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Bugger! If you haven't seen the news, former Labour Minister and ACT Party leader Richard Prebble has resigned from the Waitangi Tribunal.
Appointed in October last year, Prebble was a controversial pick but one that brought hope to those of us who want to see the radicalisation of the Waitangi Tribunal tempered.
You may not have heard of InternetNZ or know exactly what they do. I didn't until I read some alarming news about the organisation this week. I knew immediately that I had to make Hobson's Pledge supporters aware of the situation.
I was first alerted to the issue via an email from the New Zealand Free Speech Union which said:
The InternetNZ Council, which is the body that is responsible for administering the .nz domain name, has recently declared that InternetNZ is systemically racistand is proposing a new constitution that will make the organisation co-governed.
The proposed principles for the new constitution include the following:
Think about how prevalent the use of .nz domains are in New Zealand. Our own domain is hobsonspledge.nz!
I don't imagine those wanting to centre the Treaty in InternetNZ's work would view Hobson's Pledge as fitting the brief.
Well, it potentially leaves us without a website domain. InternetNZ could decide that we don't meet their terms of service and pull the rug out from under us.
What can we do? The Free Speech Union has asked its supporters to join InternetNZ as members meaning that they can take part in voting on constitutional matters. We are suggesting the same to our supporters.
For just $21 you can join as a member of InternetNZ and join us in resisting this regressive racialisation of the internet in New Zealand.
The idea is that we will have enough votes to ensure race-based constitutional changes do not get made to the organisation.
You'll be familiar with Janet Dickson's battle against unnecessary politicised Treaty and te reo indoctrination as imposed by the Real Estate Authority. But you may not realise how widespread the issue is. When we began speaking about Janet's experience we started receiving more and more correspondence from New Zealanders facing similar situations in other industries.
A recent example is the New Zealand Pharmacy Council—and my goodness it is a cracking example. Chris Lynch drew attention to the story and the wildly unnecessary requirements for pharmacists in this country:
"All pharmacists to be “confident to perform waiata tautoko,” a Māori support song, and to advocate for “giving effect to te Tiriti at all levels,”“prioritising Māori voices and trusting Māori intelligence.”
Pharmacists must also be familiar with Māori health models such as Te Pae Mahutonga, which, according to the Health Ministry, refers to the Southern Cross constellation.
Additionally, pharmacists are expected to explain the impacts of pre- and post-Te Tiriti o Waitangi events on the health of New Zealanders.
The Pharmacy Council said on its website the introduction of these standards involved “a whāriki tāpui”—a formal woven mat—symbolising a deliberate integration of Western and Te Ao Māori ideologies. The Council described this as an effort to create a “stronger and more cohesive fabric” by merging two distinct worldviews.
Call me crazy, but when I go to pick up my prescriptions I would rather the pharmacist have some medical knowledge rather than the ability to belt out a te reo tune or recite the phases of the Māori lunar calendar.
New Zealanders should not have to submit to indoctrination in order to be allowed to do their jobs. We have already been the laughing stock of the global scientific community with icons such as Richard Dawkins telling the scientific world of the lunacy of the prioritisation of Mātauranga Māori in our institutions.
Who is going to take us seriously if we keep insisting on placing traditional Māori knowledge over scientific knowledge? Who is going to want to study in our universities? Who is going to want to invest in businesses knowing the nonsensical hoops they'll have to jump through to prove cultural competence?
We are kicking own goals. We are tying one hand behind our own backs!
This is why Janet's case is so important. It isn't about one real estate agent not wanting to do a Māori course. It is so much bigger than that. We have to bring an end to industry bodies having the power to impose political and cultural beliefs on professionals, who submit because they have to in order to obtain a licence.
As I mentioned last week, Janet is looking to appeal her case. She is willing to fight on if we are willing to get her the support required. By "support" I mean, of course, financial support. Taking legal action is extraordinarily expensive and we reassured Janet that we would bring our supporters on board to get it funded.
We will take the fight as far as we can and stand shoulder to shoulder with Janet, but we need the backing of people who share our values and concerns. Every dollar counts.
In general, I advise against counting your chickens before they hatch, but it appears some may have come home to roost for Te Pāti Māori. So to speak.
Not only has the head of Statistics NZ fallen on his sword (or he will in the not too distant future) due to the fallout of investigations into data breaches and misbehaviour at Manurewa Marae, but yesterday we learned that Te Pāti Māori haven't even filed their annual finances for the election year properly.
The whole sorry saga is symbolic of the rot that has accumulated in New Zealand as a result of race-based politics trumping democratic process.
We have had two damning reports so far from Stats NZ and the Public Service Commission. The Police are investigating the matter also. As the saying goes: "where there is smoke there is fire".
Stats NZ says it is highly probable that Manurewa Marae copied census form data and used it for its own political purposes. Given a Te Pāti Māori candidate was heading up the marae, those political purposes are quite clear. Takutai Tarsh Kemp is, of course, now a Te Pāti Māori MP after winning the Tāmaki Makaurau seat by just 42 votes.
Even worse, the Public Services Commission said there were few, if any, privacy safeguards in place from government agencies when dealing with the marae and there were no conflict of interest checks despite the marae being effectively run by Te Pāti Māori.
It’s all very dodgy and has John Tamihere’s fingerprints all over it. He is the President of Te Pāti Māori, the CEO of Waipareira Trust, and the CEO of Whānau Ora. Through these connections, Manurewa Marae was funded by the Government to collect data for the census and, promote and administer vaccinations during Covid.
Check out this data from The Facts NZ. It shows that at Manurewa Marae, the TPM candidate got nearly three times the number of votes as she achieved in any other polling booth. We have no doubt that Peeni Henare and Labour were robbed.
Questions have to be asked as to whether assigning Manurewa Marae as a polling booth was simply gross incompetence or a deliberate decision to preference Te Pāti Māori.
Six government departments have been found incompetent in relation to this matter - Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Health, Te Whatu Ora/Health New Zealand, Statistics New Zealand, Oranga Tamariki and the Ministry of Social Development. They all owe New Zealanders a thorough explanation.
And there is now further evidence that Te Pāti Māori think the rules are for everyone except them. Yesterday, Business Desk reported that the party has filed its annual accounts for the election year (2023) six months late. What's worse, they were incomplete, not signed by the executive team, and the numbers did not match other filings.
Can you imagine if any other political party operated like this? There would be a media circus! They would be calling for heads to roll!
Indeed, if this kind of stink was surrounding any other party we would be predicting their imminent downfall. The protection racket unfortunately has Te Pāti Māori well insulated.
Before I sign off, I just want to draw your attention to a particularly good piece published in Bassett, Brash, and Hide recently. Rodney Hide describes the alarming rubbish being taught to Kiwi kids in our education system.
Things like that colonists were all genocidal and wanted to exterminate Māori. This is not only a perversion of history; it’s designed to create guilt and fuel racial division.
Ironically, this particular example was from an English course; just another example of our children’s education being hijacked by radical Marxists determined to indoctrinate them and teach them to discriminate and hate based on race.
I encourage you to check with your own children about what they are being taught in school.
As you know from last week’s email, Janet Dickson lost her case against the Real Estate Authority.
The High Court ruled that it is perfectly legal to force professionals like Janet to undergo political, cultural, and spiritual courses – in this case, Māori tikanga and the Treaty – with little to no relevance to their actual professions.
We here at Hobson’s Pledge are appalled by the decision, and as we have supported Janet from the outset, we will continue to do so with your support.
The question everyone must ask is: Who is next?
Currently, it is Janet and the Real Estate Authority, but which organisations are next? What are the next set of courses and requirements, with a strong political, cultural, or spiritual bias, that will be forced onto everyday New Zealanders?
Hobson’s Pledge already know the answer because we can see these courses expanding.
You may recall an earlier message to you about the Nurses Association expecting nurses to prioritise culture over medicine.
More recently, the Pharmacy Council has issued new competency guidelines which include “advocating for giving effect to te Tiriti at all levels” and “prioritising Māori voices.”
These have nothing to do with pharmaceutical management, but everything to do with political and cultural agendas. There are many more examples.
The High Court’s decision should send chills down the spine of every New Zealander simply trying to get on with their job. It says that any regulatory body, particularly those captured by activists, can force any array of nonsensical ideas onto members of their organisations.
Even the idea of ‘freedom of speech’ went out the window, with Janet effectively being told that she was not allowed to speak, but instead simply had to listen.
We view this as compulsion, and worse still, the penalty for her is the loss of her practising licence for five years.
The Minister needs to act but seems to think she has the matter in hand. She does not.
Minister Nicole McKee believes it was enough to write a letter to the Real Estate Authority (REA) saying she does not agree with the five-year ban and wants to update legislation accordingly. But this does not address the core of the issue.
In fact, all the letter has done is highlight the harsh consequences of the REA’s decision, but it does not address the problem. The real problem is the ability of these organisations to force New Zealanders to undergo indoctrination in political, cultural, or spiritual matters.
It has to stop, and we need your help.
Firstly, we are going to continue backing Janet, and along with her lawyers, are considering an appeal.
Secondly, back our call for the Government to act. The easiest and most appropriate solution to this problem is through a change in legislation.
This is most pressing if your MP is from ACT, New Zealand First, or National. These are the governing parties and have the power to make this simple but necessary change.
All three parties have spoken against the use of power to pursue political or ideological causes. You need only think about their reaction to a bank that wanted to use its power to defund customers who didn’t fit their climate agenda, in this case, legitimate coal mining businesses.
The situation with Janet is little different. She should not be bullied by her professional organisation, and the Government must step in and stop this abuse.
Please help us help Janet, and all New Zealanders. As we said at the start – who’s next?
It was worth a try, but the Advertising Standards Authority has rejected our appealon the ruling against our "controversial" front page advertisement regarding the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) (Customary Marine Title) Amendment Bill.
Given the ideological capture of institutions in New Zealand, it is hardly surprising that the appeal board of the ASA came to almost the same conclusions as the initial ruling. In these institutions there is visceral hatred, revulsion, and fear of anything that disrupts the current narrative around the Treaty and Māori special rights.
Our front page advertisement definitely disrupted the narrative. It showed New Zealanders just how much of the New Zealand coast is under current application by iwi. In case you don't remember, it is virtually the entire coast.
We maintain that our advertisement was factual and did not breach standards.
This ASA decision tells the media decision-makers who want to refuse to run our advertisements that they are entitled to block ordinary people seeing reflections of their own concerns and reasoning in the media.
The class now ruling the mainstream media find ways to stretch and manipulate any rules. Or they just make them up, or ignore the inconvenient ones, including rights to freedom of speech and non-discrimination on the grounds of political belief, or race.
Anything that conflicts with the dogma of the professional-managerial-academic-political-entertainment elite is likely to be blocked, ridiculed, or accused of misinformation. These elites feel virtuous censoring out anything they feel or think the masses should not believe.
We’ll never get good faith engagement from our opponents, and we accept this sad reality. Totally spurious reasoning is par for the course in decisions from the lanyard-wearing class.
What we don't accept is that we should be content to allow this unfairness to continue unopposed.
It is long past time for a law change to extend the Commerce Act, so that the powerful who control dominant media will be liable, just as cartel conspirators are, if they use their dominance to suppress competition in the marketplace of ideas.
We’d be glad to debate the truth and fairness of our communications with anyone, but that is not what the ASA want to allow. They want to silence us. They want to suppress our views and by extension yours.
The ASA grounded their decisions - the first and the appeal - in opinion rather than objective fact. Facts are still facts, even when they are inconvenient to the beliefs of the members of the ASA.
The tendency for amateur authoritarians to paint those whom they disagree with as ‘evil’ rather than just holding a differing viewpoint has been cancerous to our ability to debate important and difficult subjects.
We fight these battles not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because we know that once emboldened, our opponents will go after the next organisation or group. Today it’s mainstream media deliberately ignoring what may happen if iwi control large swathes of our coastline. Tomorrow it'll be our democratic rights.
