Yes, it's me again. I wish that I didn't need to contact you again so soon, but yet another urgent matter has arisen.

On Tuesday, Hutt City Council will vote on whether to establish a Maori ward. The so-called submission process they pretended to engage in only resulted in 25 responses from the public. This from a population of approximately 100,000.

It is evident that Hutt City Council did not want its residents to know this matter was being discussed. They did almost nothing to advertise the opportunity to engage with the process, and Councillors were ordered not to speak with the appointed Panel tasked with consulting with the public. That is simply not good enough. In fact it is downright cynical.

Lower Hutt is another example of the contempt that New Zealand's mayors and councillors have for the people they represent. Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Kapiti Coast District Council are just two other councils which have recently totally ignored the overwhelming opposition to Maori wards and voted them in.

Hutt City would rather not hear from those they represent at all.

Why are so many councils rushing to establish Maori wards now? There are two main reasons:

1. Time is running out to make changes before the 2025 local elections. The cut off day for councils to resolve whether or not to have a Maori Ward in 2025 is 23 November 2023.
2. A centre-right government will soon be formed and they recognise that some of the coalition members have promised to end Maori wards, or at very least restore the rights for citizens to demand a binding referendum on whether such wards should be established, a right cynically removed by the Labour Government. Councils know it is harder to unwind things that are already done.

Even worse is that Hutt City Council is attempting to misrepresent the degree to which democracy would be compromised if they establish a Maori ward. They have claimed there are around 12,000 people on the Maori roll. The true figure is about 6,000.

What does this mean?

Each of the wards in Hutt City has about 12,000 voters on the general roll. This means 12,000 people per councillor. A Maori ward would have twice the representation with only 6,000 people per councillor.

Of the twelve Hutt City councillors elected in 2022, four are Maori. In addition, there is an unelected Iwi Representative who already sits on a number of sub-committees and iwi generally already have special representation and voting rights on council sub-committees. The proposed new Maori ward would be additional to all of this.

I don't need to rehash all the reasons why representation based on race is terrible for our country. The reasons are consistent whether we are looking at Auckland Council or Hutt City Council. You know by now the dire situation this puts local democracy in.

What can we do?

We can make ourselves heard regardless. Below you will find the email addresses for the Hutt City councillors to copy and paste, and a suggested email to send them.

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Suggested email:

Dear Mayor and Councillors,

I am writing to you to express my strong opposition to the establishment of a Maori Ward in Hutt City. 

I was very disappointed to learn that such poor public consultation was undertaken, resulting in just 25 submissions from the public. I am sure many more people would have submitted had they known the matter was being discussed.

It is important that you are all aware of the concerns that many New Zealanders hold about basing political representation on race. Even worse when that representation is providing more political influence for some than for others. We understand that most of the existing wards in Hutt City contain some 12,000 general voters on their electoral roll, whereas any Maori ward established would have only some 6,000 people. The power of the vote becomes dependent on the race of the person casting it.

Maori are already well represented around the council table and iwi already have special voting rights, together with an appointed iwi representative who sits on many council sub-committees.

When you vote on whether to establish a Maori ward on Tuesday, I urge you to oppose race-based political representation, particularly where the weight given to any Maori ward would be quite disproportionate to the number of Maori on the Maori roll.

Regards,

Do write your own email if you prefer. The important thing is that the message is heard by these councillors.

Hopefully it will be at least another few days before you hear from me again, but with the speed with which these issues are hitting my desk, it will probably be sooner rather than later.

Your voice matters. I wouldn't ask you to take action if it didn't.

We need a referendum on the Treaty! If National won't do it, we will demand a Citizens Initiated Referendum.

It’s rumoured that one of the sticking points in reaching agreement between the three political parties which are trying to form a coalition Government is ACT’s call for a referendum on what the Treaty means.

Christopher Luxon has repeatedly made it clear that he is opposed to New Zealanders having a say on such an important constitutional matter.

But this is an insult to all New Zealanders who believe we should all be treated equally and have the right to be heard on fundamental constitutional matters.

Yesterday, we sent you an email asking that, even before the new Government sets about fixing the egregiously racist policies put in place by the last Government, it should fix the serious mistakes of the previous National-led Government, in particular the Marine and Coastal Area Act.

It is quite outrageous that the National Party Leader now wants to deny New Zealanders a say on whether we are going to be a country where all citizens are equal before the law, or whether, on the contrary, we are going to be forever divided based on who some of our ancestors were.

If it helps everybody save face, perhaps the referendum should not be about the Treaty per se.  Instead, let’s have a referendum on whether these principles are a fundamental part of our constitution:

1. All citizens of New Zealand have the same political rights and duties.
2. All political authority comes from the people by democratic means including universal suffrage, regular and free elections with a secret ballot.
3. New Zealand is a multi-ethnic liberal democracy where discrimination based on ethnicity is illegal.

For the avoidance of doubt, these principles prevail over any contradictory enactment by Parliament, or finding by the Courts.

We need a referendum to show the liberal elite that they are out of touch with the voters.  We need to deliver the kind of message that the Voice referendum in Australia delivered.

We need those who think they know better than us to show the courage of their convictions by making their arguments in a referendum campaign, not just lecture us in the media.

If National does not agree to a referendum, we will work with similar groups to demand a Citizens Initiated Referendum affirming that we are a country where all citizens have equal political rights.  New Zealanders deserve the chance to pass judgement on the divisive, expensive, and destructive path the political elite in both National and Labour have taken our country on. This will only occur through a referendum.

If you agree that this is of fundamental importance, I urge you to tell Christopher Luxon your view on the issue by heading to his Facebook Page now.

We are too short on time to launch a full correspondence campaign, but making ourselves heard on social media will have an impact. Simply commenting on Christopher's posts, urging him to get on board with the referendum will do the trick.

Let's keep our comments measured and polite. You catch more flies with honey!

Don't delay. Coalition talks are in their final stages. Click through to Christopher's Facebook page now!

While we all wait for our new Government to be formed, we are witnessing a huge mistake made by the previous National-led Government play out.

There are many awful things the last Government did which need to be fixed urgently but as a very high priority National must clean up its own past mistakes – starting with the foreshore and seabed legislation.

In 2011, the National-led Government passed the 2011 Marine and Coastal Area Act (MACA). Then Prime Minister John Key and Attorney General Chris Finlayson stated that the legislation would result in very few successful claims for our foreshore, seabed, and territorial waters, and that the concerns by many over the loose legislation were unfounded.

Predictably, the 2017 deadline for lodging claims under that Act resulted in opportunistic claims being lodged for New Zealand’s entire coastline.

Currently, 200 of these claims are cluttering up the High Court and another 385 are subject to behind-doors negotiation with Government. Sadly, the ongoing consequences are draining the time and coffers of self-funding counterclaimants, Councils, RMA applicants, and the taxpayers who are obliged to fund all Māori claimants. There are community disputes at several beaches around the country.

"Pākiri beach whānau impose rāhui on beach to protect kaimoana" - Te Ao News

In an extreme example of judicial activism, the Court of Appeal has just last month supported the rulings made by Justice Churchman in an earlier case related to this piece of legislation.

The Courts have deemed that the requirement for claimants to have ‘exclusively occupied’ an area has no connection to any dictionary definition nor even what was intended, and the highly variable concept of ‘tikanga’ is the overarching consideration in the hearing of claims. 

These interpretations of the law facilitate our coastline, beaches, estuaries, harbours, rivers, and territorial sea passing into the control of various groups which identify as Māori. This control extends to the airspace above, the water space, plus the subsoil, bedrock, and mineral wealth below.

The longterm impacts of this in terms of our country’s unity, economic development, business costs and efficiency, corruption levels, conservation efforts, citizens’ recreation, law and order, and race relations would be very serious.

We must help the new National-led Government reverse this destructive legislation.

What can we do?

For starters, take action by:

1. Writing/emailing your National, ACT, and New Zealand First MPs, calling on them to stop the undermining of our country’s unity by restoring Crown ownership of the foreshore and seabed.
2. Signing this petition, which will be delivered to the incoming Government.
3. Writing to the editors of newspapers, reaching out to journalists, and contacting media organisations.

If you have any other ideas for action, please get in touch. We are always open to hearing ideas.

We've had an incredible few weeks here at Hobson's Pledge, and we couldn't be more appreciative of your support and dedication.

Our campaign to oppose unequal fishing rights in the Hauraki Gulf gained media attention. Read the article here.

And you may have already heard the news: the Auckland Council has voted against the introduction of Maori seats at the 2025 local body elections. Read more here

This crucial decision came about as a result of our collective efforts, as Hobson's Pledge supporters "bombarded" councillors with their opposition to the creation of Maori seats.

In fact, our Double Dip website featured on the 6 o'clock news and in a Newsroom article.

Without the commitment of supporters, like you, this divisive proposal could have easily passed, highlighting the power we possess when we stand up collectively against racist policies and legislation, whether it's in local or central government. 

One interesting voice in this debate was Tau Henare, Deputy Chair of the Independent Māori Statutory Board - an unelected co-governance position.

His threat, to punish Auckland Council by voting 'NO' on all committees he is on, is only possible because of the lack of accountability for iwi appointments. We cannot vote him out.

It's essential to note that the public, both individuals and organisations, overwhelmingly opposed the proposal to create Maori wards, with 68 percent of individuals and 54 percent of organisations voicing their disapproval.

But, Tau was just the first of several political threateners in the past few weeks! In fact, threats have been flying at New Zealanders and the new Government.

Māori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer threatened that if there was any attempt to change the Marine and Coastal Areas Act there would be an"uprising of the hikoi of all hikois."

While Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said that "conversations on Te Tiriti are absolutely about causing social unrest."

And Labour Minister Willie Jackson said of ACT's proposed Treaty Referendum "if they try push that through, It'll be '81 Springbok Tour, civil unrest times five, times ten."

If this is a trend that continues, New Zealanders might struggle to find a piece of legislation that a politician hasn't threatened them about!

This kind of behaviour from elected representatives is appalling and Hobson's Pledge will not give in to such attempts to shut down discussion of important matters of New Zealand's future. And neither should the new Government be intimidated.

We will always advocate for democratic processes that enable Kiwis to be involved and have their say. Every Kiwi voice matters and politicians should welcome this. 

Your support and dedication have made a difference, and we will continue to stand up for what is right.