Kia ora koutou, does anyone else find it odd that Dame Jenny Shipley who, along with the other Mainzeal directors, was found guilty of charges brought against them in the High Court and received substantial fines, should be the spokesperson for Tuia 250 on RNZ (and elsewhere) for the Cook comemmorations in Tu ranginui a kiwa aka Gisborne? I have no doubt that she has an official right to be there, what I don’t understand is why she was thought to be the best representative for the job?
The whole episode of Cook’s arrival and subsequent murder of nine local Maori by his sailors has, with the memories passed down by local iwi, work by Dame Anne Salmond, Vincent O’Malley, the late Judith Binney, among others, brings a whole different perspective on our history and about time. The idea of even ‘celebrating’ Cook’s arrival, led some of us to ask whether the event should be held at all? Local iwi have been gracious which is good luck for the organisers. The British Ambassador has expressed formal regret for the murders and sounded like she meant it.
So surely they could have found someone who was not found guilty of serious fraud charges to represent Tuia 250? What kind of message is that sending? If Dame Jenny had been Maori and had a similar conviction do you think she’d have been speaking on behalf of Tuia 250?
Isn’t there a certain irony here?
Or is it me?
Renée
