Colonisation was liberation

The truth the activists won’t admit

It is striking how often the loudest voices in New Zealand’s race debate come from those who have the faintest connection to being Māori. The same individuals who enjoy cushy jobs and generous salaries often exploit a sliver of Māori ancestry to advance themselves, however they spend their days decrying colonisation as if it were the worst thing ever to happen to this country.

Without colonisation, most Māori would not be where they are today. Warm homes, hospitals, schools, universities, and entire welfare systems that provide accommodation and benefits are all products of colonisation. Two centuries ago, Māori lived in basic huts, relied on woven flax blankets for warmth, and kept the fire burning through winter. Today, the taxpayer funds housing and healthcare for thousands of Māori families. Colonisation made that possible.

It also brought law and order. Intertribal wars and cannibalism were stamped out. Livestock and agriculture expanded food options beyond birds, seafood, and other humans. Colonisation brought technology, medicine, and stability that Māori had never known. Life expectancy rose, infant survival improved, and an entire framework of health care was created.

Even te reo, celebrated as a cornerstone of Māori identity, owes its written form to colonisation. Missionaries and people like Professor Samuel Lee of Cambridge University worked with chiefs like Hongi Hika to record the language in writing, ensuring it could be preserved, taught, and passed on. The very tools used to defend “Māori culture” today came from colonial influence.

Before colonisation, “education” meant learning survival skills - how to hunt, fish, build a waka, carve a kauri trunk or start a fire. It was not education in any modern sense. Colonisation created schools and universities that ensure every New Zealand child can learn reading, writing, mathematics, and science. That is the foundation of opportunity in this country.

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Those who often have the least Māori blood are the ones shouting the loudest, painting every white New Zealander as a “coloniser” with dripping contempt. They embarrass themselves by conveniently forgetting that their voices, their platforms, and their comfortable lives are all made possible by the very colonisation they despise.

Colonisation in New Zealand was not oppression. It was liberation. It ended tribal warfare, brought medicine, built homes, and safeguarded species from extinction. It provided education, law, order, and health systems. It gave Māori the tools to thrive in a modern world.

Colonisation was liberation. That is the truth.