It is a little-known fact that the colonisation of this country in 1840 is the reason why a disproportionate number of Maori men beat their wives and kids. So little known, in fact, that even abusive Maori men do not know it.

However, if your name is Tariana Turia, this strange bit of trivia makes perfect sense. The coming of the Europeans in the early 1800s, the signing over of sovereignty in 1840, and the seizing of land that followed are all reasons for why Hemi knocks his family around every day after work.

Forty-three percent of reported abuse comes from a race that only makes up fifteen percent of the total population. Turia does not like the fact Merepeka Raukawa-Tait of Women’s Refuge goes on TV and tells everyone about these shameful statistics. So much so that she wanted Women’s Refuge to stop telling everyone about it. On Face the Nation last week, she even accused Raukawa-Tait of jumping on the child abuse bandwagon. If any further proof is needed that the Labour caucus is a litre short of a full tank, then this is it.

Colonisation did not lead to child abuse. Bad parents lead to child abuse. It is, like it or not, as simple as that. No other reason is acceptable.

Another unacceptable event is the attempted gagging of Raukawa-Tait. The problem is that she is highlighting the problem too well, or so Turia would have us believe. In addition, the positive aspects are not being highlighted enough. I don’t see this as an issue. With the abuse figures so bad, to hide these will only make it worse. From what I saw last Thursday night, you are going to need a lot of chloroform to gag Raukawa-Tait successfully. All power to her.

Another issue recently arose in the media relating to the failure of children to spell properly. A group of scholars (who can be distinguished from normal people by their ability to stick their heads up their posteriors) have suggested we change the English language to accommodate the more ignorant people among us.

In this increasing politically correct world, the education sector is finding it more and more difficult to fail children, whether failing is warranted or not. Therefore some people want to change the spelling of certain words to make these easier to learn.

In this decreasingly politically correct column, I would like to say something that is pretty obvious and should not be ignored by the education sector. Most of us can learn to spell and read and write just fine. Others have legitimate disabilities that stop them from learning. Still others have bad parents and teachers who impede the child’s ability to learn. The rest, however, are just plain STUPID. To suggest that the majority should go back to learning like three year olds (a trait we gave up when we were, um, THREE) in order to accommodate everyone else is incredibly stupid indeed.

What I’m waiting for right now is for Turia to blame the inability of some children to spell English on colonisation. Whatever she says next, I would suggest people carry a spare pair of pants on them, just in case.

Before I wrap things up, a quick plug for my younger brother Mark. If you were watching One News on Monday night, that was him looking very comftable in the debating chamber during the article on the Youth Parliament. Watch out for this guy, he has a lot of potential, and is certainly going to cause a lot of grief to the left wing when he arrives at University next year.

As the saying goes: Be afraid. Be VERY afraid…

On The Right: Colonisation and Child Bashing

It is a little-known fact that the colonisation of this country in 1840 is the reason why a disproportionate number of Maori men beat their wives and kids. So little known, in fact, that even abusive Maori men do not know it.

However, if your name is Tariana Turia, this strange bit of trivia makes perfect sense. The coming of the Europeans in the early 1800s, the signing over of sovereignty in 1840, and the seizing of land that followed are all reasons for why Hemi knocks his family around every day after work.

Forty-three percent of reported abuse comes from a race that only makes up fifteen percent of the total population. Turia does not like the fact Merepeka Raukawa-Tait of Women’s Refuge goes on TV and tells everyone about these shameful statistics. So much so that she wanted Women’s Refuge to stop telling everyone about it. On Face the Nation last week, she even accused Raukawa-Tait of jumping on the child abuse bandwagon. If any further proof is needed that the Labour caucus is a litre short of a full tank, then this is it.

Colonisation did not lead to child abuse. Bad parents lead to child abuse. It is, like it or not, as simple as that. No other reason is acceptable.

Another unacceptable event is the attempted gagging of Raukawa-Tait. The problem is that she is highlighting the problem too well, or so Turia would have us believe. In addition, the positive aspects are not being highlighted enough. I don’t see this as an issue. With the abuse figures so bad, to hide these will only make it worse. From what I saw last Thursday night, you are going to need a lot of chloroform to gag Raukawa-Tait successfully. All power to her.

Another issue recently arose in the media relating to the failure of children to spell properly. A group of scholars (who can be distinguished from normal people by their ability to stick their heads up their posteriors) have suggested we change the English language to accommodate the more ignorant people among us.

In this increasing politically correct world, the education sector is finding it more and more difficult to fail children, whether failing is warranted or not. Therefore some people want to change the spelling of certain words to make these easier to learn.

In this decreasingly politically correct column, I would like to say something that is pretty obvious and should not be ignored by the education sector. Most of us can learn to spell and read and write just fine. Others have legitimate disabilities that stop them from learning. Still others have bad parents and teachers who impede the child’s ability to learn. The rest, however, are just plain STUPID. To suggest that the majority should go back to learning like three year olds (a trait we gave up when we were, um, THREE) in order to accommodate everyone else is incredibly stupid indeed.

What I’m waiting for right now is for Turia to blame the inability of some children to spell English on colonisation. Whatever she says next, I would suggest people carry a spare pair of pants on them, just in case.

Before I wrap things up, a quick plug for my younger brother Mark. If you were watching One News on Monday night, that was him looking very comftable in the debating chamber during the article on the Youth Parliament. Watch out for this guy, he has a lot of potential, and is certainly going to cause a lot of grief to the left wing when he arrives at University next year.

As the saying goes: Be afraid. Be VERY afraid…

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