Is the Maori flag a positive symbol or divisive and pathetic?

PATHETIC...i only look to one flag and thats the nz flag john key shames my grandfather and many others who went to war under the current flag and so many of them died for this flag and the freedom it represents WW1 and WW2 are still fresh in our minds and you give this symobl of hate and non unity the same respect as our national flag SHAME ON YOU KEY!,By allowing this symbol of resistance the same honor as the nz flag is simply disgusting and sickens my spirit to its very core,And furthermore mister Key you let that flag fly and were one step closer to civil unrest. By allowing this to happen is in no way making race relations any better with the people of this country...im not fooled at all Key!... all it will do is enable you to get a better maori vote at the next election and to make your dealings with maori more easy...mate you spent too many years in america.


i thought you were a breath of fresh air when i helped to vote you in but it all seems to be going back to the same old same old.

At least you gotta have enough brain cells to know the general population of nz would not be happy with this.
But what do you care your starting to cater only to the manorities, You dont seem to listen to the very people that voted you in...the very people that will vote you out if you dont fix this mess
And flying two damb flags on our one flag national day is simply backwards ya two bit hick!!!.

Bianca you are an idiot. The country was already formed by means of the treaty of waitangi. I guess you are at least aware that the land wars took place in the 1860s? 20 years AFTER the country was formed? The land wars were simply a case where one body of british subjects (the immigrants) used their access to privilege and technology to dispossess another body of British subjects (The maori).

Shows that New Zealand has a separatism problem.. A country they cannot unite under one flag. Is a country that is heading for rough seas ahead... Changing our flag will lead too a whiplash from Patriots who are very loyal too our flag..

hey! and I thought, we people are all the children of Adam and Eva... ;-)

Nice idea Margo, but how exactly can you attach a flag to a race? I look overseas and only see flags attached to nations.

No Yvonne, I'm not Maori - like I said I'm just a dumb Pakeaha. And if you want to disagree with me, thats fine, but for gods sake put up a decent argument. You saying "Maori should get their land back because they were here first" is no better than me saying "Only if you give us our muskets and bedes back". You say racist, I say realist.

Why can't we fly all the different flags for all the different races that help make up our nation and are living in and part of N.Z. today, it would look wonderful, and everyone could be proud of their own flag flying from the bridge on New Zealand day, we are a multi cultural society so why not be proud of it and show the world who we really are.

I disagree Chris, are you a Maori? probably not but Ha you sound racists to me, why shouldn't the Maori get their land back, it was theirs in the first place! They should fight for whats theirs and I hope they win.

"Maori will get over it when fair compensation is repaid." And that, Bev, is the problem: Who is to say what constitutes fair compensation? You? Some Maori may feel that the existing treaty settlement process (which is now drawing to a close) marks an end to the matter. At the other end of the scale, there are those who will never be satisfied till every "white mofo" has been kicked out of the country. Given that there is no single, unified Maori authority (and no, the Maori Party DOES NOT speak for all Maori), how can there ever be consensus over final settlement? But what would I know, I'm just a dumb Pakeha. Keep it up guys, the world can always use another Bosnia/Zimbabwe/Rwanda.

Bev I've got to disagree with you there. Land wars are how countries are formed, it's a fact of human civilisation. And what needs to be realised is that if the Maori weren't fighting us (European settlers) they would be and WERE in fact fighting and killing each other. Let's also notice that if we (European settlers) hadn't taken the land it may not hold the monetary value it does today. Value of land changes over time, and sadly simply through who owns it sometimes. We cannot turn back time and see how history would play out if we did things differently, I just think we should look at where we are today and MOVE FORWARD for once.