the alexi pepsi

You might have heard about the recent puberty blocker ban in Aotearoa New Zealand. It's a cruel move against some of our most vulnerable rangatahi. Fortunately, The Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa is taking legal action to try and reverse the ban before too much harm can be done.

A few ttrpg designers from Aotearoa have put together this bundle to support PATHA. $19.99 NZD gets you supplements for D&D, Pathfinder, MOTW and Stewpot, as well as a collection of stand alone games. All for a really important cause!

Rpgs not your thing? Don't have twenty bucks spare? You can also donate directly to PATHA here.

"to sort of grow your productivity"

In formal situations, such as a pōwhiri (English might be something like a welcoming ceremony?), speakers always end with a haka or a waiata (song). This is exactly what she did. She spoke when it was her turn to speak, then started the Haka. It is also keeping with tradition that others joined in, including those in the public gallery. While it's the speaker's duty to lead the haka, or nominate someone to do it for them, it is then open for anyone else to join in and support it. The haka and the speech are attached, so supporting the haka is also supporting the speech.

Approaching Seymour is a little more unusual, but that's only because most formal situations like this are between peaceful groups. However, it also makes an important point. The speech and haka were not against the space, not against the mana of parliament. It was against Seymour and his supporters. So approaching him makes that clear where it's directed.

Given this, the speaker's response show utter ignorance and contempt for Maori ways. If he had any understanding of how any of this works, he could've simply waited for the Haka to conclude, then called on the next speaker. As the Māori Party were keeping with tradition, they would've had to respect that, and sit. Instead, he closed down parliament and cleared the public out. He made this contentious, and took what is traditional as in insult.

Seymour's response is no better, complaining about wanting a "reasonable debate" instead of a "dance", ignoring that the Māori party has been debating this, along with almost every other institution in the country, since the draft was released. This was the party's final word, their final push back against his racist bill.

This, in a nutshell, is what the government thinks of Māori. Ignorance and contempt. No attempt to blend traditions, or even basic understanding. Just constant demands to conform. It's hidden behind manners, but it's the same civilised vs savages racism that's justified colonialism for centuries.