Two prominent former members of the Communist Party of NZ’s, rebellious Wellington branch died recently. Rona Bailey died in September, Tama Te Kapua (Tom) Poata in November. Both played big roles in the movements of their day and both are worth study by those who wish to understand NZ today.
Here is part one of a look at Tom Poata’s life.
A member of Ngati Porou tribe, Tama Poata was born in 1936 on the East Coast and was educated at Tokomaru Bay High School. In the early ’50s he worked worked on the Roxburgh hydro project. There his “conceptions of politics were shattered by contact with socialists who were involved in the ’51 waterfront strike.”
By the 1960s he was living in Wellington, working as an organisor with the Communist Party controlled, Drivers Union and active in the Party. In 1966 the CPNZ front, the NZ Peace Council organised a demo against US President Lyndon Johnson during his visit to Wellington. A large contingent of maoris took part, led by Poata.
Already known as a firebrand, Poata spoke at the 1967 “Peace, Power & Politics Conference” in Wellington. The conference was designed to oppose NZ’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Poata told the assembled peaceniks “The struggle of the Vietnam people to obtain self-determination is similar to the Maori struggle in New Zealand. The fundamental difference between them is that real bullets are being used in Vietnam.” [CPNZ’s People’s Voice 17 April 1968].
By 1968, Poata was the founder and Secretary/Treasurer of NZ’s first “Maori Radical” group, the Maori Organisation On Human Rights”. On Waitangi Day that year, Poata was involved in a protest on the steps of Parliament in which an open letter was delivered to Prime Minister Holyoake. The letter demanded withdrawal of the Maori Affairs Amendment Bill of 1967 which Poata said “served to enhance exploitation of this country and its people by overseas capital interests” [CPNZ’s People’s Voice February 14].
Poata was a good “networker and in November 1968 was in Auckland. As chairman of MOOHR he addressed a meeting of people from various Maori organisations in Auckland. The meeting passed a resolution of unanimous support for the aims and objects of MOOHR and vowed to keep in touch with Poata’s people in Wellington. “ The MOOHR, said Mr Poata, is against the Maori people playing any part in the Vietnam War. It wanted no part in killing Vietnamese workers and peasants who were fighting for the same rights as the Maori people themselves.” [CPNZ’s People’s Voice 13 Nov 1968].
In March 1969 , the MOOHR condemned the Maori Council for supporting the 1970 All Black tour of South Africa and supported Syd Jackson for his leaflet “I’m against the Tour”. [CPNZ’s People’s Voice 2 April 1969].
In May 1969 a meeting called by a young Maoist student politician, Trevor Richards was held in the executive lounge of the Auckland University Students Union. Invitations were sent to Citizens Association for Racial Equality groups, trade unions, churches, Maori groups, students organisations and the United Nations Association. The aim was to set up a radical new anti-Apartheid organisation. MOOHR sent a delegation from Wellington. Delegate Tom Poata christened the new group, Halt All Racist Tours, or HART.
In 1970 at Waitangi weekend, Poata attended the formation of the NZ Race Relations Council at Waikato University, hosted by Hamilton CARE. This was a Maoist front aimed at highlighting “racism” in NZ and Apartheid in South Africa.
Organisations represented by the 150 attending, included CARE, United Nations Association, NZ University Students Association, the Riverside Community, National Council of Churches, Public Service Association, HART, the Christian Pacifists, Christchurch Catholic Peace Fellowship, Canterbury Fabian Society, NZ Student Christian Movement, Cook Islands Society, Maori Womens Welfare League, MOOHR, Northern Drivers Union, Otage Trades Council, Society of Friends, Radical Students Association and Defence and Aid Fund for Victims of Apartheid.
Poata told the assembly “I believe that in a revolution some people get knocked over and some are left standing. It depends on your interpretation of violence. The South African coloured people have been very passive because they’ve had no arms to meet violence with violence. As a trade unionist, I’m prepared to put words into action and will die doing this if necessary.” [NZMonthly Review March 1970]
In 1971 Poata was elected to the executive of the NZ Race Relations Council
On June 12th 1970, the day before the All Blacks were to depart for South Africa, Poata, Don Borrie (secretary of NZ Student Christian Movement) and Paul Grocott (president of NZUSA) organised a demonstration in Wellington which held up traffic for two hours. 31 people were arrested.
In August 1970 Poata attended the Radical Activist Congress At Victoria University. He spoke at the forum on “The Exploitation of Ethnic Minorities” where he was described as “a member of the dissolved Wellington Communist Party”. The Party’s entire Wellington branch had recently been expelled by Auckland HQ. Poata was now an independent who worked mainly with Maoist leaning communists
希望大家都會非常非常幸福~
「朵朵小語‧優美的眷戀在這個世界上，最重要的一件事，就是好好愛自己。好好愛自己，你的眼睛才能看見天空的美麗，耳朵才能聽見山水的清音。好好愛自己，你才能體會所有美好的東西，所有的文字與音符才能像清泉一樣注入你的心靈。好好愛自己，你才有愛人的能力，也才有讓別人愛上你的魅力。而愛自己的第一步，就是切斷讓自己覺得黏膩的過去，以無沾無滯的輕快心情，大步走向前去。愛自己的第二步，則是隨時保持孩子般的好奇，願意接受未知的指引；也隨時可以拋卻不再需要的行囊，一路雲淡風輕。親愛的，你是天地之間獨一無二的旅人，在陽光與月光的交替之中瀟灑獨行.............................................................................................................
有時，你覺得痛。胃痛的時候，接受它，承認這個疼痛是你的身體的一部份，與它和平共處。心痛的時候，接受它，承認這個經驗是你的生命的一部份，與它和平共處。抗拒痛的存在，只會讓它更要證明它的存在，於是你就更痛。所以，.無論你有多麼不喜歡痛的感覺，還是要接納這個痛的事實。與你的痛站在同一邊，不逃避，不閃躲，不再與你的痛爭執，如此，你的痛才會漸漸不再胡鬧，才會乖乖平息下去。.................
Thats right Lib. Borrie is a Pro North Korean looney tune. He’s getting on and running out of steam now, but he still led a delegation to the great workers paradise “inspired by the Juche idea” only a couple of years ago.
There’s a special place in Hell for “Christians” like Don Borrie.
Don Borrie leads the NZ-DPRK (North Korea) friendship society and spoke glowingly in Pyongyang about Kim Il Sung in the 1970s, and still goes on from time to time about the freedom of religion in North Korea – he hasn’t been seen much in the last few years with the tales of atrocities having come out at an alarming rate