D Dawson

In reply to I Stuart’s opinion (Beacon, March 19) “It is about culture, not about ethnicity”

It is misguided to think one culture should come before 125 other cultures living in New Zealand.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Māori and European living in New Zealand were pepper-potted into state houses to bring our cultures together.

Now we have divison being encouraged by the Labour coalition party. New Zealand is a land of mixed cultures and may have mixed with Māori.

My European culture has been eroded by the previous Labour coalition government with Captain Cook’s statue being removed, our history books being removed from schools and libraries and replaced with something different, our war memorial halls being knocked down or sold off and our English road signs and place names taken down.

Many Europeans, alongside Māori, fought two world wars for this country and together developed and built what we have today.

I have great respect for Māori culture, as long as they respect mine; something not shared by Te Pati Māori.

Why are there no non-Māori in Te Pati Māori?

Māori now make up approximately 16 percent of the population in New Zealand.

I believe most New Zealanders saw the hikoi protestors as part of an early election campaign for Te Pati Māori, paid for by the taxpayer and Wellington ratepayers.

I believe the Three Waters groundswell protest was much bigger and yet it got no coverage by The Beacon.

Being woke just means your thinking is misguided and you do not believe we are one people with mixed cultures who should all be treated the same. We are all New Zealanders.

The Labour Coalition did its best to destroy New Zealand’s British culture and force Māori culture on all of us. I do not think speaking Māori is beneficial for business when I have never met a Māori who could not speak English.