NZ Captain’s Gender Had Nothing to Do with Sunken Ship

There’s rumours going around that the Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa, New Zealand Defence Force, has become woke. That can’t be true! Ā Mātau Tāngata, mō mātou ngā tūranga. Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but I just can’t read their website. Does everybody in New Zealand know how to read this? All I know is that they mention their diverse workforce, and they seem to have an unhealthy obsession with gender and race. Despite this, males still outnumber females by about 4 to 1. They refer to almost everything in Māori. “One of the unique features about our military is our three service marae – Te Taua Moana Marae, Rongomaraeroa, and the Te Tūrangawaewae…” Sorry, I promise that’s the last Māori I’ll attempt to read.

They seem to openly welcome me to their website, but as an English-speaking foreigner from neighbouring Australia, I can’t bloody well read it! Basically, “Our marae help us blend Māori and European customs and warrior traditions, creating a unique foundation for the people of NZDF.” Okay, I get it. “We have a Bicultural Policy that sets out how we will achieve a bicultural status that recognises Māori cultural interests.” Okay, fine.

But back to their gender obsession. For example, here’s the latest copy of the NZDF’s Army News hot off the presses, “New Chief of Army, Major General Rose King”. “When I first joined, I couldn’t join certain areas of our organisation based on my gender”. “Major General King is the first wahine in the NZDF to lead Ngāti Tūma…” Sorry, I promised I wouldn’t do that again. A wahine, apparently, means female gender. Why don’t they just say that? What are they trying to do here? It just seems like pandering slipping in Māori now and again. Either write it in Māori, or write it in English, this mixing of language is a nightmare!

This is Navy Today from December 2022. The article I’m interested in is this page 10 one. This is Commander Yvonne Gray, who at the time was the new Commanding Officer of HMNZS Manawanui. “This is an opportunity to take a ship, still in its infancy, and further the capability of that ship, and influence and help the next Navy.” She sure did influence the next Navy. Less than two years later, she sunk the ship! Well, she was in command of the ship that ran aground, caught fire, and sunk, the first ship the New Zealand Navy has lost since World War Two!

A Samoan local by the name of Manu, told the media, “He (she) must have cruised over that reef, thought nothing was coming, and then all of a sudden something came. Bang! I just don’t understand what he (she) was doing there. It bewilders me as to why he (she) was there. I know it’s a scientific research boat, but he (she) shouldn’t have been that close to the reef. There’s no reason to be that close to the reef, not with the amount of swells that was around. The reef was already getting destroyed from other things, but I just hope the ship hasn’t done anything.”

But back to the Defence Force article from 2022. “Yorkshire woman takes command of Royal New Zealand Navy Ship. In 2012, Commander Gray and her wife Sharon moved to New Zealand after falling in love with the country during a campervan holiday.” Oh, how nice. “When I’ve really enjoyed a job it’s because I’ve made a difference, where things are a little bit better than they were before.” Yep, she sure made a difference this time. Apparently, that was at least 11% of the New Zealand Navy that she sank, the first peace-time loss of a Navy vessel. Luckily, nobody died.

Defence Minister Judith Collins gave a press conference about the disaster. What do you think she focused on? “I am New Zealand's first female defence minister. The Army has its first female Chief of Army. Major General Rose King, Manawanui’s Captain, Commander Yvonne Gray, is female. We are all appointed on merit, not gender. A court of inquiry has been stood up to establish what caused this terrible incident. The one thing that we already know did not cause it is the gender of the ship’s captain.” Oh, that’s a relief! Without even starting the court of inquiry, they already know that is has nothing to do with gender, or their woke hiring policies.

I actually asked AI to title this video, “Write a catchy video title to describe the sinking of the HMNZS Manawanui, noting that the captain’s gender / sexual identity played no part in its sinking.” It replied, “Sure! How about this: Lesbian Captain’s Gender Had Nothing to Do with Sunken Ship. Does this capture what you’re looking for?” Yes, it does, and that’s exactly what I titled this video. Thanks AI!

Guess who’s heading up the court of inquiry? Go on, guess the gender! Commodore Melissa Ross – The first female Commodore ever and Deputy Chief. I wonder what the inquiry will find?

Anyway, that’s the state of the New Zealand Navy. But remember, it has nothing to do with gender.

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