Radio Announcer, Māmā, Kaiwaiata

Ki te kore tō tātou taiao e ora, ka kore tātou e ora

“Kaare au i paku mōhio hōhonu ki ngā mātauranga i roto i tēnei kaupapa te taiao. Ki te ao Māori, he tino rangatatira tēnei mea te whenua  me te moana me te wai, ā he kaupapa, he āhuatanga, he oranga hōhonu, he oranga rangatira mō tātou te tangata. Ki te kore tō tātou taiao e ora, ka kore tātou e ora. Mo tēnei o ngā kauapapa te taiao, he kaupapa hirahira, heoi, he kaupapa tonu kia whai tonu tātou ngā rangatahi, ngā pakeke, ā ki te whakatutuki i ngā mahi katoa, i roto i te oranga o te wai, kia kore ai tō tātou wai e paruparu, ā mō ā tātou tamariki e heke mai nei. Otirā tō tātou whenua hoki. Te putuputu o ngā para, te tope o ngā rākau me āta whakaaro tātou ki hea ēnei o ngā rauemi ngā taonga o Papatūānuku me Ranginui e haare nei. Mō te aha? Mō te pai e topea nei te rākau mō te pai, mō te moni rānei? Ki au nei te mea o te taiao, me whakanuihia  tēnei āhuatanga, ae tērā pea me āta whakaaro tātou ngā rangatahi e hiahia nei ki te whai i tēnei huarahi ki te whakapiki i to ranga i te taiao, ā, kia pai ai ā tātou tamariki mō āpōpō”.

Ani Black – Kaiwaiata

– Maraea Davies, kaitito waiata

I wrote Ko Wai Koe in the wake of my involvement in raising awareness around offshore and onshore drilling. In that period the Rena grounded in our wai moana spilling tons of oil which coated and smothered marine life along the coast. The initial response by Maritime New Zealand included use of Corexit to disperse the oil – a chemical that enables crude oil to become 52 times more toxic and that has done untold damage to marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. Then at Christmas that year I observed the boom in place at Little Waihi estuary not only preventing the oil from coming in but keeping the brown bubbly swirley goop inside the estuary, from heading out to sea. What irony. Industry we rely on to support our families, communities or nation with income or food is polluting the very environment that provides those industries and their activities with the means to exist.

​Here we are now in 2018. The pollution of our rivers has become a loud conversation, and the conversation about glyphosate is growing. Use of 1080 and brodifacoum are contentious issues in the moment and water exploitation by overseas investors is another. Don’t get me started on geo engineering…. An easier topic of conversation is the recycling that our Māori organisations have in place. Or do they? 

​We have other important issues to concern ourselves, but at the end of the day none of us can be sure about raising a healthy whānau if the water, air and soil are toxic.

​Until a time comes where corporate profits are gained in partnership with a healthy environment, we need to continue to ask questions and speak out when it is evident that things are not right. We also need to take responsibility for our actions as consumers. The quality of life for our children and their children’s, children depends on it.