the treaty, and trusted in the pakeha,” he told a gathering of more than 50 people attending the commemorative church service.

“Some today will say that this trust in the pakeha was misplaced, but I believe the treaty is basically a good thing. “Don’t blame the colour of a man’s skin for the way he acts—it is greed that corrupts man, and

makes him lie, cheat, steal and murder. It is what is in his heart, not the outside colour of his skin, that matters,” Bishop Bennett said.

While urging support for the treaty and also pushing for its return next year to Waitangi, Bishop Bennett warned that the Maori people were not justly appreciated for their contribution to the nation..... “If the Maoris in the freezing works, the Army, the police, and the Government service downed tools tomorrow and withdrew their labour, this nation would be in chaos,” he said.

“I am certainly not advocating such a course of action, but I am pointing out that the input into the development of this nation by the Maori people has not been fully appreciated. “People who are not appreciated can become bitter, and feel they should withdraw,” Bishop Bennett said.

“I sray that from this day forward there will be

a greater appreciation of Maori input into the economy, and greater consultation on issues which concern us.”

The Maori organisation, Kotahitanga, said yesterday that race relations in New Zealand would worsen unless the Treaty of Waitangi was honoured. A Kotahitanga spokesman, Mr Hone Ngata, of Gisborne, said the Government had to learn that wherever there were Waitangi celebrations there would also be protests. “Protest action didn’t start today; our ancestors began the fight when it became obvious to them that the co-signatories (pakeha) of -the treaty were not keeping their word; they were not here to share but to take. “Much has been said in the past about the Treaty of Waitangi being the ‘cornerstone of our society.’ Until the cornerstone is given mana, race relations in this country will continue to crumble and the implications of- ; that rest on the Government,” Mr Ngata slid.