LETTERS

Rational debate needed on co-governance

I guess your coverage of the Motupipi Street "roadshow" and the attendant protests pretty much mirrored media coverage of same in other NZ towns. The article and accompanying photos were mostly sympathetic to the protesters cause as was the predictable correspondence which followed.

Co-governance is an extremely serious issue and emotive "roadshows" and fervent slogan-bearers are probably not the best vehicles to explore it with. There needs to be intelligent and rational debate. (Slogan-bearers seldom engage in this way). I, myself, am very uncomfortable with the concept. Not just for its own sake but further, it is a blatant and serious denial of the Treaty.

In Article 1 the chiefs cede sovereignty to the Crown. This is the most important part and without it the Crown would never have offered the rest. Equality for all was enshrined in those words.

Remove, then, the compelling element of racial correctness and the glaring dichotomy inherent in co-governance is hard to miss.

Larry Petterson

Community Board overstepped the line

Let me make it clear; I am not taking sides in this pro co-governance, stop co-governance argument. I am taking umbrage with the Golden Bay Community Board and their article in the latest issue of the TDC Newsline . In this, the Community Board states: “As a Board, we were sad to see the ‘Stop Co-governance’ tour happening and coming to Golden Bay. However, we were also happy to see our community pull together, and stand up and say, no, this is not who we are, this is not what we want.”

Now forgive me if I am wrong, but I thought there were more people in Golden Bay than the 100 or so people who took part in this protest, two of whom, according to the latest police report in The GB Weekly, were arrested for assault. Is this “our community pulling together”? Are these people really representative of the views of the whole of Golden Bay? Did the Community Board run some sort of survey on the inhabitants of the Bay that I have neglected to fill in? If the community was all pulling together and saying no, where were the other 4900?

The Golden Bay Community Board was elected to represent all of the people of Golden Bay. They are not expected to air their own personal views in a way that purports to represent the views of us all, without the views of us all being taken into account.

I’m sorry Community Board, I think you normally do a great job but, in this instance, I believe you have overstepped the line.

Sally Gaffney

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