In January, 2026, parts of the Wanganui River were closed so that people claiming to be “descendants of the river tribes” could paddle down its waters in twenty canoes. The main reason for this closure of a major river at the height of the holiday season seems to have been to inconvenience as many New Zealanders as possible.
This “tribal journey” from Taumaranui down to Wanganui lasted two weeks. They could have done their totally unnecessary paddling without the river being closed off to others but, like almost all moves of the tribal elite in the 21st century, this thing has more to do with annoying the hated white man than anything else.
Parts of the river were closed to tourists, tour and jetboat operators and all other river users for up to three days at a time, thus harming the income of tour operators in peak season. And why? To enable these privileged so-in-sos to paddle down river so that, in the words of Nancy Tuaine, chief executive of some racket called Nga Tangata o Whanganui, “they could make the journey without any other activities or users on the river, banks or campsites”. These restrictions included DOC campsites, which were closed. Tourists were prevented from walking the Te Araroa Trail. Some of these inconvenienced hikers were from overseas. They had paid a lot of money to fly to distant New Zealand and often had only a limited time here for sightseeing and activities and yet they were inconvenienced for a despicable racist reason.
It is claimed that these “descendants of the river tribes” acquired the right to ban others from this major river by the Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act of 2017. This was yet another piece of racist legislation that was introduced by Christopher Finlayson, Treaty Minister in John Key’s weak-kneed government.
This was not the only occasion when Finlayson put the boot into white New Zealanders, for whom he seems to have developed an irrational, self-loathing hatred. The Matawhero Massacre, near Gisborne, in 1868, when Te Kooti led a gang who in one night murdered 33 Europeans and 37 friendly Maoris (some of them killed in their beds), is the worst crime committed in post-1840 New Zealand. And yet 140 years after the event Finlayson rewarded the descendants/tribe of Te Kooti with $250,000 of taxpayers’ money and a Crown “apology” for the “stigmatisation of Te Kooti”. (We are not making this up)
The most likely explanation for this is that Finlayson is a morally twisted character who does not know right from wrong. It is hard to think of any politician in all of our history who has done more harm to New Zealand society and the rights of its people than Finlayson. Closing the Wanganui River to white people at the height of the holiday season would be chicken’s feed for a type like him.
Stop preventing ordinary New Zealanders on holiday from enjoying one of New Zealand’s largest and most beautiful rivers, and Repeal a.s.a.p. the racist and utterly unnecessary Te Awa Tupua (River Claims Settlement Act).