THE NATIVE RACE

Southland Times, Issue 21831, 7 October 1932, Page 7

THE NATIVE RACE

VICTIMIZATION ALLEGED. MR T. TIRIKATENE’S SPEECH. (From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, October 6. The claim that a portion of the native race of New Zealand had been victimized by the Native Minister was made by Mr T. Tirikatene when speaking in the financial debate in the House this evening. Mr Tirikatene said he had enough proof of this to set the South Pole on fire. He congratulated the National Expenditure Commission on having shown in the native affairs section of its report that one man was “unable to run the roost on his own.” That had been the thought of the Ratana Party, whose policy he represented for many years. Now he himself considered that all the native members of the House should be on the Native Affairs Committee. A portion of the Maori people had been victimized by the Native Minister. Mr Tirikatene did not -want to speak on the subject, but he had enough evidence at this point to set the South Pole alight. “I say this,” he said, “if the majority of the Maori people got to hear and find out how they are situated at present, well I have heard of a Wash Up Bill, but this would be a dust up.”. Regarding the treatment of Maori unemployed, he said that the native relief worker was paid less than the pakeha and it was the duty of the Native Minister to see that this state of affairs was remedied. The majority of the Maori unemployed were returned soldiers who had gone to the war with the same thoughts as the pakehas. In that case, why should the law be different for Maori and pakeha?