N.Z.E.F. ASSOCIATION'S PROTEST

Chronicle (Levin), 3 September 1948, Page 5

N.Z.E.F. ASSOCIATION'S PROTEST

' ' Meinbers of the Second N.Z.E.F. Association throughout Neiv Zealand will emphatieally support Mr. Tirikatene in his contention tliat the Rugby team to tour South Africa inust not be termed an All Black side if Maori players are deliberately excluded. Tlie Rugby Uiiion decision will leave a dirty taste in the mouth of' every returned serviceman because of its lamentable axul thoroughly obnoxious raising of tlie colour bar," says a statement by Mr. R. Childs, seeretary of the Wellington branch of the ■ Second N.Z.E.F. Association, which was released this aftemoon. "Maori troops were among tlie iinest in the world and Maoris serving in eyery branch of this vountry's ariued services, earned a splendid reputation. They were an integral part of the nation 's defence during the war and they are an integrai part of our organi.sation in peacetime. Au insult to tlieiu is an insult to us all for tlie comradeship oi' Maori and European forged in battle, cannot be set aside as lightly as some people appear to think. "My branch feels that the South African Rugby Union sliould be firmly told tliat in New 'Zealand Maori and European are indivisible. The matter is one which goes far beyond the lield of sport. It ofl'ends the fundamentaJ principl'e of our vvay of life aud is particularly offensive to returned men. Our Maori members have suffered grievous hurt made more severe by the silence of the Rugby Union as to the rcasoning beliind the decision. "If it sliould be suggested for even oue moment that South Africa is being pcrmitted either Jirectly or through the tacit consent of a New Zealand organisation, to thrust her racial policy down tlie throats of New Zealanders, tlien clearly a protest sliould be made" on a national scale. In anv case the very least that can be done if the Maoris reniain excluded, is to make it crystal clear to South Africa and the world that the team we send is only oue New Zealand team and deliniteiy not a truly representative side. ' ' Personally I feel that rather than bow ihe knee to an alien creed sucli as racial discrimhiation, New Zealand should refuse to send ,a team at all."