Some common sense

Steve Elers writes at Stuff:

The Māori Council claim acknowledged that “existence of radio waves was discovered by Heinrich Hertz [a German physicist] in about 1886”, but “whether discovered or not, the [Māori] chiefs and tribes had absolute chieftainship over all resources, discovered and undiscovered, in New Zealand in 1840”.

So, a German physicist discovered radio waves, in Germany, about 1886, so therefore Māori should own 5G mobile technology today because the spectrum was a resource, albeit undiscovered, before or at the signing of the treaty? That’s just as nonsensical as the Waitangi Tribunal’s report that found: “The spectrum is a taonga to be shared by the tribes and by all mankind.” A taonga. Really?

Being Māori, of course I’d like to see Māori up and down the country reap the benefits of ownership, for example, home ownership and business ownership. But, no matter how I look at it, I cannot see a logical, rational argument for the Government to give “Māori” a slice of 5G spectrum. Moreover, government actions such as this feed into the hysteria that Māori are given preferential treatment and handouts when in fact your Māori neighbours and work-mates won’t see a cent. Who then benefits?

To suggest that the meaning of taonga in 1840 included the then undiscovered radio spectrum is farcical.