Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.
When the war is over.
Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.
For the last couple of weeks its felt as though all the good things in our beautiful land are under attack.
These isles in the southern Pacific. The home of the Māori people. A land of easy going friendliness, openness, and she’ll be right. A place of great natural beauty, rich in resources, and kindness of heart. Somewhere that millions around the world would like to live. A very lucky country.
But it doesn’t feel so lucky right now. It feels like it’s under attack by those who want to make it over in their image. Replacing the egalitarianism, the looking out for each other, with small minded pettiness and bigotry I thought we were moving on from.
I’m struggling to comprehend, as I see these measures being rolled out, the celebration of monoculturalism over respect for others, the mocking of kindness and things that are good and right, that this is my country now.
You and I we used each other's shoulder
Still so young but somehow so much older
How can I go home and not get blown away
Not under attack by invasion from a foreign power, but from within. Brought about by people who see the good things our country has been doing as bad, and want to take us back to how things used to be.
I grew up in that place, it was a nice place to grow up - for me. But it wasn’t such a good place for some people.
Over the course of my life I’ve seen us make progress to understand each other a bit better, to come together and to build a new Aotearoa that still has the good things about New Zealand but has been getting rid of some of the not so good things.
What I don’t get is what was so bad about where that was taking us?
Were people really so angry at hearing a few more words of Te Reo on the telly, having old jokes frowned at which they still find funny, or seeing people that don’t look like them in powerful positions?
It seems they must have been because here we are, and I just don’t understand it.
To me it seems incomprehensible that this is the new reality. That we’re retreating from all these steps forward, that took so long, and that so many people worked so hard to achieve.
You and I had our sights set on something
Hope this doesn't mean our days are numbered
I've got plans for more than a wanted man
All around this chaos and madness
Can't help feeling nothing more than sadness
Only choice to face it the best I can
I know I’m not the only one either. I know a lot of you feel shell shocked by what is happening. The attacks on Māori, and the poor. Even on the fourth estate.
Many of you don’t like the fourth estate, the media, too much. I get that. It can be hard to, but we’d be a hell of a lot worse off without them.
Mind you, look at what TV Three announced this week. Remember them, the channel who under John Key said that a 7pm current affairs show was untenable? So they got rid of John Campbell.
I know you remember that, it hurt a lot of people to see a man who could tell the stories of Aotearoa with such honesty and compassion replaced by turgid commercial nonsense. But it was progress we were told, a decision of the market. And now they’re replacing the Project, a fun but lightweight show, with one featuring Ryan Bridge. A Mike Hosking wannabe with no regard for the story other than generating outrage, and the resulting clicks.
Of course we congratulate ourselves, none of us will watch it. But that’s not the point. Many people will. Do you remember the John Key years when Mike Hosking followed the 6 o’clock news and had a platform to tell the nation what the stories meant and what to think about them?
We didn’t watch that either. But hundreds of thousands of other Kiwis did, and had their minds closed as a result. Good old Mike would tell them that the bad things were good, and the good things were bad, and that guy in charge, his mate John, had all the answers.
He’s still at it of course. His headline yesterday as divorced from reality as ever. A slow, never ending, propaganda. Rest assured New Zealand, times might be tough, but Mike’s mate Christopher has all the answers. Happy Days are here again.
Mike summed things up thus, “But there is momentum. Chris Luxon looks fit to burst with energy, Nicola Willis lined us up for the bad news this Wednesday week, Erica Stanford spoke so well in response to the PISA shambles and Winston Peters called for a cease fire in the Middle East (he might want to apply that to himself in general).
All in all, a week in for this country, I am hopeful.”
Maybe I’m misreading it, being too pessimistic? Will she, in fact, be right after all, despite all of this? I don’t know Mike, I’m not feeling it.
Inside my head there are memories of good things that made me so proud, things that I fear we’re losing and yet cannot believe that people would let go.
A memory of Ruby Tui being interviewed after the end of Rugby World Cup final. Her excitement and positivity on display for all, a wonderful celebration of women’s sports, reminding us what sport should feel like. And then the magic happened.
Do you remember the look of 100% pure joy on Ruby’s face as she started to sing “Tūtira Mai” and found the crowd joining her. The genuine happiness of someone overwhelmed with the wonder of the moment, as thousands and thousands of people sang in Te Reo in celebration.
It was too good to take away. You can’t. That genie is not going back into the bottle. Despite all the ghastly things this government is doing, causing so many good people hurt and inevitably emboldening those motivated by hate and bitterness, you can’t take away that feeling of being united and joyous about our progressive nation.
You’re not going to take us from a crowd full of delight and shedding tears of joy with Ruby Tui, to what? To someone standing up and yelling at her “Speak English”? Not a chance.
When the war is over, got to start again
Try to hold a trace of what it was back then
You and I we sent each other stories
Just a page I'm lost in all its glories
How can I go home and not get blown away
The bigots might have managed one last hurrah against progress, and they’ll defund things, and take down signs. But too many of us have seen a positive, vibrant place that celebrates and acknowledges, rather than fears, the first people of our land, unique to our Aotearoa.
We don’t think of them and us any more, but rather - we, and all of us.
And an attack on one group, on Māori, on Pasifika, on transgender folks, on women, on young people, on those on low incomes, or even on the media, is on all of us.
No matter what Mike, Ryan, Winston, David, or Christopher would tell us with their weasel words and crocodile smiles.
Ain't nobody gonna steal these hearts away.
Thanks Nick, you've perfectly captured the despair, the shock but also the building rage of the mouse that roars. I'm shocked and so sad at what we're seeing but also proud of the building resistance and the collective community strength that is rising. This abhorrent shit show may yet do us a "Ruby" by galvanising us and helping us clarify our unique identity as Aotearoa 🙏
Well spake Nick. If I was into conspiracy thinking I would worry that the really rich dudes who sponsored National and Act are quite happy with these regressive acts causing such outrage. Why? Because it takes public scrutiny away from their real mission - putting more money in the pockets of the already wealthy.