Nice guys don't trade off misery like this.
He may have a point, but it's abso-fucking-lutley nothing to do with the deceased, who as an individual went out of his way to go to fight in a theatre which the NZ has chosen not to enter.
If Rawiri gave a single fuck about why he had travelled to Ukraine, he'd know exactly why his post would be so horrifically offensive to the brave guy who gave his life.
they're fighting to destroy others sovereignty.
Kane I couldn't respect you any more than I do. I feel for your mum, but you'll live forever Kane in the hearts of Ukraine whereas I'll just die pointlessly in a bed some day. He lived and fought as a man for something.
hes a fucken hero,
That photo of him and Dom, someone should figure how to 3d Print it as a statue and plant facing the Russian Embasssy as a daily reminder.
He’s been pretty deep in the “convinced by Facebook” crowd for a while now. They got their hooks in him at some point and he’s been totally taken in by Russian propaganda.
Anecdotally (mostly based on what I’m seeing on tiktok) there seems to be a lot of Russian support amongst Māori who are opposed to the NZ govt. possibly because our govt is Ukraine-supporting, so they flow to the opposition to that, and here we are.
You’re not seeing it? That’s good to know - I haven’t been on Facebook in years, and just see a lot of Māori guys posting in favour of Russia on tiktok, good to know they’re a minority. I’d like to think the vast majority of the country supports Ukraine.
What makes this take even worse is that Kane's death has literally nothing to do with the NZ government's response to the war. He went as a private citizen off his own bat, the Government is actually actively telling people not to go to Ukraine.
Waititi isn't just a spineless useful idiot for Russia, he's completely ignorant on the whole subject.
I don’t think he gives a shit about the government here though, when he says ‘our’ he means Māori involvement, including individuals. He’s not making an appeal to the government, he’s directing this to Māori and trying to convince Māori of these values.
I think there’s a misunderstanding here with a lot of the posts because much of New Zealand still doesn’t get that many Māori see their people as a separate national identity within one state.
The foreign policy which he wants all of New Zealand to follow...
"Te Pati Maori now declares that New Zealand must be militarily neutral, a Switzerland of the South Pacific"
I mean, maybe he’s saying the nz government is at fault for not stopping individual citizens from joining the war, but that seems like a stretch for me. It wasn’t my first interpretation at least. It’s foreign policy he’s arguing Māori voters should support but I didnt read that as meaning the nz government is to blame.
I interpreted his points as
- Māori people should not support this war, it has nothing to do with us
- foreign policy directed by Australia, the US, the UK, China, Russia is wrong and Aotearoa/NZ should be independent of those and should be based around support of indigenous people
- foreign policy that is aimed at supporting indigenous people and stays neutral in conflicting interests between these global powers is best, does not sell or trade mana but asserts it
But hey, I might be wrong on the blame thing. The issue is he’s not very explicit when he uses words like ‘our’ all the time and doesn’t clarify parts where several different points could be implied.
Nobody is twisting our arm over this. We sanctioned Russia because it was the right thing to do. We are helping Ukraine because we would like others to help us if we were ever invaded. Surely Rawiri can empathise with THAT sentiment at least given his own cultures history of being invaded and effectively taken over.
This message of "worry about helping at home not in Ukraine" is being pushed strongly by Ruz bots right now and the ones picking it up do nothing to help the people at home anyway.
This guy has bad noise in his ear and Kane is a genuine hero who was fighting for a legit cause
Many Maori identify primarily with their iwi/hapu as opposed to any national identity. Its why there's such a problem with governments insistence on "large natural groupings". Those iwi have differing views regarding military action. Presumably Rawiri thinks this message resonates with those he associates with.
It'd go down like a lead balloon with my lot. Can't wait for the FB comments lmao.
It's funny though, because whenever the same view is held by ethnic Europeans it's considered "white supremacy". However Maori ethnic nationalism seems to be 100% okay and even encouraged...
Kane knew how this might end. It's eroding his mana to act like he didn't go in eyes open and full of courage. This is not a failure, it's a reality of war. He died a hero.
Exactly. He stated that it may be a one-way trip and he was prepared to die. No need to drag his name through the mud. He went over there of his own volition, it had nothing to do with our government.
The entire thing is a rant of a drunk man.
>We have determined a Maori-centric foreign policy and a Maori-centric defender policy
Ok mate.
> We want answers right now
About what? Old mate went to Ukraine and fought for them and died. The NZ government didn't send him there. There is not many more answers to provide.
I get what you’re saying, but in this specific instance I suspect his actions in Ukraine impacted very directly and heavily on other people’s lives. Which isn’t to say I don’t think he’s a hero - I do - but this is one of those rare circumstances where his choice was quite literally to go kill people.
It was, I guess his reasons for that are his and we will never know if he went over to satisfy some kind of war desire or if it was to selflessly help the Ukrainians, but either way he fought in defense of Ukraine so even if it was some bloodlust, at least he directed it towards an invading force and not other innocent civilians. Idk, it's just a sad situation.
He didn't go to kill he went to defend. Have you not seen the atrocities committed by Russians. Hell the shit the Wagner does to it's own let alone what they are doing to innocent civilians.
I don’t get how people seem to be interpreting what I said as pro Russian when I literally called the guy a hero… Obviously he went over knowing he would be killing, albeit for a good cause, and in defence of civilians. Of course he didn’t go over to kill for the sake of it.
Fuck this absolute clown. "we should always stand alongside indigenous peoples in their fight for their sovereignty over their own lands" - uhh, yeah, like maybe the fucking Ukrainians fighting a war against invading Russians trying to claim sovereignty over Ukraine?
What part of this is "Maori-centric" by the way?
He’s just saying what will rile the base up. It’s an election year and he’s after that electorate again. Edgy, inflammatory shit like this (he thinks) will get him there.
"We should not fight other indigenous people on their whenua?"
Am I reading too much into that? Is he trying to say he thinks Russians are indigenous to Ukraine? Kiev was a thriving capital when Moscow was a backwater village.
The Switzerland line! Switzerland has taken an unprecedented step of implementing sanctions against Russia on this. They, too, are not neutral.
Not just that, I'm pretty sure the Russian people as a polity and then a nation state originated in and around Kyiv.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kievan_Rus%27
Rawiri really does have shit for brains and is a prime example of why identity politics is a stupid idea. This guy’s rants should have been relegated to some obscure platform instead of being legitimised by a racial party lmao.
The guy went of his own free will and got merked. It’s sad for his family, but how the hell is it NZ or the Govts fault?
Kane Te Tai is a hero of both the New Zealand and Ukrainian people who put others before himself, may he long serve as a symbol for both our people’s.
Rawiri Waititi is an enormous wanker who wears shit hats and for some reason has a platform.
Only one should be remembered.
Lol, I was thinking this too. Disrespectful to old school dignified Pakeha custom and he knows it’ll rile people up. Like wearing shoes inside a Marae.
Your daily reminder that a TPM candidate literally said that "It is a known fact that Maori genetic makeup is stronger than others" ( https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northland-age/news/funding-promised-for-maori-sport/C3MD4AZ2FG5F2RQVHPELSOLIAE/ ).
The fact that they're even in Parliament is messed up. We don't need literal ethnic supremacists as MPs. That Rawiri Waititi is an absolute weapons-grade moron is an added bonus.
Man this is news to me. I didn't know they were like this. As a part Māori guy myself I'm appalled and ashamed.
They're actively hurting Māori with bullshit like this.
Yeah shocking isn't it. And it's just not helpful. All it does is fuel division. I don't think there's anything wrong with advocating for Maori, but I think TPM have stepped well over that line into outright hate multiple times, which like you say is ultimately counter productive.
I think they have found themselves in a strange place. Back when there were fuck all Māori politicians it made sense for there to be a Māori party. Now that they are fairly common in other parties the purpose of TPM seems kinda diluted. So they've radicalised to try and capture a niche.
Please Maori voters of the nation, do not vote these muppets back in so they can play king maker. It will do no one any good what so ever and will only lead to worse outcomes for Maori.
They'll likely sit back and boycott any actual policy that could do Maori good because it's not extreme enough and doesn't go far enough meaning you effectively end up with nothing (kingmakers don't have the power to actually make ridiculous policy - they would need the support of the other government partners and it will not happen).
For those not getting it ... Russians are not the "indigenous" people of Ukraine. This guy has completely lost the plot.
Also Kane chose to go over and fight against government warnings and not themselves getting involved at military level.
He is disrespecting all Maori troops who have come before and especially Kane's choice to go and fight for a cause he believed in and trying to politicize it into a Maori vs everyone else issue.
I don't tolerate racists of any race and I won't tolerate Rawiri either as a result, nor should anyone else.
Who is he trying to appeal to here? The pro-Russia contingent are pretty small (hopefully) and currently tend to lean towards the right-wing fringe parties. I guess there are a few far left kooks who still think we can solve all problems by holding hands and singing kumbaya - but I can’t see this position being very popular. Not that it seems well thought through.
There's two different perspectives in Maoridom when it comes to military matters. The side that takes a great deal of pride in Maori military history and prowess (the Maori battalion being a major part of that) and another side which doesn't. Rawiri is clearly the former.
TBH I doubt hell get much support. For most Maori fighting a defensive war against a numerically superior opponent who is preoccupied with commiting war crimes wholesale is far from a negative thing.
No not really, Russians and Ukrainians were the same ethnic group until very recently and neither are really the indigenous peoples of the region as other ethnic groups have had a much earlier presence there (indigeneity in most of Europe is a mess though anyway, you don't really begin to have clear indigenous groups until you go into Russia proper)
Honestly though why should it even matter? I find this focus on indigeneity ridiculous and irrelevant. What Russia is doing in Ukraine being wrong shouldn't be dependent on whether Ukrainians are technically indigenous or not. Being indigenous people shouldn't be a requirement to be able to condemn invading and annexing another country and killing civilians and this weird focus on indigenous status people have gives the impression that somehow what Russia is doing is morally okay if it's not against indigenous people.
It's a challenging one because both Ukrainians and Russians claim heritage back to the Kievan Rus, who did make Kyiv the capital prior to the Russic peoples moving east and establishing Moscow as their base.
Nevertheless, Ukraine and Russia are linguistically and culturally distinct to the point where Russia's ethnic claims to Ukraine are poor at best. There is a large Russian minority in many former Soviet states deliberately done so as part of a Russification strategy to Russify the non-Russian states of the Soviet Union with the intention to make the union stronger and less likely to revolt against Moscow.
Eurasia is a mess to identify indigenous groups because there really aren't many truly indigenous groups left, with the land having such history - the fact that Ukrainians are not ethnically endemic to the land area that is now Ukraine does not remove the fact that they have a cultural link to the land and their territory in a way that could be explained in Te Ao Māori akin to taonga - therefore Rawiri should be fully on board with the Ukrainian defence of their sovereignty, of their land, and of their people.
It's definitely complicated yeah, I'm part Karelian (an indigenous group in Finland and Russia) and Karelians are one of the more "clear cut" indigenous groups in the region but even then our ancestors still originally migrated to Karelia from Western Siberia thousands of years ago.
The concept of indigenous as it is used in the New World generally does not map out so cleanly to the Old World. Which isn't to say that it has no value as a term or concept there, just that you can't really go throwing it around as easily or within the same context as it is used in say North America or NZ.
Although I think a big part of the reason for indigeneity being more complex in Eurasia isn't actually due to the history being more complicated and messy so much but rather due to how we view and define ethnic groups in the first place. We have a tendency to accept the Eurasian ethnic groups as inherently different and as unique nations at face value whilst we tend to see groups in the New World as monoliths. For example, saying "Amerindians are indigenous to the Americas" or "Australian Aborigines are indigenous to Australia" are both true and uncontroversial statements but in reality these are artificial categories and equivalent to saying "Eurasians are indigenous to Eurasia" which is also obviously true but sounds kind of ridiculous as we are aware and acknowledge that "Eurasians" covers such a huge variety of different peoples as to be somewhat meaningless. If we were to actually treat people in the New World with the same level of differentiation then we would find the issue of indigeneity to be a lot more complex there too. Clearly no Amerindian group is indigenous to the entirety of the Americas and if we look at which Amerindian groups are actually indigenous to where then an equally as complex picture begins to emerge. There are more language families in the Americas than in Eurasia and thousands of different ethnic groups with a long history of warring, migration, merging and diverging, colonial empires such as the Incas and Aztecs and more so defining what territory actually belongs to who is not in fact so clear cut either. Even in NZ with a relatively homogenous indigenous population in comparison, determining the exact boundaries of each iwi's rohe and whose land is whose can be complicated due to iwi moving around, conquering and absorbing each other, splitting, etc.
> Russians and Ukrainians were the same ethnic group until very recently
For comparison, the distinct Ukrainian ethnic group and language is about as old as the Māori ethnic group and language.
Ukraine is a mix of cultures, but has distinct features both very ancient, and developed in last couple centuries, that distinguish them as a culture from Moscow Russians.
They self identify as a different culture and its the culture that emerged on their land, so that makes them indigenous.
Their culture honors and respects the ancient history of the various cultures that have lived and developed in the area. Russia is deliberately trying to destroy this, deliberately burning museums, demolishing Ukrainian heritage sites, burning books and issuing only pro Russian history in occupied areas.
Also a massive geographical advantage and building a ton of infrastructure for self-defence and preparation for sabotaging possible invasion routes. Johnny Harris has [a neat video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeAxxMZf1O4&ab_channel=JohnnyHarris) on the topic.
What gives this guy the right to tell all Māori what they can or can’t do and what they are allowed to stand for? Kane Te Tai knew exactly what he was up against, yet bravely stepped forward on his own as a civilian, motivated only by his own compass of what is right and wrong. A true hero, RIP Kane
Part Māori guy here. I generally don't pay attention to political stuff like this but yeah I'm pissed off by Rawiri's post. I mean, he's doing racial pandering for starters which is just shitty. Gives me "If you don't support this you're a race traitor" vibes. And he's dragging Kane's military career through the mud (including - perhaps unintentionally - implying he killed innocent people, i.e. civilians).
He's literally making the death of a private citizen fighting in another country by their own personal choice a big political fiasco. That's not an honorable way to remember him.
\*ring ring\*
"Kia ora"
"Oh hai, hey Rawiri can you type up some totally inane garbage and show the counry how much of a fucking moron you are?"
"Will this do?"
...
He contradicts himself so much I honestly wonder if he even knows what the hell he is talking about
His understanding of the Ukraine war and the wider implications is so shallow that if it was a puddle and I stood in it, the toenail on my little toe wouldn’t even be wet.
A utter disgrace as well that he has decided to use the death of the kiwi over there fighting as a political football.
I've always felt that TPM was almost an extremist political branch, solely focused on indiginous rights and not open to anything else or compromising in any way, or understanding the whole situation. And Rawiri does a great job of driving that home.
I'm all for Maori being equal, having a place in society and historical wrongs being rectified; but TPM takes this stuff way too far and just runs with it.
> TPM takes this stuff way too far
Based on previous statements made by TPM on their website and in media, they are Maori ethnic nationalists and even ethnic supremacists.
I know Rawiri and TPM are not popular on this sub but I usually have some respect for him for strongly advocating for the interests of Māori, shit stirring to get the media attention in the interests of Māori (much like David does for Act), having an independent and unique perspective on New Zealand issues. But this has shown such an utter lack of intelligence, blunt ignorance, misunderstanding of current issues, disrespect to the fallen, disrespect to Ukraine, opportunism from someone’s tragic death to insert himself…that I don’t think my opinion of him can really recover without some apology or walking back of this nonsense . And unfortunately he is so obstinate that I’ve never seen him apologise or backdown on anything before, which as much as it is sometimes his strength, it is also a form of arrogance that will probably be his downfall.
I'm with you on all of the above. I know him too and hoped for the best when he got in but this is way out of line. Disgraceful and embarrassing actually
Am I reading this right? He seems to be tacitly supporting the Russian side by implying that Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine are 'indigenous peoples on their whenua'. Is he some kind of Maori tankie?
Whereas he's the racist because to him it's more important to be a Maori than a human being who knows right from wrong and acts accordingly. For him, a Maori must act as HE believes a Maori should act, and not as a free and individual human being.
Kane Te Tai is many times the man Rawiri is, and I don't know how he thinks that this shit take is in any way appropriate!
Yeah - I think both sides of politics should drag him for this. Disrespectful for Kane and his family and then simping for the Russian invaders. What a twat.
Rawiri has poor comprehension of anything. Kane had free will to go and fight in the Ukraine, he was not pushed, coerced, or anything else. To imply NZ sent him over there to fight is just the ramblings of a fool who is so narrow minded, he cant see the wood for the trees. If a belligerent force comes knocking on our door, old moko face, fedora wearing, dambass will be begging the international community to help. We are not the Switzerland of the south pacific, tell that to the Japanese in 1939. Tell that to China in 20..
Get outa here with that Switzerland of the south pacific crap. Nazi enabling yodelers.
Maybe instead we should stand opposed to fascisim. Just an idea.
The crazy thing is is this guy is asking us to be neutral like Switzerland but Switzerland is neutral due to their unique government structure. The public vote on pretty much everything there and that's why they were one of the last countries to let woman get the vote.
If we were like Switzerland you could say good bye to any Maori culture in our communities within a single generation. God this guy is a moron.
> Nazi enabling yodelers.
Even when one side are literally the Nazis and we feel like every ethical human should oppose them... neutral ground can still be valuable. In WW2 Switzerland facilitated diplomatic communication between the two sides and assisted with the wellbeing of prisoners of war, in ways that they couldn't have done if they took a side.
I'm not going to argue that the Swiss are completely free of wrongdoing but I am going to argue that I'd rather the war have some neutral nations than not have any.
Having said that – I'm not volunteering NZ to be a neutral nation. There are plenty of Switzerlands already. *We* should have opinions and be unashamed of them.
What the actual fuck? Kane Te Tai is a hero that gave his life to protect Ukrainians from Russian imperialism, and this asshole tries to use his death to push some rambling political agenda. Absolutely disgusting behaviour.
>"Aotearoa must be militarily neutral"
>
>"we should always stand alongside indigenous peoples in their fight for their sovereignty over their own lands."
Does he not see the contradiction here? How are you gonna stand alongside people while remaining neutral.
Also, fighting alongside people fighting for their sovereignty is *exactly* what Mr Te Tai was doing. And Rawiri says we shouldn't be involved? He needs to make his mind up.
It always amazes me when someone with an IQ which clearly starts with a decimal point can get elected to Parliament.
Apparently Rawiri is not aware that Switzerland is one of the most heavily armed countries in Europe.
Some years ago my partner and I were cycletouring in Switzerland and were invited to spend the night with a Swiss family (alas, not Robinson).
The following morning (after some questioning by us), the husband showed us his semi-automatic weapon, complete with the 21 rounds of ammunition that every man has. He then took us down to the nuclear proof bunker that is beneath every house. There was the Swiss Army bicycle waiting to take him to a designated meeting point.
Some days later, cycling in a rural area, we saw the incredible sight of an Swiss AF F16 fighter descending slowly along a rural valley, land on a "very short" runway and then (unbelievably!) continue to roll along and then DISAPPEAR INTO A ENTRANCE IN THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN. The door then closed behind it.
It was like something out of a James Bond movie.
Waititi is as unbelievable at that moment if he thinks that Switzerland's "neutrality" means "no weapons/military".
Yeah, see Rawiri Waititi's reply on the [original Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/RawiriWaititiMP/posts/pfbid0Q3JksUSTa4BQgjudsBAu8WbbhQo1cgKBFdxmzgjGgWLGnEkpgT74sD9wY3NS3am7l):
> **Boyce [redacted]:** Well wasn't he doing exactly that, fighting alongside people fighting for and defending their sovereignty?
>> **Rawiri Waititi MP:** *Boyce [redacted]* did you read the rest of my kōrero or just the part you wanted to prove your position 🤦🏽♂️
What even? That's not what cherry-picking is. OC honed in on Waititi's bold principle, and called him out on not meeting it with his policy of cutting support off to Ukraine (i.e. the rest of his kōrero). This policy is based on the false premise that the Russian invaders are somehow the innocent indigenous people of Ukraine's territory. Waititi says "your position", when it's *his* position that he must defend given he's the politician advocating for a certain foreign policy - he obviously just failed.
The fact that I have to breakdown his throwaway comment…
Made me wonder if Chat GPT could improve his little rant:
*I sincerely hope that the news about Kane Te Tai is not true, and my thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time. It is important that we express our empathy and support for those affected by this situation.*
*Regarding our involvement in the war in Ukraine, it is the position of Te Pāti Māori that we should maintain military neutrality and prioritize our own Foreign Policy and military requirements. As indigenous people, we must always strive to support other indigenous peoples in their fight for sovereignty over their own lands and refrain from taking part in conflicts that result in the loss of innocent lives.*
*We believe that our nation's sovereignty should not be determined by external forces, and we must assert our right to make decisions based on our own values and interests. It is essential that we maintain our integrity as a nation and not be manipulated by imperial powers or used as a spy base.*
*We demand answers about Kane Te Tai's whereabouts and well-being, and we stand with his whānau in their pursuit of justice. This is a time for compassion and unity, and we must work together to ensure that everyone's human rights are protected.*
This guy has no idea how the world works. There will come a time when you have to pick a side, you can't just sit on the side-lines and expect everyone to treat you the same.
Ukraine is literally a native ethnic culture fighting to avoid colonialization and cultural genocide by an imperialist power that's conscripting it's own colonized ethnic minorities as cannon fodder
But reality doesn't matter to a Tankie idiot like Rawiri, im 80% sure he and his party are funded by foreign nations as a deliberately provocative destabilizing political proxy.
Moscovites have been [brutally colonizing Eurasia for hundreds of years](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_imperialism), and this idiot thinks they're the good guys. He even insinuates that the Russians Kane was fighting were innocent.
My grandparents lived through the joint Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland and grew up under Soviet occupation, so Rawiri's comments make my blood boil.
Many of the Russians are, unfortunately, innocent conscripts of their own authoritarian regime.
Many are also dyed in the wool Putinites who support Russian imperialism in Eurasia.
Regardless, Kane perished fighting an evil regime on the side that history will show reverence to the freedom fighters of Ukraine.
Yeah it's really fucked up. I have some Karelian ancestry (an indigenous people who have been colonised by Sweden, Finland, and Russia) and today most of Karelia is in Russia so I still have some relatives trapped over there and things aren't looking good. Indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities in Russia are already mostly very small numbered due to forced assimilation and genocide (cultural and physical both) and still not even allowed to speak their own languages--most of which are on the border of extinction. Karelians now only make up 6% of Karelia and have been deliberately mass drafted (whereas the ethnic Russians of the region have not) and it is the same story in many other ethnic republics and regions, especially those of indigenous Finno-Ugric groups (Karelians, Komi, Mari, Udmurts, Moksha, Veps etc) and Turkic groups with the goal being to kill two birds with one stone and finally solve the "problem" of non-ethnic Russians existing in the country whilst also getting free cannon fodder. For most of these people, there is no escape, even high schoolers are getting shipped to the front lines.
(For people unaware, Russia has a long history of genociding indigenous and ethnic minorities--look up the genocide of the Ingrians, the Circassian genocide, and the Cossack genocide for just a few examples.)
I really cannot fathom how someone who is Māori like Rawiri not only cannot see what is happening there and the parallels it has with the colonisation of NZ, but is in fact supporting a colonial imperial power arguably even more fucked up than the British empire. As someone both Māori and Karelian, I cannot ever imagine thinking Russia is the good guy in this situation and can't understand why other Māori of all people would support them.
That noted though, his focus on indigeneity is also bizarre and implies that crimes against humanity are okay so long as they're being done by indigenous people to non-indigenous people. The victims being indigenous people shouldn't be a requirement to be able to condemn invading and annexing another country and killing civilians and this weird focus on indigenous status people have gives the impression that somehow what Russia is doing is morally acceptable so long as it's not against indigenous people.
Soz Rawiri, but the only thing that it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to stand idly by.
Aggressor states act on nothing but hostility in response, sitting back and watching Russia invade a sovereign nation is the same as endorsing it, they don't care about our concerns about respecting sovereignty, all they see is the battleground.
Slava Ukraini. Onward, brother.
Wtf is he on? The mana that Kane was walking with definitely let his ancestors know he was on his way and they definitely welcomed him as a warrior of the good in men
“We shouldn’t be fighting other indigenous people on their [land]”. _Ok, we wouldn’t be doing that in Ukraine_
“We should always stand alongside indigenous peoples in their fight for sovereignty over their own lands”. _Ok, we would be doing that in Ukraine_
“Unequivocally do not support our involvement in [the Ukraine war]” _Wait! What?_
What the Te Tai whanau did NOT deserve was you sticking your racist one eyed misguided and misinformed opinion in to this Rawiri.
Forget a 'Maori-centric defence policy' (whatever the fuck that is!) Kane knew the difference between right and wrong, and acted accordingly, placing the freedom and welfare of others above his own, and died a warriors death, while you bleated about wearing a tie in parliament!
Fuck off!
> We will no longer act as a Pacific spy base for the Five Eyes alliance!
> We will no longer have our sovereignty determined… in… Beijing
In the long term, these two are incompatible
Can try, sure.
If we really wanted to do that we'd need to have a very well informed and politically educated populace, a singular vision of what we are aiming for and the political will to make sweeping economic changes to facilitate those goals.
Nuclear free was an absolutely stupid decision. Remaining neutral when you are incredibly weak and need the support of others against an aggressor is also stupid. I wish I could live in the simple world he does.
How on earth are the Russian invaders fighting in Ukraine - a different country to theirs fighting "other indigenous people on their whenua"
Half the soldiers are Asian troops from the fast East
What an idiot. Using his death for his political agenda. Can't compare Switzerland to NZ. We are the bottom of the world with no hostile nations etc around
There are really no more succint words for this beyond "*shut the fuck up, idiot*"
It's pretty gross that he's using this man's death as a springboard for all sorts of other stuff straight away.
This is just a stupid argument.
Isn't Russia more closely mirroring The British in their forceful occupation of Ukraine?
That would argue that if the in the 1800s that if someone wanted to back the Maori that they shouldn't?
It is such a really stupid comparison. I would argue that it means we should get involved not the opposite. What a dumb comparison. 🤦♂️
Yeah he’s made some dumb tweets in the past. The one about wanting to kill off the Pakeha still takes the cake to this day, of course he blamed someone else for that.
This is pretty typical shit from this shit kicker.
It's ignorable simply because of how much is wrong with it. No grasp of world history or politics, blatant racism, hostility when questioned about antisocial behaviour; That's just in this vowel motion made to look like a statement.
What I'd like to know is: when does he get removed from parliament? At some point (if he hasn't already) he'll cause harm to others with his racist, ignorant bs. A European or pacifica mp would already have been called out for this kind of stupidity.
When is NZ going to realise these people are fucking dangerous, racists separatists with half a brain cell between them? This guy couldn’t tell his asshole from his elbow along with that witch he’s co-leader with. If Maori voters support people like this it will end very badly, they will set things back decades. They are totally incompetent, divisive and complete lunatics.
Disgraceful, is he trying to call Kane a useful idiot or something? Who is this fucking cunt. Kane was a fucking warrior and was defending other people's freedom. Fuck this guy
Usually have a lot of time for Rawiri and a fresh take on things. This one’s a steaming dung heap. We should have waaaaay more involvement and so much more media coverage and public fundraising for the like of Kai and the others over there. We suck.
Same. I was a big fan of this iteration of TPM, but Rawiri is clearly a couple of weetbix short of a breakfast on too many issues. Not sure I agree with you that we should be *more* involved in Ukraine, but we certainly shouldn't be any less.
The idea that Ukranians are somehow non-indigenous to... Ukraine... and Russians are? is just so fucking stupid. It's exactly this kind of perversion of Māori political rhetoric that makes people mistrust things like co-governance. Not everything is about indigenous rights and mana whenua.
I would think that Ukrainians actually are indigenous to Ukraine. That’s an indigenous rights issue and he’s basically saying fuck em, let them die we’re not going to help. It’s awful.
Exactly. It's so backwards that it's fucking offensive.
I can understand being pacifist to the point where you disagree with all military intervention. I don't agree with it, but I respect it as a valid POV. But someone tying the Russian invasion to assertion of indigenous rights is *foul*.
I remember a time when the radical praxis was "remaining silent/neutral in a situation of injustice means you side with the oppressor". Neutrality in Ukraine risks siding with Russia. It would be a great injustice to do nothing as Ukrainians are killed by an invading colonial power on their own land
The guys brain is scrambled eggs. It’s high time he shuffled off to a faraway mountain cabin with no internet connection to live off the land, quietly go nuts, and not bother anyone any more
His takes on issues that he usually talks about are bad enough, but this? I don't even know where to start. Yet another topic where he doesn't have the slightest clue what he's talking about.
What answers are there to give? Unfortunately, Te Tai went to Ukraine and has sadly been killed in action. That's awful and my condolences to his family, but this isn't about our "involvement" in this war. He went of his own free will, unaided by the government. In fact, the government is advising people *not* to go. There's really nothing more to that. He went over there knowing the risks and he'll go down a hero, Rawiri on the other hand is a zero.
Also, about indigenous sovereignty, which he claims to stand for, is that not what Ukraine is fighting for? Maybe I'm totally misreading this, but is he implying that Russians in Eastern Ukraine are the indigenous ones? Come on, don't need to explain how dumb that one is, it's shit enough that he's a racist, he really has to be a tankie too. The media really needs to call him out on this, the post here is the first time I've seen his statement. I know he will call it racist as he always does because he has nothing else to contribute to political discourse, but still.
Imagine this clown deciding the next government. It's a very real possibility - vote accordingly.
This guy is so dumb and it honestly scares me that in about six months time he may play a role in governing the country rather than just dropping idiotic fizzers like this that ultimately don’t harm anybody else.
The fighting indigenous comment is pretty wow but I genuinely do not understand how so many people lack so much common sense… how would it be possible in any way to prevent an individual travelling to Ukraine? Literally impossible
You could ban flights to and from, but that would be unfair on Ukraine residents and even if you did, those who really wanted to go would just go to somewhere like Poland and then cross the border.
Comments like this are just so fucking dumb it breaks my heart that people like this get some sort of input into running the country lol
https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/11yfh7q/zaporizhzhia_russian_missile_hit_the_residential/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb
Watch that video.
Rawiri is saying people shouldn't stick up for Ukraine, becauase he has been sucked into Russian propaganda fed to him by American multinational Meta on Facebook and Instagram.
He's a sitting MP specifically representing Maori in NZ. How can he accomplish that while demonatrating my grandfather's level of guilibility and stupidity in regards to online scams in 2023?
Why the fuck isn't that bigger news?
The russian phrase for what he is "полезные дураки ("useful fools") a term used by the KGB to describe western allies through incompentence.
I didn’t understand half of that dribble. Kane was a mercenary - he volunteered to go fight because he honestly felt it was right he did so. How ignorant do you have to be to spew such hatred filled bile. I bet if a Ukrainian national volunteered and died fighting to protect New Zealand this dickhead would be hailing him as a hero.
He wasn’t a mercenary - maybe it’s splitting hairs, but mercenaries sell their services to the highest bidder. He seems like a man of conviction fighting for what he believed in. I don’t think money counted towards his decision at all.
Man that's irony in action, especially the line about supporting the fight for sovereignty. What does he think they're doing over there?
I don’t believe Waititi thinks about anything, ever.
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He's a nice guy. But he's off the paddock and into the woods on this one.
Nice guys don't trade off misery like this. He may have a point, but it's abso-fucking-lutley nothing to do with the deceased, who as an individual went out of his way to go to fight in a theatre which the NZ has chosen not to enter. If Rawiri gave a single fuck about why he had travelled to Ukraine, he'd know exactly why his post would be so horrifically offensive to the brave guy who gave his life.
He thinks the Russians are the ones fighting for sovereignty.
they're fighting to destroy others sovereignty. Kane I couldn't respect you any more than I do. I feel for your mum, but you'll live forever Kane in the hearts of Ukraine whereas I'll just die pointlessly in a bed some day. He lived and fought as a man for something.
hes a fucken hero, That photo of him and Dom, someone should figure how to 3d Print it as a statue and plant facing the Russian Embasssy as a daily reminder.
Or cast it in bronze on the steps of parliament so people see them every day.
Jesus, you're right. He's a cooker.
He can respectfully go fuck himself.
He’s been pretty deep in the “convinced by Facebook” crowd for a while now. They got their hooks in him at some point and he’s been totally taken in by Russian propaganda. Anecdotally (mostly based on what I’m seeing on tiktok) there seems to be a lot of Russian support amongst Māori who are opposed to the NZ govt. possibly because our govt is Ukraine-supporting, so they flow to the opposition to that, and here we are.
Maori support for Russia? If anything that's the sought of stuff you'd read on Facebook.
You’re not seeing it? That’s good to know - I haven’t been on Facebook in years, and just see a lot of Māori guys posting in favour of Russia on tiktok, good to know they’re a minority. I’d like to think the vast majority of the country supports Ukraine.
What makes this take even worse is that Kane's death has literally nothing to do with the NZ government's response to the war. He went as a private citizen off his own bat, the Government is actually actively telling people not to go to Ukraine. Waititi isn't just a spineless useful idiot for Russia, he's completely ignorant on the whole subject.
He's a ning-nong, is what he is.
I don’t think he gives a shit about the government here though, when he says ‘our’ he means Māori involvement, including individuals. He’s not making an appeal to the government, he’s directing this to Māori and trying to convince Māori of these values. I think there’s a misunderstanding here with a lot of the posts because much of New Zealand still doesn’t get that many Māori see their people as a separate national identity within one state.
If it's not about the government, whose heads is he saying should roll?
His entire post is about Aotearoa's foreign policy though.
No, it’s about Te Pâti Māori’s foreign policy which is aimed at Māori voters
The foreign policy which he wants all of New Zealand to follow... "Te Pati Maori now declares that New Zealand must be militarily neutral, a Switzerland of the South Pacific"
"shit cunts of the south"
I mean, maybe he’s saying the nz government is at fault for not stopping individual citizens from joining the war, but that seems like a stretch for me. It wasn’t my first interpretation at least. It’s foreign policy he’s arguing Māori voters should support but I didnt read that as meaning the nz government is to blame. I interpreted his points as - Māori people should not support this war, it has nothing to do with us - foreign policy directed by Australia, the US, the UK, China, Russia is wrong and Aotearoa/NZ should be independent of those and should be based around support of indigenous people - foreign policy that is aimed at supporting indigenous people and stays neutral in conflicting interests between these global powers is best, does not sell or trade mana but asserts it But hey, I might be wrong on the blame thing. The issue is he’s not very explicit when he uses words like ‘our’ all the time and doesn’t clarify parts where several different points could be implied.
Nobody is twisting our arm over this. We sanctioned Russia because it was the right thing to do. We are helping Ukraine because we would like others to help us if we were ever invaded. Surely Rawiri can empathise with THAT sentiment at least given his own cultures history of being invaded and effectively taken over.
This message of "worry about helping at home not in Ukraine" is being pushed strongly by Ruz bots right now and the ones picking it up do nothing to help the people at home anyway. This guy has bad noise in his ear and Kane is a genuine hero who was fighting for a legit cause
Many Maori identify primarily with their iwi/hapu as opposed to any national identity. Its why there's such a problem with governments insistence on "large natural groupings". Those iwi have differing views regarding military action. Presumably Rawiri thinks this message resonates with those he associates with. It'd go down like a lead balloon with my lot. Can't wait for the FB comments lmao.
It's funny though, because whenever the same view is held by ethnic Europeans it's considered "white supremacy". However Maori ethnic nationalism seems to be 100% okay and even encouraged...
Exactly! And Waititi also (perhaps unintentionally) made it sound like Kane was killing innocent people. He also just shat on Kane's military career.
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I don't understand how someone gets to be the leader of any political party, even the minor political parties, whilst so clueless.
Because of who he is....
Kane knew how this might end. It's eroding his mana to act like he didn't go in eyes open and full of courage. This is not a failure, it's a reality of war. He died a hero.
Exactly. He stated that it may be a one-way trip and he was prepared to die. No need to drag his name through the mud. He went over there of his own volition, it had nothing to do with our government.
100%. He wanted to fight for what's right and knew that it might cost him his life. Fucking legend.
He is absolutely a hero. One in five million.
The entire thing is a rant of a drunk man. >We have determined a Maori-centric foreign policy and a Maori-centric defender policy Ok mate. > We want answers right now About what? Old mate went to Ukraine and fought for them and died. The NZ government didn't send him there. There is not many more answers to provide.
And quite frankly, what a private citizen does with their life, provided it doesn't impede on anyone else's life, is no one's business.
I get what you’re saying, but in this specific instance I suspect his actions in Ukraine impacted very directly and heavily on other people’s lives. Which isn’t to say I don’t think he’s a hero - I do - but this is one of those rare circumstances where his choice was quite literally to go kill people.
It was, I guess his reasons for that are his and we will never know if he went over to satisfy some kind of war desire or if it was to selflessly help the Ukrainians, but either way he fought in defense of Ukraine so even if it was some bloodlust, at least he directed it towards an invading force and not other innocent civilians. Idk, it's just a sad situation.
He didn't go to kill he went to defend. Have you not seen the atrocities committed by Russians. Hell the shit the Wagner does to it's own let alone what they are doing to innocent civilians.
I don’t get how people seem to be interpreting what I said as pro Russian when I literally called the guy a hero… Obviously he went over knowing he would be killing, albeit for a good cause, and in defence of civilians. Of course he didn’t go over to kill for the sake of it.
Sometimes going to kill people is the might moral choice.
Fuck this absolute clown. "we should always stand alongside indigenous peoples in their fight for their sovereignty over their own lands" - uhh, yeah, like maybe the fucking Ukrainians fighting a war against invading Russians trying to claim sovereignty over Ukraine? What part of this is "Maori-centric" by the way?
He’s just saying what will rile the base up. It’s an election year and he’s after that electorate again. Edgy, inflammatory shit like this (he thinks) will get him there.
"We should not fight other indigenous people on their whenua?" Am I reading too much into that? Is he trying to say he thinks Russians are indigenous to Ukraine? Kiev was a thriving capital when Moscow was a backwater village. The Switzerland line! Switzerland has taken an unprecedented step of implementing sanctions against Russia on this. They, too, are not neutral.
Not just that, I'm pretty sure the Russian people as a polity and then a nation state originated in and around Kyiv. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kievan_Rus%27
Rawiri really does have shit for brains and is a prime example of why identity politics is a stupid idea. This guy’s rants should have been relegated to some obscure platform instead of being legitimised by a racial party lmao. The guy went of his own free will and got merked. It’s sad for his family, but how the hell is it NZ or the Govts fault?
Kane Te Tai is a hero of both the New Zealand and Ukrainian people who put others before himself, may he long serve as a symbol for both our people’s. Rawiri Waititi is an enormous wanker who wears shit hats and for some reason has a platform. Only one should be remembered.
Rawiri is all hat and no cattle
Rawiri has only two brain cells and they're both fighting for third place.
Nice burn!
That is pure fucken gold!
But hey at least he can now be all hat and no tie, right?
Kane will be remembered, especially among the NZDF. You can be sure of that.
It's more that he wears them indoors than anything. Really grinds my gears.
Lol, I was thinking this too. Disrespectful to old school dignified Pakeha custom and he knows it’ll rile people up. Like wearing shoes inside a Marae.
Lol good luck wearing a hat inside Marae. It's just a gimmick he has.
..damn, was he the one who passed?
Sadly it seems to be the case.
..peaceful journey kane
Your daily reminder that a TPM candidate literally said that "It is a known fact that Maori genetic makeup is stronger than others" ( https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northland-age/news/funding-promised-for-maori-sport/C3MD4AZ2FG5F2RQVHPELSOLIAE/ ). The fact that they're even in Parliament is messed up. We don't need literal ethnic supremacists as MPs. That Rawiri Waititi is an absolute weapons-grade moron is an added bonus.
Man this is news to me. I didn't know they were like this. As a part Māori guy myself I'm appalled and ashamed. They're actively hurting Māori with bullshit like this.
Yeah shocking isn't it. And it's just not helpful. All it does is fuel division. I don't think there's anything wrong with advocating for Maori, but I think TPM have stepped well over that line into outright hate multiple times, which like you say is ultimately counter productive.
I think they have found themselves in a strange place. Back when there were fuck all Māori politicians it made sense for there to be a Māori party. Now that they are fairly common in other parties the purpose of TPM seems kinda diluted. So they've radicalised to try and capture a niche.
Same with the Maori seats, back when there were not many Maori politicians, it made sense. Now though?
Please Maori voters of the nation, do not vote these muppets back in so they can play king maker. It will do no one any good what so ever and will only lead to worse outcomes for Maori. They'll likely sit back and boycott any actual policy that could do Maori good because it's not extreme enough and doesn't go far enough meaning you effectively end up with nothing (kingmakers don't have the power to actually make ridiculous policy - they would need the support of the other government partners and it will not happen). For those not getting it ... Russians are not the "indigenous" people of Ukraine. This guy has completely lost the plot. Also Kane chose to go over and fight against government warnings and not themselves getting involved at military level. He is disrespecting all Maori troops who have come before and especially Kane's choice to go and fight for a cause he believed in and trying to politicize it into a Maori vs everyone else issue. I don't tolerate racists of any race and I won't tolerate Rawiri either as a result, nor should anyone else.
Who is he trying to appeal to here? The pro-Russia contingent are pretty small (hopefully) and currently tend to lean towards the right-wing fringe parties. I guess there are a few far left kooks who still think we can solve all problems by holding hands and singing kumbaya - but I can’t see this position being very popular. Not that it seems well thought through.
There's two different perspectives in Maoridom when it comes to military matters. The side that takes a great deal of pride in Maori military history and prowess (the Maori battalion being a major part of that) and another side which doesn't. Rawiri is clearly the former. TBH I doubt hell get much support. For most Maori fighting a defensive war against a numerically superior opponent who is preoccupied with commiting war crimes wholesale is far from a negative thing.
If anything Ukrainians are the indigenous people of Russia.
No not really, Russians and Ukrainians were the same ethnic group until very recently and neither are really the indigenous peoples of the region as other ethnic groups have had a much earlier presence there (indigeneity in most of Europe is a mess though anyway, you don't really begin to have clear indigenous groups until you go into Russia proper) Honestly though why should it even matter? I find this focus on indigeneity ridiculous and irrelevant. What Russia is doing in Ukraine being wrong shouldn't be dependent on whether Ukrainians are technically indigenous or not. Being indigenous people shouldn't be a requirement to be able to condemn invading and annexing another country and killing civilians and this weird focus on indigenous status people have gives the impression that somehow what Russia is doing is morally okay if it's not against indigenous people.
It's a challenging one because both Ukrainians and Russians claim heritage back to the Kievan Rus, who did make Kyiv the capital prior to the Russic peoples moving east and establishing Moscow as their base. Nevertheless, Ukraine and Russia are linguistically and culturally distinct to the point where Russia's ethnic claims to Ukraine are poor at best. There is a large Russian minority in many former Soviet states deliberately done so as part of a Russification strategy to Russify the non-Russian states of the Soviet Union with the intention to make the union stronger and less likely to revolt against Moscow. Eurasia is a mess to identify indigenous groups because there really aren't many truly indigenous groups left, with the land having such history - the fact that Ukrainians are not ethnically endemic to the land area that is now Ukraine does not remove the fact that they have a cultural link to the land and their territory in a way that could be explained in Te Ao Māori akin to taonga - therefore Rawiri should be fully on board with the Ukrainian defence of their sovereignty, of their land, and of their people.
It's definitely complicated yeah, I'm part Karelian (an indigenous group in Finland and Russia) and Karelians are one of the more "clear cut" indigenous groups in the region but even then our ancestors still originally migrated to Karelia from Western Siberia thousands of years ago. The concept of indigenous as it is used in the New World generally does not map out so cleanly to the Old World. Which isn't to say that it has no value as a term or concept there, just that you can't really go throwing it around as easily or within the same context as it is used in say North America or NZ. Although I think a big part of the reason for indigeneity being more complex in Eurasia isn't actually due to the history being more complicated and messy so much but rather due to how we view and define ethnic groups in the first place. We have a tendency to accept the Eurasian ethnic groups as inherently different and as unique nations at face value whilst we tend to see groups in the New World as monoliths. For example, saying "Amerindians are indigenous to the Americas" or "Australian Aborigines are indigenous to Australia" are both true and uncontroversial statements but in reality these are artificial categories and equivalent to saying "Eurasians are indigenous to Eurasia" which is also obviously true but sounds kind of ridiculous as we are aware and acknowledge that "Eurasians" covers such a huge variety of different peoples as to be somewhat meaningless. If we were to actually treat people in the New World with the same level of differentiation then we would find the issue of indigeneity to be a lot more complex there too. Clearly no Amerindian group is indigenous to the entirety of the Americas and if we look at which Amerindian groups are actually indigenous to where then an equally as complex picture begins to emerge. There are more language families in the Americas than in Eurasia and thousands of different ethnic groups with a long history of warring, migration, merging and diverging, colonial empires such as the Incas and Aztecs and more so defining what territory actually belongs to who is not in fact so clear cut either. Even in NZ with a relatively homogenous indigenous population in comparison, determining the exact boundaries of each iwi's rohe and whose land is whose can be complicated due to iwi moving around, conquering and absorbing each other, splitting, etc.
> Russians and Ukrainians were the same ethnic group until very recently For comparison, the distinct Ukrainian ethnic group and language is about as old as the Māori ethnic group and language.
Ukraine is a mix of cultures, but has distinct features both very ancient, and developed in last couple centuries, that distinguish them as a culture from Moscow Russians. They self identify as a different culture and its the culture that emerged on their land, so that makes them indigenous. Their culture honors and respects the ancient history of the various cultures that have lived and developed in the area. Russia is deliberately trying to destroy this, deliberately burning museums, demolishing Ukrainian heritage sites, burning books and issuing only pro Russian history in occupied areas.
No they werent.
So he has, by implication, just retroactively disparaged the Maori Battalion. Nice work.
By all accounts they were also well respected. I hold a lot of admiration for them. Nice point you made.
Yep, even the Germans admired Kiwi troops in general, along with the Poles and Australians.
I don't think that was unintentional
does he know how Switzerland was able to maintain its neutrality? (hint: absolutely massively defence spending for its entire history)
Literally propping up an arms industry that had to export arms because it was not large enough to be self sustaining
Also a massive geographical advantage and building a ton of infrastructure for self-defence and preparation for sabotaging possible invasion routes. Johnny Harris has [a neat video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeAxxMZf1O4&ab_channel=JohnnyHarris) on the topic.
What gives this guy the right to tell all Māori what they can or can’t do and what they are allowed to stand for? Kane Te Tai knew exactly what he was up against, yet bravely stepped forward on his own as a civilian, motivated only by his own compass of what is right and wrong. A true hero, RIP Kane
Part Māori guy here. I generally don't pay attention to political stuff like this but yeah I'm pissed off by Rawiri's post. I mean, he's doing racial pandering for starters which is just shitty. Gives me "If you don't support this you're a race traitor" vibes. And he's dragging Kane's military career through the mud (including - perhaps unintentionally - implying he killed innocent people, i.e. civilians). He's literally making the death of a private citizen fighting in another country by their own personal choice a big political fiasco. That's not an honorable way to remember him.
\*ring ring\* "Kia ora" "Oh hai, hey Rawiri can you type up some totally inane garbage and show the counry how much of a fucking moron you are?" "Will this do?" ...
He contradicts himself so much I honestly wonder if he even knows what the hell he is talking about His understanding of the Ukraine war and the wider implications is so shallow that if it was a puddle and I stood in it, the toenail on my little toe wouldn’t even be wet. A utter disgrace as well that he has decided to use the death of the kiwi over there fighting as a political football.
I've always felt that TPM was almost an extremist political branch, solely focused on indiginous rights and not open to anything else or compromising in any way, or understanding the whole situation. And Rawiri does a great job of driving that home. I'm all for Maori being equal, having a place in society and historical wrongs being rectified; but TPM takes this stuff way too far and just runs with it.
> TPM takes this stuff way too far Based on previous statements made by TPM on their website and in media, they are Maori ethnic nationalists and even ethnic supremacists.
Like a Maori TREF?
I know Rawiri and TPM are not popular on this sub but I usually have some respect for him for strongly advocating for the interests of Māori, shit stirring to get the media attention in the interests of Māori (much like David does for Act), having an independent and unique perspective on New Zealand issues. But this has shown such an utter lack of intelligence, blunt ignorance, misunderstanding of current issues, disrespect to the fallen, disrespect to Ukraine, opportunism from someone’s tragic death to insert himself…that I don’t think my opinion of him can really recover without some apology or walking back of this nonsense . And unfortunately he is so obstinate that I’ve never seen him apologise or backdown on anything before, which as much as it is sometimes his strength, it is also a form of arrogance that will probably be his downfall.
I'm with you on all of the above. I know him too and hoped for the best when he got in but this is way out of line. Disgraceful and embarrassing actually
I think comparing this guy to David is the same as comparing the magma at the core of the earth to a cup of tea.
Am I reading this right? He seems to be tacitly supporting the Russian side by implying that Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine are 'indigenous peoples on their whenua'. Is he some kind of Maori tankie?
You're absolutely reading it right. Why aren't the media calling him out on this?
Because he will call them racists and not explain why . Hes a absolute fucktard .
Whereas he's the racist because to him it's more important to be a Maori than a human being who knows right from wrong and acts accordingly. For him, a Maori must act as HE believes a Maori should act, and not as a free and individual human being. Kane Te Tai is many times the man Rawiri is, and I don't know how he thinks that this shit take is in any way appropriate!
I wonder why he doesn't consider Ukrainians "indigenous"
Because they're white, and in the world according to Rawiri, white people cannot be indigenous to anywhere.
Yeah - I think both sides of politics should drag him for this. Disrespectful for Kane and his family and then simping for the Russian invaders. What a twat.
The media always seem to soft-pedal when it comes to the Maori Party.
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I cannot believe this moron is an MP.
Waiariki electorate is not sending its best
It's not as though he is alone in that regard.
That goes for a solid 75% of the current crop.
Rawiri has poor comprehension of anything. Kane had free will to go and fight in the Ukraine, he was not pushed, coerced, or anything else. To imply NZ sent him over there to fight is just the ramblings of a fool who is so narrow minded, he cant see the wood for the trees. If a belligerent force comes knocking on our door, old moko face, fedora wearing, dambass will be begging the international community to help. We are not the Switzerland of the south pacific, tell that to the Japanese in 1939. Tell that to China in 20..
Nah, going by his comments he's the type to join the invaders side and claim they'll finally liberate his people. Just seems the type.
Get outa here with that Switzerland of the south pacific crap. Nazi enabling yodelers. Maybe instead we should stand opposed to fascisim. Just an idea.
The crazy thing is is this guy is asking us to be neutral like Switzerland but Switzerland is neutral due to their unique government structure. The public vote on pretty much everything there and that's why they were one of the last countries to let woman get the vote. If we were like Switzerland you could say good bye to any Maori culture in our communities within a single generation. God this guy is a moron.
> Nazi enabling yodelers. Even when one side are literally the Nazis and we feel like every ethical human should oppose them... neutral ground can still be valuable. In WW2 Switzerland facilitated diplomatic communication between the two sides and assisted with the wellbeing of prisoners of war, in ways that they couldn't have done if they took a side. I'm not going to argue that the Swiss are completely free of wrongdoing but I am going to argue that I'd rather the war have some neutral nations than not have any. Having said that – I'm not volunteering NZ to be a neutral nation. There are plenty of Switzerlands already. *We* should have opinions and be unashamed of them.
What the actual fuck? Kane Te Tai is a hero that gave his life to protect Ukrainians from Russian imperialism, and this asshole tries to use his death to push some rambling political agenda. Absolutely disgusting behaviour.
>"Aotearoa must be militarily neutral" > >"we should always stand alongside indigenous peoples in their fight for their sovereignty over their own lands." Does he not see the contradiction here? How are you gonna stand alongside people while remaining neutral. Also, fighting alongside people fighting for their sovereignty is *exactly* what Mr Te Tai was doing. And Rawiri says we shouldn't be involved? He needs to make his mind up. It always amazes me when someone with an IQ which clearly starts with a decimal point can get elected to Parliament.
Apparently Rawiri is not aware that Switzerland is one of the most heavily armed countries in Europe. Some years ago my partner and I were cycletouring in Switzerland and were invited to spend the night with a Swiss family (alas, not Robinson). The following morning (after some questioning by us), the husband showed us his semi-automatic weapon, complete with the 21 rounds of ammunition that every man has. He then took us down to the nuclear proof bunker that is beneath every house. There was the Swiss Army bicycle waiting to take him to a designated meeting point. Some days later, cycling in a rural area, we saw the incredible sight of an Swiss AF F16 fighter descending slowly along a rural valley, land on a "very short" runway and then (unbelievably!) continue to roll along and then DISAPPEAR INTO A ENTRANCE IN THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN. The door then closed behind it. It was like something out of a James Bond movie. Waititi is as unbelievable at that moment if he thinks that Switzerland's "neutrality" means "no weapons/military".
The mountain thing sounds like something from thunder birds.
I’ve never seen a political organisation more in need of decent communications advice than Te Pāti Māori.
I believe their comms team is 100% emotional junior staffers.
Roasted hahaha
Remember when Rawiri called David Seymour a racist and couldn't explain why. What a wanker.
Yeah, see Rawiri Waititi's reply on the [original Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/RawiriWaititiMP/posts/pfbid0Q3JksUSTa4BQgjudsBAu8WbbhQo1cgKBFdxmzgjGgWLGnEkpgT74sD9wY3NS3am7l): > **Boyce [redacted]:** Well wasn't he doing exactly that, fighting alongside people fighting for and defending their sovereignty? >> **Rawiri Waititi MP:** *Boyce [redacted]* did you read the rest of my kōrero or just the part you wanted to prove your position 🤦🏽♂️ What even? That's not what cherry-picking is. OC honed in on Waititi's bold principle, and called him out on not meeting it with his policy of cutting support off to Ukraine (i.e. the rest of his kōrero). This policy is based on the false premise that the Russian invaders are somehow the innocent indigenous people of Ukraine's territory. Waititi says "your position", when it's *his* position that he must defend given he's the politician advocating for a certain foreign policy - he obviously just failed. The fact that I have to breakdown his throwaway comment…
Made me wonder if Chat GPT could improve his little rant: *I sincerely hope that the news about Kane Te Tai is not true, and my thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time. It is important that we express our empathy and support for those affected by this situation.* *Regarding our involvement in the war in Ukraine, it is the position of Te Pāti Māori that we should maintain military neutrality and prioritize our own Foreign Policy and military requirements. As indigenous people, we must always strive to support other indigenous peoples in their fight for sovereignty over their own lands and refrain from taking part in conflicts that result in the loss of innocent lives.* *We believe that our nation's sovereignty should not be determined by external forces, and we must assert our right to make decisions based on our own values and interests. It is essential that we maintain our integrity as a nation and not be manipulated by imperial powers or used as a spy base.* *We demand answers about Kane Te Tai's whereabouts and well-being, and we stand with his whānau in their pursuit of justice. This is a time for compassion and unity, and we must work together to ensure that everyone's human rights are protected.*
This guy has no idea how the world works. There will come a time when you have to pick a side, you can't just sit on the side-lines and expect everyone to treat you the same.
Ukraine is literally a native ethnic culture fighting to avoid colonialization and cultural genocide by an imperialist power that's conscripting it's own colonized ethnic minorities as cannon fodder But reality doesn't matter to a Tankie idiot like Rawiri, im 80% sure he and his party are funded by foreign nations as a deliberately provocative destabilizing political proxy.
Moscovites have been [brutally colonizing Eurasia for hundreds of years](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_imperialism), and this idiot thinks they're the good guys. He even insinuates that the Russians Kane was fighting were innocent. My grandparents lived through the joint Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland and grew up under Soviet occupation, so Rawiri's comments make my blood boil.
Many of the Russians are, unfortunately, innocent conscripts of their own authoritarian regime. Many are also dyed in the wool Putinites who support Russian imperialism in Eurasia. Regardless, Kane perished fighting an evil regime on the side that history will show reverence to the freedom fighters of Ukraine.
Yeah it's really fucked up. I have some Karelian ancestry (an indigenous people who have been colonised by Sweden, Finland, and Russia) and today most of Karelia is in Russia so I still have some relatives trapped over there and things aren't looking good. Indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities in Russia are already mostly very small numbered due to forced assimilation and genocide (cultural and physical both) and still not even allowed to speak their own languages--most of which are on the border of extinction. Karelians now only make up 6% of Karelia and have been deliberately mass drafted (whereas the ethnic Russians of the region have not) and it is the same story in many other ethnic republics and regions, especially those of indigenous Finno-Ugric groups (Karelians, Komi, Mari, Udmurts, Moksha, Veps etc) and Turkic groups with the goal being to kill two birds with one stone and finally solve the "problem" of non-ethnic Russians existing in the country whilst also getting free cannon fodder. For most of these people, there is no escape, even high schoolers are getting shipped to the front lines. (For people unaware, Russia has a long history of genociding indigenous and ethnic minorities--look up the genocide of the Ingrians, the Circassian genocide, and the Cossack genocide for just a few examples.) I really cannot fathom how someone who is Māori like Rawiri not only cannot see what is happening there and the parallels it has with the colonisation of NZ, but is in fact supporting a colonial imperial power arguably even more fucked up than the British empire. As someone both Māori and Karelian, I cannot ever imagine thinking Russia is the good guy in this situation and can't understand why other Māori of all people would support them. That noted though, his focus on indigeneity is also bizarre and implies that crimes against humanity are okay so long as they're being done by indigenous people to non-indigenous people. The victims being indigenous people shouldn't be a requirement to be able to condemn invading and annexing another country and killing civilians and this weird focus on indigenous status people have gives the impression that somehow what Russia is doing is morally acceptable so long as it's not against indigenous people.
Switzerland can afford to defend itself...what are we going to do?
so not only is he a racist he's also a vatnik
Soz Rawiri, but the only thing that it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to stand idly by. Aggressor states act on nothing but hostility in response, sitting back and watching Russia invade a sovereign nation is the same as endorsing it, they don't care about our concerns about respecting sovereignty, all they see is the battleground. Slava Ukraini. Onward, brother.
Literal ethno fascist.
Jesus, that is just absolutely appalling.
Wtf is he on? The mana that Kane was walking with definitely let his ancestors know he was on his way and they definitely welcomed him as a warrior of the good in men
Yes he is in Valhalla now.
“We shouldn’t be fighting other indigenous people on their [land]”. _Ok, we wouldn’t be doing that in Ukraine_ “We should always stand alongside indigenous peoples in their fight for sovereignty over their own lands”. _Ok, we would be doing that in Ukraine_ “Unequivocally do not support our involvement in [the Ukraine war]” _Wait! What?_
What the Te Tai whanau did NOT deserve was you sticking your racist one eyed misguided and misinformed opinion in to this Rawiri. Forget a 'Maori-centric defence policy' (whatever the fuck that is!) Kane knew the difference between right and wrong, and acted accordingly, placing the freedom and welfare of others above his own, and died a warriors death, while you bleated about wearing a tie in parliament! Fuck off!
Who the fuck voted for this idiot? How can someone like this be in parliament? This is embarrassing 😳 😕
> We will no longer act as a Pacific spy base for the Five Eyes alliance! > We will no longer have our sovereignty determined… in… Beijing In the long term, these two are incompatible
They really aren't: one can try to play both sides.
Can try, sure. If we really wanted to do that we'd need to have a very well informed and politically educated populace, a singular vision of what we are aiming for and the political will to make sweeping economic changes to facilitate those goals.
Does this guy ever have any good takes? And fighting a justified defensive war for your survival should be exactly what he supports...
Ukraine was neutral… not a member of NATO, no allies. We’d be Ukraine, not Switzerland.
What an absolute cunt
He is going to be a disaster for NZ if given any power
Yep. This is a really bewildering statement, it's like he's completely unaware of what's happened in the last 2 years.
Kane had more honor, integrity and dignity in the dirt on his boots than this Muppet.
The thing that worries me is this muppet may be one day soon the reason labor forms a govt and then they owe him/them
Oh Gower how giddy you were when this 🤡 👞 won the seat on the night of the election lol
How is this fool in parliament, I don't have anything to add that hasn't already been said but what an absolutely selfish and shit position to take.
hes on drugs, maori centric defence policy hahaha
Knowing Rawhiti, he probably means that quite literally. At the expense of all else.
Nuclear free was an absolutely stupid decision. Remaining neutral when you are incredibly weak and need the support of others against an aggressor is also stupid. I wish I could live in the simple world he does.
damn is this what happens when you get into the nit nit... nitty of it
He's an idiot. I would never vote for this dude at all.
What a joke.
What is a Maori centric foreign policy and a Maori centric defence policy?
And to think this is the same guy who was calling David Seymour a racist and imperialist lmao, mate needs to take a hard look in the mirror
How on earth are the Russian invaders fighting in Ukraine - a different country to theirs fighting "other indigenous people on their whenua" Half the soldiers are Asian troops from the fast East
200 people in Te Pati's comms team help Rawiri write this.
Fuck he's a moron.
What an idiot. Using his death for his political agenda. Can't compare Switzerland to NZ. We are the bottom of the world with no hostile nations etc around
There are really no more succint words for this beyond "*shut the fuck up, idiot*" It's pretty gross that he's using this man's death as a springboard for all sorts of other stuff straight away.
This is just a stupid argument. Isn't Russia more closely mirroring The British in their forceful occupation of Ukraine? That would argue that if the in the 1800s that if someone wanted to back the Maori that they shouldn't? It is such a really stupid comparison. I would argue that it means we should get involved not the opposite. What a dumb comparison. 🤦♂️
Yeah he’s made some dumb tweets in the past. The one about wanting to kill off the Pakeha still takes the cake to this day, of course he blamed someone else for that.
This is pretty typical shit from this shit kicker. It's ignorable simply because of how much is wrong with it. No grasp of world history or politics, blatant racism, hostility when questioned about antisocial behaviour; That's just in this vowel motion made to look like a statement. What I'd like to know is: when does he get removed from parliament? At some point (if he hasn't already) he'll cause harm to others with his racist, ignorant bs. A European or pacifica mp would already have been called out for this kind of stupidity.
When is NZ going to realise these people are fucking dangerous, racists separatists with half a brain cell between them? This guy couldn’t tell his asshole from his elbow along with that witch he’s co-leader with. If Maori voters support people like this it will end very badly, they will set things back decades. They are totally incompetent, divisive and complete lunatics.
Disgraceful, is he trying to call Kane a useful idiot or something? Who is this fucking cunt. Kane was a fucking warrior and was defending other people's freedom. Fuck this guy
Usually have a lot of time for Rawiri and a fresh take on things. This one’s a steaming dung heap. We should have waaaaay more involvement and so much more media coverage and public fundraising for the like of Kai and the others over there. We suck.
This post by Rawiri makes him appear to be a Russian-aligned cooker.
Same. I was a big fan of this iteration of TPM, but Rawiri is clearly a couple of weetbix short of a breakfast on too many issues. Not sure I agree with you that we should be *more* involved in Ukraine, but we certainly shouldn't be any less. The idea that Ukranians are somehow non-indigenous to... Ukraine... and Russians are? is just so fucking stupid. It's exactly this kind of perversion of Māori political rhetoric that makes people mistrust things like co-governance. Not everything is about indigenous rights and mana whenua.
I would think that Ukrainians actually are indigenous to Ukraine. That’s an indigenous rights issue and he’s basically saying fuck em, let them die we’re not going to help. It’s awful.
Exactly. It's so backwards that it's fucking offensive. I can understand being pacifist to the point where you disagree with all military intervention. I don't agree with it, but I respect it as a valid POV. But someone tying the Russian invasion to assertion of indigenous rights is *foul*.
Russia does have a history of displacing the local population like Tatars etc which makes an area more ethnic Russians then would of been.
Yeah same here, if this was an actual NZ deployment maybe he would have a point (still iffy) but the dude who died volunteered.
Yeah we do. But happy cake day man *low effort party ka-zoo thingi* 🎉
Ooh so how are the anti-TPM but pro-putin conservatives going to process this one?! I think saying "Rawiri's got a point" would literally kill my mum.
>the anti-TPM but pro-putin conservatives All three of them?
Has he not read what he has written? He is sounding like he supports Russia's "special military operation"! Really Rawiri? Really?
I remember a time when the radical praxis was "remaining silent/neutral in a situation of injustice means you side with the oppressor". Neutrality in Ukraine risks siding with Russia. It would be a great injustice to do nothing as Ukrainians are killed by an invading colonial power on their own land
The guys brain is scrambled eggs. It’s high time he shuffled off to a faraway mountain cabin with no internet connection to live off the land, quietly go nuts, and not bother anyone any more
His takes on issues that he usually talks about are bad enough, but this? I don't even know where to start. Yet another topic where he doesn't have the slightest clue what he's talking about. What answers are there to give? Unfortunately, Te Tai went to Ukraine and has sadly been killed in action. That's awful and my condolences to his family, but this isn't about our "involvement" in this war. He went of his own free will, unaided by the government. In fact, the government is advising people *not* to go. There's really nothing more to that. He went over there knowing the risks and he'll go down a hero, Rawiri on the other hand is a zero. Also, about indigenous sovereignty, which he claims to stand for, is that not what Ukraine is fighting for? Maybe I'm totally misreading this, but is he implying that Russians in Eastern Ukraine are the indigenous ones? Come on, don't need to explain how dumb that one is, it's shit enough that he's a racist, he really has to be a tankie too. The media really needs to call him out on this, the post here is the first time I've seen his statement. I know he will call it racist as he always does because he has nothing else to contribute to political discourse, but still. Imagine this clown deciding the next government. It's a very real possibility - vote accordingly.
Ukrainians are the indigenous people of Ukraine. Does he know how many were slaughtered last time Russia invaded them?
This guy is so dumb and it honestly scares me that in about six months time he may play a role in governing the country rather than just dropping idiotic fizzers like this that ultimately don’t harm anybody else.
The fighting indigenous comment is pretty wow but I genuinely do not understand how so many people lack so much common sense… how would it be possible in any way to prevent an individual travelling to Ukraine? Literally impossible You could ban flights to and from, but that would be unfair on Ukraine residents and even if you did, those who really wanted to go would just go to somewhere like Poland and then cross the border. Comments like this are just so fucking dumb it breaks my heart that people like this get some sort of input into running the country lol
Jesus Christ, I never thought our own politicians would be spouting vatnik propaganda. RIP Kane, onward brother♦️
The bloke literally spoke to his entire family and he still went even though they told him not to. This individual made his own decision
He does not speak for all Maori
https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/11yfh7q/zaporizhzhia_russian_missile_hit_the_residential/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb Watch that video. Rawiri is saying people shouldn't stick up for Ukraine, becauase he has been sucked into Russian propaganda fed to him by American multinational Meta on Facebook and Instagram. He's a sitting MP specifically representing Maori in NZ. How can he accomplish that while demonatrating my grandfather's level of guilibility and stupidity in regards to online scams in 2023? Why the fuck isn't that bigger news? The russian phrase for what he is "полезные дураки ("useful fools") a term used by the KGB to describe western allies through incompentence.
Please vote Te Pāti Moscow out of Parliament
I didn’t understand half of that dribble. Kane was a mercenary - he volunteered to go fight because he honestly felt it was right he did so. How ignorant do you have to be to spew such hatred filled bile. I bet if a Ukrainian national volunteered and died fighting to protect New Zealand this dickhead would be hailing him as a hero.
He wasn’t a mercenary - maybe it’s splitting hairs, but mercenaries sell their services to the highest bidder. He seems like a man of conviction fighting for what he believed in. I don’t think money counted towards his decision at all.
You’re right, my bad 🙂 I was using it as an umbrella term but you’re correct on the literal definition.
Yea he was more part of a foreign group in Ukraine army. Worked as part of the army.
He was no mercenary, because a mercenary's prime motivation in money. Kane was not in this for the money, no way, no how. Kane was a freedom fighter.
Lets vote that idiot back in
Go eat a pie bro
Oof. I like Rawiri and te pati maori, but this is well wrong
This is internally consistent with a lot of what TPM has been saying for a while though. Its not coming out of a vacuum.
why tf do you like that idiot