As the year draws to a close, we want to express our gratitude for your dedication and unwavering support of Hobson's Pledge.

Throughout this year, our collective efforts have significantly influenced and reshaped the future of governmental policies and legislation. Together, we've remained steadfast in our commitment to ensure equal rights for every individual, regardless of their ethnic background, and been staunch protectors of our democratic values.

Every petition signed, letter written, submission made, and generous donation has been instrumental in our success this year. From our short and sharp campaigns to halt anti-democratic agendas in local councils to our extended election strategy to change the Government and ensure the new one opposes co-governance, we were driven by people power.

The belief that we should all be equal before the law is held by many, many New Zealanders. It is a minority who are driving division, but unfortunately they have had disproportionate power. This year we significantly destabilised their agenda and in 2024 we cannot let up. 

On behalf of Hobson's Pledge I wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. While there's more work ahead on our journey, we hope you have a restful and joyful summer break.

We will be taking this opportunity to recharge, as we prepare to continue the fight in the coming year.

Many New Zealanders were angry at the news of an attack on the display depicting the English version of the Treaty of Waitangi at Te Papa this week.

The disrespect shown by the vandals to our national museum and the Treaty is utterly unacceptable.

Since the incident, the media have already begun publishing calls for the English version to be removed from Te Papa entirely. This is an outrageous example of historical revisionism and imposing the politics of the present on a document signed in 1840.

So often we are seeing that bullying, aggression, and the 'thugs veto' are successful tactics for certain activists and radicals in New Zealand. They simply cannot be allowed to get their way in this instance.

I have written to CEO of Te Papa Courtney Johnston expressing this view on behalf of Hobson's Pledge. You can read the letter below.

Dear Courtney Johnston,

I write to you on behalf of Hobson’s Pledge and our supporters.

Hobson’s Pledge is named in reference to the words of Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson following each signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on February 6^th 1840: “He iwi tahi tatou” which translates to “we are [now] one people”. We believe that the best way forward for New Zealand is to return to the spirit of those words as we became a nation. It is a simple message of unity and equality.

First can I express our dismay at the recent vandalism to the enlarged display of the English version of the Treaty at Te Papa and at the disrespect shown to our national museum. Protest is a part of living in a democratic society, but the manner in which the vandals chose to express themselves was utterly unacceptable.

Secondly, and more substantively, I write to you to implore the executive team at Te Papa not to be swayed into devaluing the English version of the Treaty by the aggressive tactics of vandals. Calls for the removal of the English version entirely have been promoted in the media and by activists since the vandalism.

The fact that there are small discrepancies between the English version of the Treaty and the Māori version does not diminish the importance of either of the versions. Calls to remove the English version entirely are ahistorical, politically-motivated, and must be resisted.

You, of course, will be acutely aware of the risk of imposing the politics and perspectives of the present onto historical events. We must preserve as much as possible the history of the Treaty of Waitangi as it was in 1840. There is value in telling the stories of the evolution of interpretations and associated political tensions, but that is another matter.

The note accompanying Henry Williams’ translation demonstrates that there was an awareness of the difficulties of providing a literal translation at the time and this has never been in contention. However, both the Māori and English texts were ultimately sent to London as the official versions and to devalue and disrespect one of those versions is appallingly inaccurate.

Current tensions and heightened levels of activism cannot be justifications for historical revisionism. I urge you to resist these pressures and continue to display the Treaty as a reflection of its true history, warts and all.

Regards,

Don Brash

I will be in touch if there are any updates regarding this letter, but rest assured we will be keeping an eye on the situation.

We are in a period of elevated tensions as we navigate the new Government's vision for a more equal New Zealand. Some Māori activists are resisting the changes signalled by the coalition. Allowing a radical minority to decide that the English version of the Treaty no longer has any value and should effectively be deleted will not help tensions in the slightest.

More than ever we at Hobson's Pledge need to be a voice for the reasoned perspectives of the majority who want New Zealand to be a reflection of Hobson's words at Waitangi: "we are now one people".  

It was sadly predictable. 

Less than two weeks ago, I wrote to you celebrating the strong commitment which the three parties which form our new Government have made to restore our democracy, where every citizen has the same rights before the law.

I particularly liked their commitment to scrap all vestiges of co-governance in public services – including their commitment to scrap Labour’s racist Three Waters proposal and the separate Maori Health Authority; their commitment to scrap references to ill-defined “Treaty principles” in legislation; and their commitment to remove an obligation to give special preference to tribal groups in resource management decisions.

The commitment to require all local authorities which have voted for Maori wards to seek a public mandate by means of a referendum was also very welcome, as was the commitment to give priority to the English names of government departments, given that English is the main language spoken by all those born in New Zealand. 

In short, they made a strong commitment to uphold the principles of liberal democracy, including equal citizenship and parliamentary sovereignty.

And all this from a Cabinet of 20, seven of whom, including the Deputy Prime Minister, are Maori.

But already we are seeing very strong push-back from those who claim, against all evidence to the contrary, that the Treaty of Waitangi was intended to mean that for the rest of time those with any trace of Maori ancestry should have a constitutional preference as compared with all other New Zealanders;that New Zealanders with any trace of Maori ancestry should be entitled to special consideration when it comes to controlling our water and other natural resources, should be entitled to foist on all our children a narrow and distorted view of our history, and should be entitled to preferential treatment when it comes to local body planning rules.

Today, we have seen that six of the people elected in the race-based Maori electorates – electorates which should have been scrapped in 1996, when MMP was first introduced, as the Royal Commission on the Electoral System recommended in 1986 and which the National Party has repeatedly promised to scrap – have changed the words in the oath of allegiance to the Crown. One Maori journalist has reported that they called King Charles a "scab" in their oath.

The same six, elected on the Maori Party platform, have succeeded in disrupting traffic and the lives of thousands of New Zealanders because they fundamentally reject the basic principles of democracy, and have said so.  They do not want a society where all of us have the same rights: they want to retain the preferences which successive governments have been willing to give them, none more so than the Labour Government of Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins.

Well, it’s crunch time. We either fight for a society where all citizens have the same legal rights or we surrender, and descend into a race-based society where those with a smidgeon of Maori ancestry have a legal preference over all the rest of us for the rest of time.  The Treaty of Waitangi provided that all New Zealanders would have the rights and duties of British subjects, an extraordinarily enlightened vision for 1840.  And frankly, if it had not provided that, we would long ago have had to abrogate the Treaty because there can be no basis for an harmonious future where rights depend on who our ancestors were.

So we have drafted a letter to the Leaders of the National, ACT and New Zealand First parties, congratulating them on what they have agreed to accomplish over the next three years and urging them to stand firm behind those commitments. It Is imperative that our leaders know that many hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders stand behind them, and support their commitment to restore a colour-blind democracy.

>>>If you agree, I urge you to sign the open letter HERE<<<

I will be writing to you in a couple of days with some other ways for you to get involved.

While it is an exciting time in central government politics, I need to direct your attention to another local government matter.

Auckland Council is developing its freshwater management plans and has put some documents out for consultation with the public. As I am sure you can imagine, we have identified some issues...

• For a start, the Council states: “Freshwater is precious and limited, a taonga of huge significance, and of particular importance to Māori.”
• They also mention that in addition to the public consultation, “There is a separate and ongoing programme of engagement with mana whenua in Auckland.” 

MAKE A SUBMISSION BY DECEMBER 4TH

The documents reveal a persistent presumption that Māori have a special relationship with water that is not shared by the rest of the community and that they have “stronger ambitions to improve our waterways”.

Water is the essence of ALL life, so everyone has an interest in healthy water. All Aucklanders should be equal stakeholders in how freshwater is managed in their city.

In the far-reaching consultation document, Auckland Council presents the idea that Māori are entitled to be involved to a much greater degree in the decision-making, monitoring and management, plus allocation, of Auckland’s freshwater.

They’re now asking for Aucklanders‘ input to this new policy, yet engagement with mana whenua has already been undertaken through a separate process.

Hobson’s Pledge doesn’t claim to be an expert on the scientific or regional issues covered by the Council’s proposals, but we do recognise the potential for frightening consequences from giving exclusive, unaccountable rights over water to one sector of the community.

We say people must not be divided by ancestral lines. Policies and rules must apply to us all equally.

What can you do?

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A SUBMISSION

All questions are optional. You will first be asked to choose which sections you wish to give feedback on. Select as many as you like.

We suggest that if you want to submit on the racial aspects of the plan you should select ‘A. Long-term vision’ and ‘C. Waterbodies where special management is required’.

You can also provide feedback in the box labelled G. Other Feedback.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ADVICE FOR SUBMITTING

Please tell Auckland Council what you think by 4 December 2023.