email: karere@maorinews.com
email: karere@maorinews.com
25 June 2000
A Call to Action in the tino-rangatiratanga email list
(tino rangatiratanga is self-determination or sovereignty)
----- Original Message -----
From: Annette Sykes
To: tino-rangatiratanga@egroups.com
Sent: Friday, June 23, 2000 6:03 PM
Subject: [Tino Rangatiratanga] Proposed Call to Action For the South Pacific.Herewith inspirational message from the brother Waiariki in Amsterdam. Please send to all our whanaunga in the Pacific for the support and action. One of the Tahitian whanau will be here in August at a conference on Human Rights and has suggested we set up our own human rights commission for the Pacific which has has its norms pacific as opposed to western values and laws. Perhaps we can use it as an opporunity to mobilise against the new coonisation process that is inhibiting all of us.
---- Original Message -----
From: Trasgu < trasgu@cable.A2000.nl >
To: Annette Sykes < asykes@clear.net.nz >
Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2000 6:05 AM
Subject: Text: Proposed Call to Action For the South Pacific.PROPOSED CALL TO ACTION FOR THE SOUTH PACIFIC DURING THE IMF/WORLD BANK MEETING, PRAGUE 2000
In Sept (26-28) the 55th annual Summit of the W.T.O./I.M.F. will be held in Prague, Czech Republic. The Kaupapa of this Hui is to speed up the process of "freeing the world economy", in other words more of what we've had in the last 20 years or so since "Rogernomics" and the sell off of public owned assets (read privatization and economic reforms).
This Hui is expected to host about 20000 delegates from all over the world and its importance and impact for the future should not be underestimated.
While it may seem that the powers that be in New Zealand have already voluntarily relinquished economic control to the dictates of the IMF/WB/WTO. There is still much to lose for us, and especially for our smaller island neighbors in the Pacific. Recent government reports have already shown that the economic restructuring of the 80's has failed Maori. The economic gap between Maori and non-Maori has continued to widen. Maori employment was devastated at this time and the disparity in health has increased, as has our youth suicide and mental health statistics. The government has also predicted that persistent health inequalities as a result of socioeconomic factors are likely to worsen.
The 80s period also changed the way Maori have done business. It has seen our tribes turn into corporations, it has seen our taonga become commercial interests and commodities for the world market place, not to mention the abysmal failure of many tribes to adapt to the new economic climate.
These latest rounds of talks plan further liberalization of trade through regulation of government and also by tightening loan priorities to developing countries. Effectively, more economic blackmail that we have already seen through the commandeering of the South Pacific Forum by the WTO/IMF/etc. Whereby small island nations are being bullied into APEC/WTO consistent policies by linking economic reform with future economic aid.
While Maori effectively marched against the MAI there is no reason to believe it is dead on the water, the MAI is alive and well, it is merely changed its form. Similarly just because we now have a centre-left government, there is no reason to believe that they will not continue to pander to the business community and further marginalize Maori in spite of all the rhetoric of "Closing the gaps".
In September many activists from all over the world will converge on Prague to demonstrate global resistance to these financial institutions. In conjunction with this, demonstrations are being organized in many other countries to protest at the major financial institutions. Therefore the calls also goes out to all organizations and people of the Pacific to unite and tautoko this Kaupapa in order to send a powerful message of resistance to this new wave of global colonisation.