Australians Found Maoris In N.Z. Very Hospitable

Wanganui Chronicle, 8 May 1948, Page 5

Australians Found Maoris In N.Z. Very Hospitable

(O.C’J Wellington, May 7. Whatever opposition there ;nignt be ii* Australia to the entry of membeis of the Maori race into the Ccmmonwealth, the visiting Australian Returned Services League delegation found nowhere in New Zealand any prejudice against them as the result of the recent pronouncement by the Australian Minister of Immigration (Mr. Calwell) barring entry to these New Zealanders —a pronouncement which since has been withdrawn. /according to several Australian exservicemen to whom the “Chronicle” spoke at a Parliamentary reception to the visitors today, the Australian Immigration Minister “has made a bad olue. “The Australian servicemen in the war realised the Maori was as good a lighter as he was,” they said. “The Australians fraternised in two world wars with Maori soldiers. Why should not they remain friends and visit each other in civilian life?’ Other visitors who tasted Maori hospitality at Otaki, Rotorua and elsewhere, said they had been embarrassed by Mr Calwell s “ill-judged, illtimed, ill-conceived” statements. “You can live happily here with many Maori families in your community—so we could, too, in Australia," they said. “The Maori is a New Zealander to me I never have and never will make a racial distinction between soldiers,” said another visitor. The reaction to Mr. Calwell’s attitude by some of the Maori ex-service-men at the reception was brief, and to the point. “Forget it," they said. “Soldiers make lifetime friends, but politicians only some of the time.”