Back in 1988, there was more than little irony in the view, possibly held by Treaty of Waitangi signatories in 1840, that its second article took care of the land ownership question in perpetuity. Of course, history, batteries of lawyers, the Waitangi Tribunal and the law courts have decided otherwise. Today, while other pakeha niggles range from positive discrimination for Maori to lengthy portions of public ceremonies conducted in language few understand, concern about land ownership – foreshore, seabed or farmland – is the raw nerve that National leader Don Brash exposed in his Orewa speech early in the year. His ‘one law for everyone’ is rallying call to some New Zealanders and betrayal to others. It remains to be seen whether Brash is as adept at finding answers to intractable problems as he was posing unanswerable questions.
Tom Scott, The Evening Post, 28 September 1988.
From the NZ Cartoon Archive, Alexander Turnbull Library, P O Box 12349, Wellington, Tel/fax 04-474 3154
The national collection of cartoons and caricatures
