In Response To Tame Iti
Regarding the Wellington protest to 'End the Mandates' in New Zealand
To me, Tame Iti is a legend.
I first heard of his story around 2014 when his documentary came out - The Price of Peace. I had been reluctant to go along with my mum to watch this movie. But I went, and man! was I so glad that I went!
It was one of the best New Zealand-made documentaries that I have ever watched.
I had been too young, when the events were actually unfolding, to know what was going on at the time. But watching that doco, I felt myself developing such huge respect and admiration for Tame and for all of the Urewera Four. To me, they were real men and women being true to themselves in the face of injustice. Some even went to prison and yet they, and particularly Tame, got through it with dignity and, dare I say it, Mana. If someone were to ask me, as a young Caucasian New Zealander - “what is the meaning of the Te Reo word “Mana?”, I would have been quick to cite Tame as an example of that. It’s someone who stands up, stands out from the crowd, and holds out for what he believes. It was Epic to watch.
I’ll always remember the scenes towards the end when the police come to visit, when they are saying their apologies to the people of Ruatoria for the years of neglect and unfair treatment. I found it inspiring. I felt so proud to be Kiwi. To see the burning cars on the side of the road, and the bareback horse riders and the blatant challenge laid down to those who had neglected Tame’s People for so long. This was a man who stood for his values, who wasn’t going to let himself be put in a box, who was not going to mould himself to another’s will. I couldn’t help but think that this just would not happen in any other country on Earth. The police getting a taste of their own medicine, a taste of the very terror they had sown. Instead, the police saw the power which they usually claim as their right to exert over the People, being exercised over them. Not today, said Tame. He was in charge for this day. Fully. And it was awe-inspiring.
Now as a young Kiwi male who wants to choose whether or not to take this jab, and who is resolved on living a free life, it hurts to hear that Tame does not support the Wellington Freedom Protest.
I have listened to his perspective. For me, it feels as though he is pointing out a very small percentage of the population who may be causing some issues, compared with the enormous, and growing, support of decent and concerned Kiwis turning out to protest the mandates.
As I am volunteering for FreeNZ, I have personally experienced, and daily continue to experience, so many good-natured, kind and gentle people who have contacted FreeNZ, wanting to donate food, clothing, essentials, money and time. We are overrun with offers to help. The feeling I get is that many good Kiwis just want to see a return to fairness, freedom of choice, and non-discrimination in New Zealand.
“He who is not angry when there is just cause for anger is immoral. Why? Because anger looks to the good of justice. And if you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust.”
I have recently been learning about Natural Law, also known as Common Law: an intriguing concept. It centres on the fact that ‘morality is objective’. The true understanding of morality does not stem from human perceptions, thoughts or feelings. At the basis of Natural Law is the idea that knowingly doing harm to another sentient being is immoral and therefore, an injustice.
Applying this learning to the current Covid situation is relevant, in that there are known risks in taking this jab. Rory Nairn comes to mind. His story, as New Zealand’s only officially-confirmed Covid-19 vaccine-induced death, is a tragedy of which all Kiwis should be made fully aware. May the teachings of his death not be lost on us as a society. He lost his life simply by doing what was expected societally. He was not made fully aware of the risks. Therefore he could never have given his ‘informed’ consent to the jab that killed him. This is what is at stake for Kiwi families everywhere right now.
I have just done some research on Tame. I find that I do not actually agree with his political stance in terms of its perspectives on the core values of freedom of choice, human rights, bodily autonomy and innate natural morality. History has shown me that these values are undermined when society, as a whole, follows the pragmatic political stance that Tame endorses.
Yet despite my differing views, I still hold Tame in high regard. We are all allowed our own beliefs and opinions. As long as we remain in accordance with Natural Law, all beliefs should be allowed.
My understanding that knowingly doing harm to another sentient being is immoral, brings me hope that Tame may also see that unity is the only way out of a crisis situation forced upon Kiwis by egregious political overreach.
People do not get to decide what morality is. Morality is based upon the outcome of an action: does it initiate harm or not? This exists inherently in the natural world. “Where there is risk, there must be a choice”.
There is a serious, knowable & provable risk with this jab. That is clear to see, as more and more accounts come in every day to us at FreeNZ, and to other heroic Kiwi channels, like jab_injured_nz on Instagram, documenting the horrific experiences of real people, real Kiwis, hurt and harmed by this jab. “Where there is risk, there must be a choice”.
I would respectfully ask Tame to view this protest through this lens of understanding, and true morality, and he may see a far wider demographic being represented on the ground. I invite him to come onto the parliamentary grounds with the People. Drop the commentary. Many Kiwis are fed up with commentary. We want to talk to people, face to face, in respectful korero. Understanding another’s point of view, however intolerable, is the first step in ending division and disunity among the people of New Zealand.
I see this “ProFest2022” as a bringing together, as a unifying of Kiwis of all backgrounds, of all views and beliefs, holding the line with peaceful resolve and loving intent. Unity in our community. We can all just stop the warring factions and the dismissive rejection of others’ beliefs in this country. My understanding of the history of NZ, and of my heritage as a young New Zealander, is that we’ve always been a multicultural, multifaceted society which is accepting of all beliefs. Come, Tame, and see that for yourself on the grounds of the People’s Parliament. Please see it from our perspective, our viewpoint.
I offer Tame, and all readers, this new FreeNZ interview from Liz Gunn with yet another important account of a jab-injured Kiwi: Robert Martin.
It is for Rob that we stand in Parliament’s grounds, Tame, and for the thousands of other Kiwis who have had their lives ruined by these government-enforced mandates.
Another crucial account of this is Marama Hune’s interview. I urge reader’s to watch the end titles to see the Ministry of Social Development's cruel response to Marama after she received enough donations to help her pay two weeks worth of rent.
What we ask of Parliament and the politicians that inhabit it is to end the mandates so that Kiwis can once again enjoy our freedom to choose, without the fear of loss of job or livelihood, should we deem the risks of taking this jab not worth the supposed rewards. I bring it back to the core values of being human: freedom of choice, human rights, bodily autonomy & innate morality.
Words by Dan Gunn