Book Review: The Pioneers – Makers of New Zealand

May 31, 2025
, , , , , , Book Review

By Tony Orman for Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations of NZ Inc

The Pioneers – Makers of New Zealand” by John McLean, published by Tross Publishing. Price $40.

Today, there have been deliberate attempts by some self interested people to serve their personal agendas by rewriting New Zealand’s history and consequently denigrate the European colonists. As such history is in danger of being badly corrupted. 

“The Pioneer Makers of New Zealand” admirably does not seek to be judgemental but to be factual through the eyes of those 19th century pioneers.  The author has made a conscious effort to avoid any slant on history by quoting the actual words of the settlers themselves.

In adopting this approach there’s another positive spinoff in that brings to life the highs and lows of life of those settlers who sacrificed lives of comfort, indeed luxury in the UK, for an adventurous new life full of the unknown and inevitable challenges.

Historian John McLean has degrees in history and law. His forbears included early 1860 pioneers and also contractor John McLean whose firm in the late 19th century, built bridges, railways, ports, Auckland’s electric tramway system and the early stages of the Otira tunnel.

With these qualifications the author by quoting individual settlers impressions of their new land, has painted a colourful written picture of the daunting conditions and challenges the pioneers faced in setting up life in the new colony. Numerous historical photographs enhance the portrayal.

Egalitarian

Of particular note to the outdoors and recreations is that the pioneers quietly applauded in the deliberate egalitarian character of the new country. There must have been a strong underlying joy by the settlers in the freedom in escaping the strict feudal class society of Britain where the best trout and salmon fishing, pheasant and grouse shooting and deerstalking belonged to the wealthy upper class who could afford the high access fee. The plebs couldn’t afford it.

That ethos of equal opportunity for all was installed into the new colony’s parliamentary laws such the 1908 Fisheries Act where selling fishing rights was prohibited.

The “new found freedom” aspect is also relevant to the outdoors and fishing, hunting and tramping, in that it’s reflected in the spirit of those pioneers with their sense of adventure, perseverance in the face of challenges and characterised by a sense of independence and achievement even in the face of adversity..

It’s interesting to consider those qualities in the light of today’s society.  Back in those pioneering days, New Zealanders were a land-conscious outdoor people. The   New Zealander’s face was weather-beaten, the skills were muscular and families drew sustenance from the land whether hunting, fishing and/or the home vegetable patch. 

Flabby

But society is now falling prey to the weakness of an indoor nation and the flabbiness and obesity of a sedentary society. Mentally, society is at odds within itself, increasingly rent by argumentative division on several fronts, narrow minded self-interest, greed and a few other negative traits.

Author John McLean writes “The pioneer period—called for human qualities that are no longer required in the modern world—(such as) indomitable courage, resourcefulness, perseverance and endurance”. 

Pioneering was not for the faint hearted. The voyage would take five months or longer in a tightly packed, smelly and at times rat-infested ship. The settlers would arrive at a small port with limited facilities with no certainty of accommodation and even roads. New Zealand was very much in its pristine state, inhabited by a native race who tended to inter-tribal war, even cannabilism while the land was largely forested.and roadless.

Kiwi Spirit

The author by seemingly meticulous research and obvious skilful writing depicts how the pioneers coped and developed an admirable Kiwi spirit that was to earn admiration on the land, sporting field and in two World Wars.

Incidentally this is the third book in a trilogy about that John McLean has written, the other two being “Voyages of the Pioneers to New Zealand 1839-85″ and “Sweat and Toil; the Building of New Zealand.” 

“The Pioneer Makers of New Zealand” as seen largely  through the eyes of those early settlers is an intriguing and interesting read. Highly recommended.

Pioneer Book.jpeg

IS PAUL GOLDSMITH THE BIGGEST LIAR IN PARLIAMENT?

November 17, 2024
, , Maori, NZ Parliament

By Toby Whittaker

Although unlikely to be passed into law the ACT Party’s Treaty Principles Bill has certainly exposed some ugly facets of New Zealand politics – from the uncivilised and barbarous disruption of Parliament by Maori Party M.P.s (cheered on by Labour and the Greens) to the cowardice of the Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, in promising to “support” the Bill through its First Reading and Select Committee hearings but then, after being “got at” by tribal thugs at Waitangi on 6th February, he ran backwards like a frightened rat.

In the words of Dr. John Robinson in his latest book, Who Really Broke the Treaty?, “To any reasonable person this (“support”) implies positive support throughout that stage, with further action guided by the report of the Select Committee….All submissions would be listened to by the Select Committee and Parliament, so we were led to believe. No way. Luxon announced in no uncertain terms that National would not support the Bill, no matter what the public opinion is. David Seymour then commented sensibly that only after the public has spoken will a final decision be made.” Why would people bother to make a submission when they have been told by Luxon that whatever they say will not be listened to?

Worse, National has embarked on a campaign of lies to discredit this worthy Bill, with Minister for Treaty Negotiations, Paul Goldsmith, apparently being given the role of Liar-in-Chief. In an e-mail to the well-known writer and commentator, Amy Brooke, Goldsmith wrote, “Successive National Governments have worked well with Maori while ensuring equal citizenship and equal opportunity for all New Zealanders”.

Goldsmith entered Parliament as a National List M.P. In 2011, having previously worked for that notoriously biased institution, the Waitangi Tribunal. Below is a list of statutes that the National Government (including Goldsmith) voted for which grant considerable race-based rights to those of part-Maori descent over and above all other New Zealanders.

Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act 2102 – decisions to be informed by a Maori perspective; hearings must recognise tikanga Maori where appropriate and receive oral or written evidence in Maori.

National Animal Identification and Tracing Act 2012 – values to be protected include the relationship of Maori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands, waters, sites, wahi tapu and taonga.

Nga Wai o Maniapoto (Waipa River Act) 2012 – an anti-democratic co-governance entity set up to manage the Waipa, many of the appointments being race based – part-Maoris only!

Ngati Manuhiri Claims Settlement Act 2012 – another co-governance racket giving certain race-based appointments to part-Maoris only.

Game Animals Council Act 2013 – Council members must have knowledge of, and experience relating to, Maori “hunting interests”.

Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act 2013 – majority of members of an appointed territorial authority panel must have knowledge of and expertise in relation to planning, design, and engineering and appropriate knowledge and experience relating to the Treaty of Waitangi and tikanga Maori.

Mokomoko (Restoration of Character, Mana, and Reputation) Act 2013 – a parliamentary pardon for the brutal murderers of Rev. Carl Volkner in Opotiki in 1866! The master-mind of this atrocity was Kereopa te Rau of the Ngati Rangiwewehi clan of the Arawa tribe who hailed from the north-west shore of Rotorua. In the words of James Cowan, the leading historian of the Maori wars, “He was a thoroughgoing old savage, and he quickly plunged into the worst excesses, even cannibalism”. Volkner, who had ministered to the local Maoris for several years, was beheaded and, in the words of Captain Levy of the Eclipse who was present, “The natives then formed themselves into a line and prepared to taste the blood as it ran out of the head and body”. 

They then gathered inside Volkner’s church and Kereopa, dressed in Volkner’s long black robe, placed the dripping head on the reading desk and filled the communion cup with Volkner’s blood; this was then passed around and drunk. From the pulpit Kereopa ate Volkner’s eyes in front of about a hundred natives. Four of the murderers, Mokomoko, Heremita, Kahupaea and Kereopa, were put on trial, convicted and hanged. But on 21 June, 2014, the National government of which Goldsmith was a part, pardoned the murderers for their horrific crime – a murder that was witnessed by over a hundred Maoris plus some settlers. Then to drive home the insult to Volkner’s memory even further this same shameless National government of 2014 gave $6 million of taxpayers’ money plus a forest and several valuable hot springs around Rotorua to Kereopa’s greedy tribe. 

Ngati Whatua o Kaipara Claims Settlemwent Act 2013 – claims “The relationship between Ngati Whatua and the Crown was founded on the partnership created in 1840 through the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi”. This is a lie as there was no partnership of any kind.

Patents Act 2013 – established a Maori Advisory Committee whose members must have knowledge of matauranga and tikanga, to advise on patent applications.

Arts Council of N.Z. Toi Aotearoa Act 2014 – at least four members must have knowledge of te ao Maori and tikanga. The Council must recognise in the arts “the role of Maori as tangata whenua”.

NZ Mission Trust Board (Otamataha) Empowering Act 2014 – declared that the 1852 Crown grant that awarded the land to the Church Mission Society was in breach of the “Teaty principle of active protection” even though there is no such principle in the Treaty and, in fact, such “principles” were only invented in 1986!

Tapuika Claims Settlement Act 2014 – set up co-governance of the Kaituna River; the Authority must acknowledge the interests of iwi. 

Heritage NZ Pouhere Taonga Act 2014 – scientific investigation of any site of interest to Maori requires the consent of iwi and hapu.

Environmental Reporting Act 2014 – require that synthesis and domain reports “are informed by a Maori perspective” and that regulations can not be made without consultation with iwi authorities.

Hawkes Bay Regional Planning Committee Act 2015 – an anti-democratic statute that requires co-governance between “mana whenua and elected representatives” overseeing development and review of Resource Management Act documents. The Committee standing orders “must not contravene tikanga Maori” (whatever that means). 

Ngai Takoto Claims Settlement Act 2015, Te Aupouri Claims Settlement Act 2015, and Te Rarawa Claims Settlement Act 2015 – all these Acts give tribal rights over conservative land – land that should belong to all New Zealanders. 

Environmental Canterbury (Transitional Governance Arrangements) Act 2016 – two members of the powerful transitional governing body must be nominees of the greedy Ngai Tahu tribe and must have knowledge of and expertise in relation to tikanga.

Hurunui/Kaikoura Earthquakes Recovery Act 2016 – members of the Recovery Review Panel to have knowledge of matauranga and tikanga. 

Te Ture mo Te Reo Maori Language Act 2016 – states (falsely) that the Maori language is protected by Article Two of the Treaty.

Land Transfer Act 2017 – an application for adverse possession cannot be made against Maori land – only against non-Maori land.

Resource Legislation Amendment Act 2017 – agreements to provide a mechanism for tangata whenua through iwi authorities to participate in resource and decision-making processes.

Te Awa Tupuna (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act 2017 – gives part-Maoris considerable powers over the Wanganui River.

So, having voted for these and other measures doling out race-based privileges and resources to part-Maoris at the expense of the rest of us, Goldsmith has the effrontery to declare that National Governments have “ensured equal citizenship and equal opportunity for all New Zealanders”!!!!!!!!!!!! Was he asleep when he voted for all these pieces of racist legislation? 

It is bad enough for the National Party to try to sabotage this Bill that is designed to restore equality of citizenship to a country that has lost it over the years – thanks to National, Labour and our rotten judges. But please Mr. Goldsmith spare us the lie that National has given equality of citizenship and opportunity over the years when in fact it has done the exact opposite.

AN INSPIRING STORY OF COURAGE

October 16, 2024
, , , Tales of Inspiration

By John McLean

On 10th September, 2024, the death occurred of Dale Collett, a hero of the Rhodesian Bush War and an inspiration for all those who suffer adversity in their lives.

Dale was brought up on a farm in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. He learned Zulu from speaking with the farm’s African employees. After leaving school he went up to Rhodesia and joined its army which was engaged in deadly combat with two groups of terrorists, Mugabe’s ZANLA lot who were armed by China (an enemy of the West then as it is now) and Joshua Nkomo’s ZIPRA group which was armed mainly by the Soviet Union.

Because of his fluency in Zulu Dale was first placed with the Rhodesian African Rifles, a native regiment. His competence and bravery brought him to the notice of Major Ron Reid Daly who made him his first choice when choosing officers for his newly formed Selous Scouts which in quick time became the finest and most deadly anti-terrorist force that the world has ever seen. Of this choice Reid Daly later wrote, “He was reputed to have an extremely good rapport with his African soldiers….Dale was a young man of exceedingly high spirits”. 

The maiden deployment of the Selous Scouts was in January, 1974, in the Kandeya Tribal Trust lands, north of Mount Darwin. This was in the Hurricane Operational Area (north-east Rhodesia). On the night of 23-24 February Dale and his men were engaged in reconnaissance of a terrorist camp and at dawn he directed the Rhodesia Light Infantry Fireforce planes to the target with the result that six terrorists were killed and one captured plus weapons and documents, the latter with their maps, passwords, etc. being important since the terrorists were not using radio contact for security reasons.

Later in 1974 Dale was in command of troops who were to make a night raid on a small terrorist position. However, because of the terrain only he and two others were in a position to make an attack. With his trademark courage he pressed on under heavy fire and managed to clear it of terrorists, killing three of them and forcing the others to flee. By the end of 1974 his score was 29 dead terrorists and he was the first man to be awarded the Silver Cross of Rhodesia, the second highest award for gallantry in the Rhodesian Armed Services.

During an attack on terrorist positions over the border in Mozambique in 1976 Dale and the other Scouts came upon a building, the ground floor of which was an arms depot for ZANLA. It was a main store for weapons that were being smuggled into Rhodesia by the terrorists for their murder campaign against white farmers and black villagers.

The building and its environs seemed deserted. There was an upper floor to which the only access was by an outside staircase. While the Scouts were busy loading the weapons to take back over the border to Rhodesia Dale Collett mounted the staircase to the upper floor. Upon entering the first floor corridor there was a burst of enemy fire and he fell to the floor wounded. He slithered back to the top of the staircase where he was rescued by his comrades. 

Dale was flown to Salisbury’s Andrew Fleming Hospital where it was discovered that his spinal cord had been severed and he was told that he would never walk again. He was paralysed from the chest down.

When Major Reid Daly visited him there and asked him how he was feeling, Dale said in a soft voice, “Sir, don’t worry about me…..you’ve got bigger things to worry about. It’s the chaps in the bush you’ve got to concentrate on….I’ll be fine.”

In Reid Daly’s words: “It was all too much for me…..here was a man struck down in the prime of his youth comforting me, instead of the reverse. I stood up abruptly and with tears welling unashamedly from my eyes, I brushed past the lady who was later to become Mrs. Collett and left the ward. ‘Hell’, exclaimed Dale to that very fine woman, ‘what’s up with the old man….I only told him to get on with the war’.” Dale and his wife were married, their wedding photo showing a happy looking bridegroom proudly wearing his military uniform and decorations as he sat in his wheelchair.

The courage that Dale had consistently shown in the field was now transferred to his new life as a civilian where his determination and positive attitude enabled him to lead as normal a life as he could in the circumstances.

After moving to Botswana he built up his own farm and business, employing local people who were themselves disabled. He also gave motivational talks. After a number of years he was helping to renovate his house when a roof collapsed on him, requiring his leg to be amputated and injuring his shoulder which, despite several surgeries, never really recovered.

And did he feel sorry for himself and wallow in self-pity? Remaining positive, he got his motor bike fitted with a flat-bed and rode it from Gaborone in Botswana to Cape Town (1,548 km) to raise funds for the Ray of Hope Foundation in Gaborone, which takes care of terminally ill children. This ride raised over 100,000 Rand. At the time he said, “The big problem in life is that very few of us take the bull by the horns. Get on the bike and ride! Stop dreaming about it, just do it.”

Dale Collett was not only a brave soldier who risked his life on several occasions so that civilians in war-torn Rhodesia could sleep more safely at night but also his courage in the face of almost unbelievable adversity is an inspiration to us all. He was among the very finest of his generation. May he rest in peace.

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