New Zealand minister names new ferry Captain Cook and tells ‘snivelling wokesters’ to accept his decision
New Zealand has named a new inter-island ferry after Captain Cook and warned ‘crying wakes’ they will have to accept the decision.
The new ship, connecting the country’s North Island and South Island, will be named after the British Royal Navy officer and explorer who pioneered expeditions to the Pacific.
But the decision to name the ferry after Cook, who arrived in New Zealand in October 1769, has sparked criticism as the country has been making moves to confront its colonial history over the past few years.
But the country’s foreign minister, Winston Peters, rejected the reaction and said those who saw Cook as a ‘herald of colonialism’ should be more conscious of the country’s past.
Speaking to parliament in Wellington this week, Peters said: ‘We know what’s going to happen. Snotty woke people will lather themselves over the name.
‘A mature country does not escape its history. “A serious country will not damage its memory to satisfy the latest fashion in whiny politics,” he added.
‘It has now become fashionable in some quarters to treat Captain Cook as nothing more than a symbol to be condemned, canceled and rejected.’
Two inter-island ferries have been purchased from China and will arrive in New Zealand in 2029, carrying passengers and goods across the Cook Strait connecting the North Island to the South Island.
New Zealand foreign minister Winston Peters (pictured) dismissed the backlash and said those who see Cook as a ‘herald of colonialism’ should be more conscious of the country’s past
The two inter-island ferries will arrive in New Zealand in 2029 and will carry passengers and goods via Cook Strait, connecting the North Island to the South Island
Illustration of Captain Cook – British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led expeditions to New Zealand
The second ship will be named after Kupe, the Polynesian sailor who, according to Māori, was the first to reach New Zealand.
Cook’s move to call one of the ferries after he broke with the New Zealand tradition of naming ships with the prefix ‘Ara’, meaning road, a tradition that began in 1962.
This also coincides with a period when New Zealand is renaming buildings across the country, replacing colonial-era names with indigenous names.
New Zealanders have a complex relationship with their country’s history.
It was colonized by the British in 1840 under the Treaty of Waitangi. Approximately 2,200 indigenous people were killed in conflicts between the British and Maori.
Between 1768 and 1779, Cook undertook three expeditions to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, where he also visited Australia.
Although Cook did not kill any natives himself, at least nine people were killed or wounded when he first landed in New Zealand.
Indigenous activists have long accused the British who arrived after Cook’s arrival in New Zealand of violence and oppression.
Many monuments dedicated to explorers have been destroyed in New Zealand.
