Davis told not to go to Standing Rock
Labour MP Kelvin Davis’ plans to visit a United States protest in solidarity with Native Americans have been thwarted by his party’s leadership, who asked him to stay in New Zealand.
Members of the Sioux tribe at Standing Rock have been camped out at the Dakota Access Pipeline since April in a protest over land rights, violation of sacred sites, environmental degradation, clean water and the impact of fossil fuels on climate change.
Support for the Sioux from New Zealand has included haka performances in front of ‘Kia Kaha Standing Rock’ signs, while a New Zealander performed a haka at the site in North Dakota.
Davis said he had wanted to visit the protest in the US out of solidarity with the indigenous community. ‘‘As an indigenous person, as Maori, we empathise with all indigenous groups and this is very relevant to us an indigenous people.’’
However, he had talked to the Labour leadership about the trip and was told he could not go - a decision with which he was fine. ‘‘If the boss said yes, I would have gone, but we had the discussion, we looked at the pros and cons and a whole heap of issues... it’s just not the best time of the year and that. There’s just too much to do here in Wellington before the end of the year, and I understand that, it is true - I don’t have enough time in my electorate as it is, let alone going overseas for five or six days.’’
Davis said Maori ‘‘also have our own Standing Rock at Ihumatao up in Mangere’’, where locals have been fighting plans to build 480 homes next to the protected Otuataua Stonefields reserve. - Fairfax NZ