WAITANGI DAY Heavy Rain Mars Observance

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31907, 7 February 1969, Page 1

WAITANGI DAY Heavy Rain Mars Observance

(New Zealand Press Association) WAITANGI, February 6. Torrential rain this afternoon forced the cancellation of the Waitangi Day celebration. A naval detachment putting the final touches to the arena at the Waitangi Treaty House abandoned its work shortly after midday, and the grounds were soon soaked with rain.

Navy launch trips to view the visiting ships in Waitangi Bay were made during the morning but these activities stopped as rain closed in and visibility was reduced.

Many people who came to watch the ceremony did not get as far as the grounds, and the majority returned to their homes before nightfall.

A short ceremony lasting an hour to mark the day was held in the whare Rununga in the Treaty House grounds. The function was attended by as many of those who could crowd into the small building.

About 50 visitors huddled under umbrellas in the pouring rain to watch the official party led by the GovernorGeneral (Sir Arthur Porritt) arrive in the grounds. The legal value of the Treaty of Waitangi had often been questioned “but its moral obligations surely remain as binding today as they were in 1840,” Sir Arthur Porritt said in his Waitangi Day speech. ‘Magna Carta’ Referring to the treaty as a unique and extraordinary document. Sir Arthur Porritt said his experiences in New Zealand over the last year “have made me appreciate more and more the deep significance” of it.

The treaty justified the term “New Zealand’s magna carta,” he said. Credit for the joining of races also must be given to the early missionaries, said the GovernorGeneral. It was through their efforts that an understanding of each other’s language was produced. Sir Arthur Porritt said he expected that “one day before long” Waitangi Day would be officially recognised as New Zealand Day. Two Races New Zealanders could not truly say “we are one people” while there were still economic and social differences between Maori and European, the Minister of Maori and Island Affairs (Mr Hanan) said tonight at Waitangi.

Mr Hanan said that since he became Minister of Maori Affairs this had been his preoccupation—to remove as quickly as possible the things that still divided the two races.

The basic thing was education and here an everincreasing effort was being made riot only by the Government but also by

Maori parents and Maori students.

As a result of the great drive over the last 20 years, the disparity between Maori and European standards of housing and household amenitit s had almost disappeared. Maori House “Here again, this is due not only to Government assistance but also to the magnificent effort of the people themselves. The old stereotype that a Maori house was an unpainted shack with a rusty roof and standing in a bare paddock is no longer true.” The other field which still required the attention of every New Zealander was Maori employment. “If Waitangi is to mean anything we cannot complacently accept a situation where the majority of the Maori people are unskilled workers, vulnerable to every economic breeze. I certainly do not accept it,” said Mr Hanan. Maori Schools The Minister of Education (Mr Kinsella), also speaking at the celebrations, said this particular Waitangi Day had a special significance in the

educational history of New Zealand.

A few days ago his department handed over to education boards the control of the remaining 105 Maori schools in the country. These schools had been under direct departmental control for just over 100 years. Mr Kinsella said he wanted to emphasise that the transfer was purely administrative. The Education Department would continue to pursue its policy on Maori education.