Staff Reporter –
info@indiannewslink.co.nz
A group of students called, ‘the Auckland Law Revue’ has produced a video to highlight and raise discussion around race relations in New Zealand.
John Kingi, a law student at the University of Auckland said that the video is a parody of ‘Sorry Video’ of Justin Bieber based on the Treaty of Waitangi.
“New Zealand is the poster child of strong race relations, as we proudly trumpet our record of exemplary human rights on the world stage. And yet, over the 170 years since the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, our government is yet to issue an apology to Maori for the mishandling of the Treaty of Waitangi, not to mention the endemic marginalisation, dislocation and alienation that has flowed since,” Kingi said.
Irony not lost
He said that the irony was not lost on the Auckland Law Revue, which decided to take a look at what a formal apology from our government might look like (assuming that our members of government were half as talented as our wonderful cast).
“In the two days since the release of this video we have had over 100,000 views across various platforms, thousands of shares and thousands of people discussing this video and the issues raised,” he said.
Mr Kingi said that the Auckland Law Revue is a non-political group and is just keen on raising awareness among the current generation to ensure that the ‘same mistakes of the past are avoided.’
“The video brings to light the contentious history between Māori and Pākehā that has existed for more than 170 years. It uses wit and humour to call out a tokenistic approach by government in its efforts as a Treaty partner,” he said.
