Our work campaigning to protect democracy and advance equality before the law is impossible without the ability to speak freely about important, and often contentious, issues.

You may have heard of the Free Speech Union. We recently directed you to their submission tool to have your say on proposals to regulate speech on social media and traditional media platforms.

The Free Speech Union recognises that for New Zealand to flourish as a civil society we must protect the right to express opinions freely. They do not take a position on the substance of what is being said, rather they stand up for our right to say it. 

When so many are invested in preventing discussions about co-governance and matters involving the Treaty, Hobson's Pledge are constantly coming up against attempts to censor or shut us down. We know first hand the importance of this vital human right.

Seeking to foster open debate in the months leading up to the election, the FSU have been holding events around the country to discuss and argue some of the most highly political topics of our time. 

Two debates have been held so far tackling propositions:  

 "be it resolved, Governments should lead the fight to reach Net Zero."

and

"be it resolved, our tax system is unfair and the wealthy must pay more." 

I want to draw your attention to the next debate which is to be held this Wednesday 13th September at 7pm in The Atrium, Hamilton. 

The proposition being debated is right in our wheelhouse:

"be it resolved, ‘one person, one vote’ silences indigenous voices and must go."

The affirmative will be argued by Buddy Mikaere and former Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon.

The negative will be argued by - someone very familiar to Hobson's Pledge supporters - our former spokesperson, Casey Costello! She will be joined by politician Shane Jones.

Tickets are free, but you must register to ensure you get a seat.

>>> Click here to reserve your ticket <<<

If you are unable to be in Hamilton on Wednesday, you can access the Free Speech Union livestream to watch from wherever you are. 

2023 Free Speech Union Debate Livestream: One person, one vote

We don't get the chance to see the cases for and against co-governance debated so I thought it was important to make you aware of the event in case it was of interest.

All the best to the debaters.

I'll be in touch later in the week with some more tips for taking action this election.

P.S. The debate series concludes in Auckland on 26 September 2023 with the proposition:

“be it resolved, #nodebate: some discussions will only cause harm”.

Authorised by: Hobson’s Pledge, Suite 311, 184 Symonds Street, Auckland 1010

Undoubtedly, your inbox is overflowing with emails and directives regarding voting and election promises.

But rather than talking about what candidates will do for you, I want to talk about what you can do! This email outlines something you can do to make sure this election delivers an accountable Government that has no wriggle room when it comes to our democracy.  

ASK QUESTIONS AND DEMAND ANSWERS OF YOUR CANDIDATES 

As you know, Hobson’s Pledge believes that the critical issue affecting New Zealand's future is the steady implementation, by this Labour Government, of systems that undermine our democracy.

To push back, we urge you to attend as many candidate meetings as you can and ask direct questions.

Action 1: Ask Questions at Candidate Meetings

Remember, as tempting as it is to give your own opinions, it is best to keep questions short and to the point. You want to gather information to determine the candidates' position.

Here are some questions you can ask:

• What are your views on co-governance?
• How do you plan to address the impact of co-governance on our society if elected?
• Do you believe in one person one vote?
• What specific measures will you take to protect and strengthen democratic values?
• What specific policies or initiatives do you propose to ensure that access to public services and opportunities is based on fairness and need rather than race or ethnicity?

Take action: Election 2023

You will get a lot of double-speak in response from those who are wanting to see our democracy traded off in order to appear to be honouring a misinterpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi. We need more than virtue signalling this election!

The double-speak was clearly evident in an email sent out a few days ago by Labour’s Duncan Webb in which he attempted to defend co-governance by putting to rest “a few myths and fears”.

I was compelled to challenge the content of that email as, quite frankly, it was a pathetic attempt to justify co-governance.

DON BRASH: A PATHETIC ATTEMPT TO JUSTIFY CO-GOVERNANCE 

Those who argue for the erosion of our democracy under the guise of co-governance like to frame its opponents as fearful or racist. None of us have a concern about Maori having elected authority and in fact we proudly celebrate the inclusivity of our Parliament.

But we have no future as a country if we start preferring people based on who their ancestors were.  We need the very best people who are authorised through elections and can be voted out for failing to deliver what is promised.

So please, make sure your candidates know what voters want!

Ask the questions, attend the meetings, tell your candidate at: ­www.bottomline.nz­

Authorised by: Hobson’s Pledge, Suite 311, 184 Symonds Street, Auckland 1010

I have written to you in recent weeks to talk about the actions that Hobson’s Pledge are taking to push back against division and change the race-based narrative as we head to the ballot box in a few weeks.

As part of that work, Hobson’s Pledge commenced a significant campaign to broaden our reach to New Zealanders who are concerned about the direction of the country, but reluctant to enter into any discussion about race.

 In short, we recognise that repeating our messages to people who are already in agreement with us is not going to shift the dial of public understanding of co-governance and its implications. 

We needed a plan to reach beyond to those who either aren't particularly political or who don't naturally share our politics. To do this we have to focus on our shared values, but communicate to them in a way that those we seek to reach relate to.

Thanks to the generous donations of Hobson's Pledge supporters like you, we were able to undertake thorough research into New Zealanders' understanding and perceptions of co-governance. This research told us that most New Zealanders value unity and our inclusive multi-cultural traditionsand had real concerns that we were being divided into a bi-cultural nation.

Taking on board the findings of the research, we launched a campaign website and Facebook and Instagram accounts.

This was the foundation of an online strategy to celebrate unity, belonging, and equality before the law.

Here are some of the messages we promoted:

We are proud to say that Hobson’s Pledge has been able to broaden the discussion and reach new audiences, particularly other minority ethnicities in New Zealand.

However, as the messaging began to touch on political commentary we made sure to meet our legal obligations by inserting the required authorisation statement.

Naturally some sharp-eyed journalists noticed and this generated media concern, particularly from Radio New Zealand. They were very suspicious of our messages of unity, which shows just how little they know about what we stand for.

For seven years, Hobson’s Pledge has consistently and repeatedly opposed racism and separatism. Our position has always been one of equality where every New Zealander is afforded the same rights and responsibilities. 

It is hard to understand why messages promoting inclusion and unity are so upsetting to the media, but we thought it best to address the matter. You can read the media release we have just sent out below. 

MEDIA RELEASE: Hobson's Pledge & belonging to Aotearoa

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

30 AUGUST 2023

Hobson’s Pledge has been operating a social media campaign arguing for a sense of belonging and inclusivity for ALL New Zealanders.  

We Belong Aotearoa has been operating on social media asking New Zealanders to think about what makes this country a great place to live and what values are important.

This work has been funded by Hobson’s Pledge, which has, since 2016, been advocating for equality before the law.

“Having completed independent market research, it was recognised that there were many New Zealanders who had begun to feel isolated and disconnected by the growing division,” explains Don Brash.

“Our research showed us that what was important to New Zealanders was that we are an inclusive, multicultural nation but that the Government’s promotion of co-governance and rights differentiated by race was undermining this.”

Hobson’s Pledge undertook a strategy to reach a different demographic that research showed had real concerns but no platform to connect with others who felt the same.

The campaign has been highly successful, allowing a broad group of New Zealanders to talk about inclusivity, belonging and even democracy as election campaigning started.

“As the messaging for We Belong Aotearoa started to touch on issues of democracy and topics that may be considered relevant for the election, the marketing was, as required by law, identified as being authorised by Hobson’s Pledge”.

The name We Belong Aotearoa was selected out of respect for a name often used to describe New Zealand. Although Hobson’s Pledge has campaigned strongly against the renaming of this country, that was not as a result of any objection to the name Aotearoa in itself but rather because of a strong objection to the renaming of our country without the slightest attempt to consult with the citizens of New Zealand about such an important issue.

“Just as most New Zealanders have no objection to being referred to as “Kiwis”, any move to officially have our citizenship renamed would rightly be put to the people for approval, as John Key did with the suggestion that we adopt a new flag. The same should apply to the renaming of our country.”

The marketing campaign received some interest regarding who was behind the initiative, which generated positive discussion and engagement about unity and belonging.  

“Hobson’s Pledge recognised that much of the debate that was taking place had neglected the many cultures and ethnicities that make up who we are as a nation. Our objective was to open up discussion to a value proposition that allowed people to think beyond politics. We are really proud of the platform and the ability to get more New Zealanders thinking about what kind of country we want to be.”

We Belong Aotearoa will continue to promote messages of inclusion, and encourage all New Zealanders to focus on unity as we move towards the election.

We remain committed to engaging in inclusive and sensible discussion on how we can hold onto the fundamentals of a single standard of citizenship. These discussions can be hand in many different ways, but ultimately it comes down to our shared values.

P.S. Don't forget to keep the pressure on candidates for the general election! Remind them that democracy is essential if we are to remain an inclusive, multi-cultural, liberal democracy.

Tell your candidate at: ­­­­­­­­­www.bottomline.co.nz

Authorised by: Hobson’s Pledge, Suite 311, 184 Symonds Street, Auckland 1010

This is important to all New Zealanders, but especially to those who live in the Auckland Council area.

At a time when everyone is extremely busy with the stresses of life and the upcoming general election, Auckland Council has taken a page from Labour’s playbook and is pretending to do a  “consultation” on a matter which strikes to the very heart of our democracy.

And although this mainly impacts only our Auckland-based supporters, it is something we all need to pay attention to because the decisions made by Auckland will inevitably set the precedent for other local authorities.

The issue at hand is Auckland Council's consultation on “Deciding whether to introduce Maori seats for 2025,” and the devil is in the detail.

Appallingly, the Council has a consultation timeline that opened just a few days ago and closes on 24 September, with a decision to be made in October. It is difficult to see why they thought the middle of a general election campaign was the best time to conduct this important consultation process. Was there some kind of rush? It is hard not to be suspicious of the timing.

When considering the matter of Maori seats, it's important to remember that Auckland Council already has specific Maori participation through the Independent Maori Statutory Board (IMSB).

In the complex Maori Seats consultation document, the information about the IMSB is misleading, particularly regarding the level of authority and influence the IMSB already has on the decision-making processes of the Council. It also avoids any clear statement explaining that the establishment of Maori Wards would be in addition to the IMSB.

This lack of clarity is compounded by the consultation response form making no mention of the IMSB at all, as if it isn't central to the discussion at hand.

You may recall that last year Hobson’s Pledge campaigned against the Canterbury Regional Council (Ngai Tahu Representation) Act. This legislation established permanent, unelected representation on that Council for the Ngai Tahu iwi. We expressed significant concern that a precedent for unelected representation on councils, with full voting rights, would be created.

Sure enough, Auckland Council’s consultation document references this kind of arrangement as one of the options for 'ensuring mana whenua representation'.

Also last year, we challenged the standing order guidelines issued by Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) as they wrongly claimed that all councils had Treaty obligations. We confirmed through independent legal opinion that councils are not Crown entities and therefore are not Treaty partners, so no such obligations actually exist.

Despite this, Auckland Council’s consultative material infers that they have accepted LGNZ’s advice on the Treaty, and that there is an obligation for them to create separate Maori representation.

According to the Council's own advice, Maori make up just 11% of Auckland’s population and, of that, 80% of those Maori are associated to iwi outside of Auckland, in other words are not 'mana whenua'. This makes it very hard to argue that a separate representation model is needed to give 'mana whenua' a voice when it is likely not going to be 'mana whenua' that will be appointed or elected.

This whole consultation process should be alarming to ALL New Zealanders. It further entrenches race-based representation, and the groundwork was laid for this in advance.

Subsequent to the production of the He Puapua report, the then Minister of Local Government, Nanaia Mahuta, changed the law to prevent citizens being able to challenge changes to council representation via a referendum. Strange thing to spend time legislating against.

Coincidentally, Auckland Council has specifically referred to the previous ability to go to referenda as being one of the reasons they had not previously pursued the establishment of Maori wards. They clearly know that this racial division is abhorrent to most Aucklanders and would be strongly opposed.

Now that this mechanism to protect democracy has been removed, Auckland Council has quickly pursued changes having already held meetings with Maori prior to any broader consultation with the voting public.

I realise this is a complex issue and may not be seen as something that impacts you directly, but the erosion of local government accountability through changes to democratic process has sadly become a reality. This is the death of democracy by a thousand cuts.

If you are in Auckland please have your say - click here!

It is also possible to submit in person on 14 September 2023 and you can register for this by emailing [email protected]

P.S. Don't forget to keep the pressure on candidates for the general election! Remind them that democracy is essential if we are to remain an inclusive, multi-cultural, liberal democracy.

Tell your candidate at: ­­­­­­­­­www.bottomline.nz

Authorised by: Hobson’s Pledge, Suite 311, 184 Symonds Street, Auckland 1010