So did you vote for them?

Today I have washed away my tears and returned to the world bolstered by the wonderful messages of hope from MANA people around the motu. Messages that talk of not being defeated - reminders that whilst we have lost a place in the Westminster system, we never relied solely on that system to answer the issues facing our people. However, I must say things have changed in the world.
Years ago I lived with a degree of paranoia and rightfully so - the world hated people like myself - butch dykes. Much of my time was spent avoiding being bashed as I walked the angry streets of Wellington. This was achieved by being over cautious and extremely suspicious of people around me, predominantly straight men and women - actually most of the straight world in the 70's.

So as I stood waiting to order my coffee a loud group of older mostly conservative biddies pushed ahead of me and as I eyed them up and down I could feel their smugness ooze over me, their arrogance that said we certainly now own the world. I hissed loudly enough for them to hear that the war was not over and it might be best if they do not become accustomed to their sense of entitlement.

So my sorrow has been replaced by anger not of those who did not vote or of those who changed their vote at the 11th hour, nor actually of these righteous right-wing punitive racists. See I understand those who did not vote - I get their apathy - I was once apathetic.  I also get those who on election day changed their Party Vote once entering the polling booth - I did the same years ago when I could no longer fathom the direction of the Labour Party, but still voted for them because I was so afraid of a National lead country - fear cripples people.

No it is not them who I am angry at. It is everyone else who looks like they could have voted for change but did not. It is my parents who held such conservative views such anger for the right but ended up voting for them because they believed the country has lost that degree of discipline.  It is people like my parents who if still alive would have decided that whilst National aren’t the best of – they were lesser of two evils.   See my parents would argue that the left have sold out to the commies and the homo’s they would wrap their smarmy acts of charity in fundamentalism - their tokenism towards Māori would only go as far as those Māori who work hard and are not part of the great 'gravy train'. They would not have gone as far as voting for the conservatives as they were too far off but they would have voted national because as working class people they believe in the old discourse of hard work paying off.

So whilst the older brigade have got louder - ordering their cappuccino's and flat whites with far more gusto than should be allowed. The people I am suspicious of are all those who look like my parents you can tell who they are – they are walking around and not meeting the eyes of those they have imposed their punitive policies on. They attend church on Sunday's praying that when they enter the pearly gates the great unwashed (US) will not be present. After years of working hard and having achieved a sense of comfort and they have decided to hold tight to it - at all costs.
So this morning as I ventured out to have coffee at my favourite café, I felt the same nervous sense of suspicion. I felt my eyes roam across the faces of those who I grew up with the conservative working class and wondered 'did you vote for them then?"


 

A day in the life of....

"If racism is something you're sick of hearing about, imagine how exhausting it must be living it every day." – Jon Stewart


One of the most important issues to address, in all colonised countries is racism and I do not say this lightly people.


Yesterday I sat at Waikirikiri Marae, Ruatoki and listened to stories of invasion of the peoples of Taneatua and Ruatoki communities. For those on my FB page who do not know what occurred there then please LEARN about it. As this is the place that the Labour Party had been actively spying on for 5 years. On October 15, 2007 they sent the police in and terrorised the people. The people's experience of that day has come to be labelled as nothing more than 'collateral damage'. The people included Kaumātua - young children coming home from school and men who had been or were working on their farms.




This Pākehā found yesterdays hui filled with much sadness and I came face to face once again with the history of racism. I felt the veil between 2014 and 1860 lift as a kuia spoke of the invasion of the crowns forces.


 
So again I want to encourage all my Pākehā friends to VOTE for change - a change that does not include merely a change the government, but a change that can bring about the annihilation of racism. This is why I encourage all my friends to vote Internet MANA as your party vote in 2014 - if you cannot then ask yourselves if you want history to continue to repeat itself? Is it not time to step up and become the partners that Māori believed us to be under Te Tiriti o Waitangi .
We cannot change the past but we can give all our children the future they deserve.

Vote to change this government

This government has shafted people at the bottom of the economic pile for so long, that when you door knock there is a sense of despondency so deep, that when you offer solutions that will see communities raised from their poverty, some people cannot hear this message, because they are so busy looking after themselves and their own.


The crippling poverty that has left many families struggling was seen first-hand today as I door knocked my area and talked to some very angry people, people who seemed to have lost their sense of community cohesion. This loss I believe comes about because of their impoverished isolation. As I attempted to field demands for help I found that many of my answers were falling on deaf ears. People have been left stranded - scrapped to the bone. Any talk about building stronger self-sufficient communities drew the occasional scoff from people, people I realised who had been there and done that too many times to remember. More than once I was told that they cared little for the community it was them and their family they needed to look out for.


Previously I would have viewed these ‘what about me’ statement as selfish - but not today. There are people in my rohe who are living between nothing and not a hell of a lot. They are people who have found themselves shut out and abandoned not once but many - many times under consecutive governments. They are the people who are last on the hiring list and first to be laid off. when companies need to ensure their investors receive healthy dividends. They are the people who have watched as each election left them scratching around for loose change to pay for essential items.
The first time I experienced this this type of ‘fuk the world’ was at university. As fees increased and my debt grew, I like a lot of other students stopped looking out into the world and connecting the dots. I was too busy trying to stay ahead of the debts and demands. As the government tighten the reigns, our supervises began to demanding that PhD candidates finish sooner rather than later so that the money hovering around our shoulders would fall into their coffers.


Even those of us who were extremely political began to put our heads down eager to finish and leave the country in the hope that we would make some real money. It was not that we did not care – it was that we could not afford to care.

Accumulating debt whether it is student loan – credit debt – or getting behind on the bills - ensures that people stop thinking about others, instead focusing solely on themselves. In so doing, they are less likely to think about others or ways to improve the situation they find themselves in. Over time keeping one’s head down becomes the norm.


So how do we help people lift their heads up and see that they have the power to change the situation they are in, especially those who have seen governments come and go and nothing really changes??? Today it was about not merely focusing on the election. Instead I took a bit more time out to talk to people. Being given a few more minutes seemed to help.


I know we (MANA) are meant to be on the ground running – as the left have a huge job to do and it must be done – but for a few more minutes and some real empathy and a nice cuppa tea, I felt that I saw people not just voters today. I even suggested to one woman that instead of yelling at me she might like to come along one day and yell at Paula Bennett – with me - if need be.
The government has created such levels of disparity and in that disparity some people have found themselves so isolated that they have given up. However, in some cases a few minutes of my time and some rude jokes about Pulled-A-Benefit and ShonKey can help lift a smile and maybe – just maybe one more visit will see some – if not all head to the polls this election….and as I said to one women – if you cannot really bring yourself to give your party vote to Internet MANA - then please make sure you vote left to ensure we get rid of this government!!!!




MANA UP MANA HARD People

I while back I am emailed the academic author  you with regards to the recently published book Patched: The History of Gangs in New Zealand written by Jarrod Gilbert. In the book Gilbert uses a picture of a wāhine being raped by the mongrel mob. In my communications with Gilbert he argues that this picture is in context and has been utilised to ‘prove’ the level of violence perpetrated against women by gangs.

I would argue that this is not only an act of misogyny by Gilbert but also an act of re-victimisation of this wāhine. Therefore, I am questioning this books legitimacy and asking you the publishers if you would approve publishing photographs taken by a child abuser but published by an academic to ‘prove’ that child abuse exists in this country? My guess is NO, as it would be viewed by the general public as an act of pornographic violence. So, how can you justify using a picture of this women’s rape? Is it not merely sensationalism? Is it not re-victimising her?

I would also like to know:

A) If the women in the photograph was contacted and asked if her picture could be used?

B) If any money made from the books will be forwarded to her?

 

Yours

Dr Kyro Selket

Recognising the Peoples Potential

Our existing economic woes are said to exist because of the whim of the market with its sweeping invisible hand. For the poor this 'invisible hand' culminates in job losses and welfare dependency. ‘Welfare dependency’ is a term used by the right, (many) centrists and the conservative left, who deride those forced onto benefits by their very visible hands.

Welfare dependency exists because the Labour Party initiated, in the late 1980' - early 1990's, ROGERNOMICS . Rogernomics is to blame for the slashing of benefits, anti-union laws and halving the top tax rates. Māori and Pacifica peoples felt the effects of this through major job losses. This lead to consecutive governments further slashing employment laws, freezing benefits and tinkering with other policies that would see the poor, predominantly Māori and Pacifica peoples left behind. In 1999 Helen Clark abandoned policies that would target the growing gap between the rich and the poor. A decade after Rogernomics and Clark’s duplicity, Māori and Pacifica unemployment sat at 51%, in 2014 it is estimated that 26,400 Māori are unemployed.

2014 Māori have become the new driving force behind local economies. The hope is to increase Māori employment in local areas with the help of Treaty settlement money (see Te Rarawa leader Haami Piripi hopes for the North). Correct me if I am wrong, but Māori unemployment exists because Pākehā have not honoured Te Tirit o Waitangi and because of the illegal confiscation of lands? Thus using settlement money to address institutional racism must mean that Māori are being doubly penalised? Is it not 'Maori digging Māori out of the Pākehā hole.'?

All roads then lead back to Rogernomics ,the 2^nd major catalyst for mass unemployment and poverty of Māori and Pacifica peoples. Rogernomics the brain-child of the then Labour Party and built on by the National Party, penalises the poor, even today. Whilst labour might argue that it has moved on since Rogernomics, Māori and Pacifica families have not been able too.

So why would any Māori, Pacifica or even Pākehā working class peson vote for Labour? There is no REAL intention by David Cunnliffe to roll back the effects of Rogernomics, reminder Helen Clark -  closing the gaps, duplicity!

So this article is a timely reminder to all that neither Labour nor the Nat’s have Māori, Pacifica or Pākehā working class and or poor people in their sights. Any changes by Labour will merely tinker with already institutionally racist policies. With 27% of rangatahi unemployed, an estimated 128,430  Māori living in Australia and 40% of all Maori males over the age of 15 years incarcerated in NZ (this figure is higher for Māori women), there can only be one vote in  2014. That vote must be for MANA.

To quote Dr Kukutai on speaking about the effects of unemployment on Māori, “There is a lot of unrealised potential, a lot of waste.”

MANA and MANA alone see’s the potential of the people. Mana's policies reflect the potential of the people. Therefore, a vote for MANA is a vote for the realisation of the people's potential!

WAITANGI DAY IS UPON US

Speaking from Parliament today JOHN KEY talked (cultural interpreted) about the horrendous and unacceptable behaviour (CULTURAL INTERPRETATION) by two women at Te Tii Marae at Waitangi.


KEYS Statement:

...most people (NAMELY PARKEYHAR PEOPLE) enjoyed Waitangi Day, (COZ WE IGNORE THE POLITICAL SIGNIFICNCE OF COLONISATION IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND FOR MOWEE AND ONCE I CHANGE THE FLAG I MIGHT TRY AND IT TO NZ DAY)...but it was "one or two" (MOSTLY THE HARAWERA FARNO AND THOSE WHO SUPPORT THEM - NOT NAMING NAMES BUT THERE IS A LAWYER AND SOME PEACENIKS AS WELL) who used the media platform (THOUGHT WE OWNED THAT) to push their own agendas (NAMELY THAT PROBLEMATIC PIECE OF PAPER THEY CALL THE TREATY OF WHYTANGY) .

"Most people (US CAUCASANS) go to Waitangi to have a great time (WATCH THE MAOWE DO CUPPA HAKA AND GOD CAN WE MOVE ON AND REALISE PARKEHAR ARE NOT 'RACISTS' WE LET THE MOWES HAVE A PIECE OF THE PIE - SO LAX OUT - DO A HAKA OR SOMETHING)...

...but regrettably, (THANK GOD I HAVE THE POLICE BUT MOSTLY THE COUNTRY PAYS FOR MY BODYGUARDS) there are one or two people who go there to cause trouble (AGAIN IT'S THE HARAWERA FARNO AND HOW THE HELL DID HONAY GET INTO PARLIEMENT - MIND YOU IS HE REALLY EVER THERE? I NEVER SEE HIM, MOSTLY COZ I AM NEVER THERE BUT ANYWAY JUST SHOWS HOW FAR THE MOWIES HAVE COME THANKS TO US) and use the media (AGAIN DON'T WE OWN IT) as a way of advancing their own cause or their own issues, (AGAIN THAT PISKY PIECE OF PAPER I HAVE NEVER READ)" he said.
                -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cocacolonisation* of Queer

This year’s theme for the Auckland Pride Parade 2014 is ‘TIME’. The organisers state that the

New Zealand's Rainbow Community is the product of our collective histories, which we need to understand, honour and celebrate in order to move forward. Where did we come from? What did we feel and want? When and why were our community organisations founded? Where are they headed in 2014 and beyond? Who are we now and what do we want to become?

I wonder who exactly they will be celebrating, honouring and understanding?  It is certainly not the shared history of this country’s bicultural or lack of bicultural history – as is apparent in the use of this nation’s colonial term ‘New Zealand’. Being Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, intersex and bisexual peoples, you would think that 'we', of all peoples would understand that identity is imperative to inclusion. In saying this it is refreshing to see takatāpui guiding much of this year’s celebration (correct me if I am wrong).  Nevertheless, over the 10 years of Hero Parade, aka Gay Pride and the Big Gay Out, how representative will Auckland’s 2014 celebrations be? And is it perhaps TIME to stop trying to be a 'community' of likeminded, classless homosexuals?

Recently, much of the LGTB communities ‘celebrated’ the legalisation of same-sex marriage. Many purporting this to be apex of LGTB equality. Whilst it cannot be argued, ensuring that 10 percent of the population’s relationships be legally recognised, I question exactly what this has offered many of the queer communities in Aotearoa New Zealand.

In my 36 years out and proud, I have witnessed the rise of what I term ‘Gay Cocacolonisation’. This gay cocacolonisation, is founded on a loss of status for the middleclass homosexual. Since time memorable middle-class homosexuals have lived in a state of conflict about their position as (white) middle-class and homosexual.  Endowed with a sense of entitlement, the middleclass found themselves scorned and banished to working class bars and seedy nightclubs. Whilst this banishment has seen many fashion a political riposte, it is one infected with a desire to return to the lost opulence that is understood to be rightfully theirs. This was seen in the midst of the centre-left push for marriage rights.  As middle-class lesbians and gay men roared ‘we are just the same as our next-door neighbours’, you could feel the jubilation of the middle classes as they were welcomed back into the fold.

There has and never will be a ‘collective’ history of queer communities in Auckland’s Rainbow Community (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Takatāpui, Intersex, Fa’afafine) or in Aotearoa New Zealand. There is however copious herstories/histories of colonised takatapui, working-class bull/stone/butch dykes, South Auckland's gay Pacifica and dawn raids. Poverty, addiction imprisonment and Auckland’s rent boys. Sadly, these herstories/histories will be masked by sumptuous advertising and hidden tacitly behind well-groomed queer chars, unemployed rent boys and castigated queer beneficiaries.  

Over TIME there has been more inclusiveness of our herstories/histories, however much; much more can be done to show diversity. So for now I will take TIME out and share with anyone interested the herstories/histories of the many communities I have been part of and remember that Auckland’s Rainbow Community is not the full story.


* Term borrowed from Annette Sykes 2013 Waitangi speech.