National Party leader Simon Bridges’ apparent intention to ally with the Maori Party undermines his weak concessions to “one law for all” voters announced during the week.
At Waitangi this week, Mr Bridges said that the Waitangi Tribunal should go “when we have moved past grievance”.
He also said that the Maori seats should also eventually go in line with recommendations from the Royal Commission in 1986, which proposed that they should go if the country adopted the MMP system.
And he created yet another deadline, 2024, for the settlement of historic claims. Needless to say, the National Party’s previous deadline of 2014 was not met.
If the Maori Party achieves its goal of winning back one seat, one extra vote in Parliament for National would make little difference.
Voters remember the nine years with National, when the Maori Party wielded a disproportionate influence which led to:
- Replacement of the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 with the Marine and Coastal Area Act 2011 that enabled Maori groups to claim ownership of the marine area, and the provision of generous taxpayer funding to support the legal costs of making those claims.
- Signing New Zealand up to the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the implications of tribal autonomy and on-going gifts of land.
- The troubled race-based Whanau Ora “one-stop shop” welfare-on-top-of-welfare programme, which was allocated $101-million last year and currently is subject to a Treaty claim for more money.
- Amendments to the Resource Management Act that enabled iwi to demand that councils enter into so-called "iwi participation agreements" at any time.
Beware, the current Maori Party wants to extend Treaty claims to privately owned land.
Simon Bridges is considering working with the Maori party despite a clear indication that there would be a considerable amount of caving in to pressure from Maori interest groups for racial preferment to buy their support.
Successive National Party leaders have promised that a National Government would scrap separate Maori electorates - Bill English made that commitment in 2003, Don Brash did in 2005, and John Key did in 2008.
Simon Bridges should reaffirm that commitment, and reject any suggestion that the National Party would form a coalition with a party that is committed to policy positions based on a fundamentally flawed interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Still awaiting word on Ihumatao
Former Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson says the way the land occupation at Ihumatao in Auckland has been handled is a "dog's breakfast".
Once Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern foolishly entered the dispute, expectations were raised that either the Government or the Auckland Council would buy the land from Fletchers and give it to the protesters.
A resolution to the dispute was expected to be announced last week, but Finlayson says the Government stepping in to broker a deal is "troubling".
"It's idle to speculate until we know the detail but it seems to me that if people go on land and won't go off, the Prime Minister says we'll negotiate with them and Fletcher walks away with $45 million, having invested $24 million - is that particularly clever?" Finlayson told the AM Show on Tuesday.
Submit against race-based education
You have until 5pm on Friday to air your views on the Education and Training Bill, which adds a 15-point Treaty section that aims to instil in each child “an appreciation of the importance of the Te Tiriti o Waitangi and te reo Maori”.
While aiming to make education “simpler, more modern, and less prescriptive”, it also makes schooling subject to undefined local Maori custom as well as the over-arching and unsubstantiated assertion of a partnership between “Maori” and the Crown.
The Bill may be read here: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2019/0193/latest/LMS170676.html
Our comments may be read at https://www.hobsonspledge.nz/education_and_training_maori_indoctrination_bill_coming_your_way
You may make a submission by going to https://www.parliament.nz/en/ECommitteeSubmission/52SCEW_SCF_BILL_93294/CreateSubmission
Sign petition to honour innocents killed
Few New Zealanders are aware of the horrific death toll of innocent settlers and friendly Maori at the hands of rebels during the New Zealand Wars of 1847-1879.
Recent governments are happy to maintain this eerie silence – among the many official remembrance activities connected with the 'Land Wars', none recognise the sad deaths of at least 95 innocents.
Non-combatants murdered by the rebels, who defied the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, could number in the hundreds. Many victims, mostly friendly Maori, who made up the majority of those murdered, remain unidentified and unacknowledged to this day.
See the list of 95 deaths (not in combat) at the hands of rebels during the New Zealand Wars of 1847 – 1879 at https://www.hobsonspledge.nz/a_day_to_remember_95_innocents_slaughtered_in_nz.
Sign the petition to the Prime Minister for an annual day of remembrance for innocent victims of the New Zealand Wars of 1847-1879 at https://www.change.org/p/prime-minister-of-new-zealand-an-annual-day-of-remembrance-for-innocent-victims-of-the-new-zealand-wars-of-1847-1879
Our petition which asks Parliament to amend the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 to restore public ownership of the coastal area, put all claims through the High Court, and repeal customary marine title, while affirming customary rights has picked up 13,996 signatures. We need your support. The petition may be signed at http://chng.it/stXwrrtFLY
Our petition to evict protesters at Ihumatao, and for the Government to allow both Te Kawerau a Maki and Fletchers to proceed with their lawful business, has collected 2823 signatures. If you have not done so already, please sign our petition at http://chng.it/xPN6P55k
Frequently asked questions
- What is Hobson's Pledge? Hobson’s Pledge supporters think it is absurd to argue in the 21st century that people who chance to have a Maori ancestor, always with other ancestors too of course, should have superior rights to those who don’t. And utterly absurd that there are politicians who want to be taken seriously who still push this nonsense.
- What are the issues we're facing today?
- What are our campaigns?
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