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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Playing grown ups

The morning after the Crown-Tuhoe agreement was announced. Calls of Separatism, 'nation-within-a-nation' and the paranoid Pakeha rhetoric of supremicism and voices of opposition that usually follow these settlement deals have been almost absent. This was not just because it was well telegraphed in previous news, or that a lot of other newsworthy events were happening at the same time that displaced it, but because the media and the public (the Pakeha media and public that is to say) has ascertained over the last decade or so that there is no threat to them, their property or their lifestyle from the NZ government recognising and returning Maori things back to Maori.

The reason for a large part of this feeling - or lack of feeling - is the 'silent dividend' being reaped by the National-Maori Party support agreement. National - if in opposition - would be playing to their conservative, reactionary elements and actively working on division and antagonism; but in government it is a totally different story - and one being written for the better.

As proof of this change and progression just look at the front pages of the main news websites this morning.

NZ Herald
 ZB
Yahoo
TVNZ
Stuff
RNZ
Even twitter, beyond the effective control of the news media is relatively quiet:  
This would not have been possible even a decade ago, and yet the morning after the Crown says no-one owns a National Park and that it won't be a National Park anymore and it will be run jointly with an Iwi and they will also have government services devolved to their management there are no headlines and no hysteria. It's like we've grown up or something.

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