And here was me thinking I’d only hear jokes about killing indigenous people when I was in Australia (can’t link to that, real-life experience of several pubs in the Outback)…nope, just need to rock up to an ACT conference apparently.
You’ve got to be worried about your political credibility on relations between tangata whenua and non-Maori when your views have Don Brash sounding like a moderate.
The comment came as guest speaker Don Brash outlined why he thought the Treaty of Waitangi was ahead of its time.
”I’m not someone who wants to scrap the Treaty. I think it’s a fantastic document. It was a move that was well ahead of it’s time.
”In 1840, when the British colonial power arrived in Australia…[the policy] was to shoot the natives.”
One member piped up: ”Lets bring it back.” The remark was met with a groan.
I can only imagine how this would be covered if a Maori Party supporter said something similar about white people.
Oh, hold on, we don’t have to, let’s just recall what happened when Hone Harawira described colonisation as “white motherfuckers” “raping our lands and ripping us off for centuries“. It’s not murder, and the second part is a pretty accurate description of post Te Tiriti behaviour, but that first phrase is up there for me as offensive, sexist crap based on race.
Media furore. Commentators weighing in to tell us how offensive Hone is. 800 complaints to the Human Rights Commission.
So New Zealand, if we have the best race-relations in the world, how do we feel about supporters at a political conference of a party in government making “jokes” about killing Maori?
Complaints to the Human Rights Commission can be made here.
LudditeJourno 
A mate wrote to the HRC complaining of said ‘shoot-to-kill’ comments,
The HRC replied: ‘… though Brash’s comments were offensive they were not
EXCITING racial disharmony.
Some sense of humor!
Yes, it was a totally inappropriate & horrid remark. If someone made a similar comment about rape or wife beating & said “Lets bring it back”, imagine the outcry.