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19 March 2008
Moves
to stop Manukau City Council flying Maori sovereignty flag
Proposals to fly
the Tino Rangatiratanga flag outside the Manukau City Council are
being challenged by a group of councillors opposed to the move.
A group of nine
councillors, representing half the membership of the Council, have
lodged a Notice of Motion seeking a council decision to refuse the
flying of the flag.
The move has
come following the decision by the Council’s Treaty of Waitangi
Committee to further investigate a flag policy, including flying
of the Maori sovereignty flag on civic flagpoles.
Manukau City
Councillor Jami-Lee Ross, who prepared the Notice of Motion,
believes only the New Zealand Flag and official Council flag
should be flown.
“The New Zealand
Flag is our national flag and a flag that we should be proud of.
It is the flag that represents all New Zealanders, both Maori and
non-Maori alike,” he says.
“Unfortunately
many New Zealanders view the Tino Rangatiratanga flag as a
rejection of the Treaty of Waitangi, and a rejection of European
presence in New Zealand.
“The suggestion
that such a flag should be flown alongside our national flag is
insulting to many people in Manukau City. That flag represents
division and radicalism, and has no place being flown by this
Council,” says Mr Ross.
It is almost
unprecedented for half the Council to put their signatures to a
letter seeking to have a matter addressed. Such a move is a strong
indication of the feeling within the Council about this issue.
Mr Ross says he
and others are also seeking to end a costly and lengthy three
month process of developing a “comprehensive flag flying policy”
with “comprehensive community consultation”. This work was
requested by the Treaty of Waitangi Committee at its meeting on 13
March and announced in a Council media release the following day.
He says the
Council doesn’t need to develop an extensive policy on flags and
is critical of the way in which the committee agreed to the policy
work without Council approval.
“Whenever the
Council develops policy there is a significant cost to ratepayers.
The only flag policy this Council needs is to continue flying the
flag of our country and the flag of our city. It doesn’t take
three months to make that decision.”
Mr Ross says
development of a flag policy has not previously been approved as
part of the Council’s policy program. Approval from the Council is
usually necessary before making a commitment of ratepayer
resources to policy development.
“No approval has
been sought from the Council before this work has been agreed to.
The request from the committee for Council officers to spend three
months developing a policy is definitely over the top.
“Manukau City
Council needs to stay focused on the issues that matter.
Investigations into flying the Maori sovereignty flag are an
expensive sideshow that ratepayers could well do without,” he
says.
The Notice of
Motion lodged by the nine councillors will be discussed by Council
at its monthly meeting on 27 March.
If the motion is
successful the Council will have decided not to fly the Tino
Rangatiratanga and Te Kahu flags, as well as reconfirming the
status quo position of flying the New Zealand and Manukau City
Council flags. It will also have decided that no further ratepayer
resources should be committed to developing a flag policy.
ENDS
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