What we do know is political racism has always ensured Māori have never been Kiwis. The “us or them” culture war has allowed politicians to move Māori people further away from our democracy, and “Kiwi” has a role in that. The horrendous Iwi-Kiwi political campaign headed by the National Party in 2005 is the most obvious example. Don Brash, the party’s leader at the time, wanted to pitch New Zealanders against the Labour Party. Instead of critiquing the party’s policies, he chose the simplest campaign
of all: ostracise Māori as outcasts, and align them with the opposition. Brash was arguing that if Labour won the election, Māori would block Kiwi access to beaches. In reality, all governments of my lifetime have quietly shifted hundreds of thousands of hectares of land into private ownership. Taxpayers have paid millions to administer that process, and all New Zealanders are now banned from accessing that land. The Iwi-Kiwi campaign failed and National lost the vote, but Brash has since solidified a successful career in
the Iwi-Kiwi industry. People who buy into that fear think Kiwi and Iwi are at odds. Ironically, people like that have Māori to thank for propping up their support-base. Without Māori, there would be no fearful Kiwi.
Kiwi, iwi, Māori, Don Brash, National Party, Iwi-Kiwi campaign, beaches, land access, private ownership