The decisions to create and remove Māori Wards are once again in the hands of local communities!

From now on local communities can demand a referendum on Māori Wards if they gather 5% of voters' signatures. Councils that have already brought in Māori wards without a referendum will need to hold one - or scrap the wards they had set up.

Local Government Minister Simeon Brown said:

"[Labour] took away the voices of local communities across the country and undermined the principles of democracy. Today is a great day for local democracy."

Don't under-estimate the role you and other Hobson's Pledge supporters played in ensuring this legislation was introduced by the Government and passed.

As you know, we have been making noise about Māori Wards for a long time. We opposed Labour's underhanded changes to the law in 2022 and were on the frontline of the battle in Rotorua when the council attempted to do away with proportionate democracy. 

This is a moment for celebration. Local democracy has been restored.

However, through the passing of this bill we have also seen the reason for Hobson's Pledge's existence reaffirmed. The media reporting has been outrageous.

The ridiculous claims of "racism" from opposition parties have been used to frame the narrative of this legislation. It has been presented as if it is an almost universally held truth that the bill is racist, but polling shows New Zealanders support referenda for Māori Wards.

Even Te Pāti Māori voters support referenda for Māori Wards when polled!

And Labour's accusations are bizarre given this law change simply returns us to the way things were under Helen Clark's Māori Ward law. Imagine the names 2024 Labour would call Helen Clark's Governments!

The media is operating as the Government's extra Opposition when it comes to matters of race-based policies and equal rights. Only the negative perspectives and often the extreme rhetoric of Te Pāti Māori get proper coverage.

Hobson's Pledge is increasingly finding that we have to look for ways to get the truth out to New Zealanders that bypass the media gatekeepers. We couldn't do this without supporters like you. It is people power that enables us to get the word out and mobilise New Zealanders to put pressure on our elected officials.

And the fight is never-ending! This week Te Pāti Māori have announced they want Waitangi Tribunal rulings to be binding on the Government. Are they kidding? We may as well chuck our democracy out the window and let the Tribunal rule over us unelected and with total control.

We have a petition to end the Waitangi Tribunal. If you haven't signed it yet, click here. 

There is a lot to do and this may just be our busiest year yet. But, now is the best chance we have to make change and set New Zealand on the right path. If we don't take our opportunities now, I fear it will be too late.

Cheers to Māori Ward referenda and cheers to fighting the good fight.

Two things - Major news came through yesterday regarding Customary Marine Titles and I have shared Janet Dickson's written submissions for you to take a look at should you wish.

SAVE OUR SHORES - MARINE AND COASTAL AREA ACT

At the beginning of the week, I sent you information about our campaign to save New Zealand's shores (see below in case you missed it). At the heart of the issue is the legislation that replaced the Foreshore and Seabed legislation of Helen Clark's Government: the Marine and Coastal Area Act (MACA).

Just TWO days after we launched this fight, the Government announced their intention to make changes to the MACA legislation!

We allowed ourselves a moment of celebrating before we had a proper look at what the Government plans to do.

In accordance with the New Zealand First coalition agreement, the Government intends to pass legislation to "overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament's test for Customary Marine Title".

Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says:

"All New Zealanders have an interest in the coastal waters of our country...

...the Government has agreed to propose legislation which will ensure these tests for applications directly with the Crown or through the Courts are upheld as originally intended.

These measures include:

• Inserting a declaratory statement that overturns the reasoning of the Court of Appeal and High Court in Re Edwards, and the reasoning of all High Court decisions since the High Court in Re Edwards, where they relate to the test for CMT.

• Adding text to section 58 to define and clarify the terms ‘exclusive use and occupation’ and ‘substantial interruption’.

• Amending the ‘burden of proof’ section of the Act (section 106) to clarify that applicant groups are required to prove exclusive use and occupation from 1840 to the present day.

• Making clearer the relationship between the framing sections of the Act (the preamble, purpose, and Treaty of Waitangi sections) and section 58 in a way that allows section 58 to operate more in line with its literal wording.

Cabinet also agreed that the amended section 58 test should be applied from today’s date, if enacted. This will be reflected in the proposed legislation. This means existing CMT decisions will continue to be recognised." 

This is a big win! If MACA is returned to its original intent very few Customary Marine Titles will be awarded. 

The Government is working on the Bill now and we will reserve our final judgment until we have seen it all in writing. 

However, we are left with one big question: is this enough?

Does this legislative action restore public ownership to most of our coast? 

We want to hear from our supporters. Is this a big enough step in the direction we want things to go? 

Either way, we still have a big part to play. If we need to push the Government harder, we will. But we also need to get behind them in getting this legislation through. 

The media and Opposition will not like this one bit. Just as with Māori wards and removing section 7aa from the Oranga Tamariki Act, they will run a campaign of distortion and dramatics.

New Zealanders need to understand what is really going on and why it isn't racist to amend the MACA.

The media will try to paint a picture of mass opposition to the Government on this. We need to provide proof to the contrary. We were already planning social media, print newspaper ads, and other attention-grabbing tactics. We will go ahead with these.

Basically, we are in for a fight either way. The message just changes slightly depending on our direction. 

What are your thoughts? You can reply to this email or head to our Facebook page to join the discussion.

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JANET DICKSON V REAL ESTATE AUTHORITY UPDATE

We sent an update to everyone who donated to Janet's case a little while ago, but we have received a few requests from other supporters for an update too so here we go!

First, Janet wants to express her heartfelt thanks to everyone who has supported her in any way thus far.

Janet has had her day in court where her lawyers argued that the Real Estate Authority did not follow proper processes for approving the rules they used to make Te Kākano mandatory, that the course is not relevant to real estate agents' practice, and that this was an unjustified breach of Janet’s freedom of expression.

>>> YOU CAN ACCESS HER FULL WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS HERE <<<

We now await the decision from the Judge, and there is a lot at stake. Janet is at risk of losing her real estate licence for five years if the REA is allowed to continue imposing controversial courses like this.

Unfortunately, our courts are under immense pressure so while the expected timeframe for hearing back should be 90 days, it is likely to be longer. We will keep you posted, but we've been told to expect a wait

We will update you as soon as we hear back from the court.

________________________________________________________________

Those are our two updates. We will be in touch again soon once we have established what Hobson's Pledge supporters are thinking regarding the proposed amendments to MACA.

On Friday I asked Hobson's Pledge supporters to back us in the fight against the snatching up of New Zealand's shores.

It was an immense relief to me that we received such an overwhelming response. I was horrified to see the map (below) showing that virtually New Zealand's entire coast has either been awarded to iwi, is under High Court application, or is being negotiated directly with the Government. I am glad to see I am not alone in my concern.

Bolstered by the backing of supporters like you, we immediately got to work setting up a campaign to call attention to the need to oppose the land/shore grab.

We are calling it: SAVE OUR SHORES

The first step is a petition. We are asking New Zealanders to sign their names if they agree with our demand for the Government to return the foreshore and seabed to public ownership.

>>> SIGN THE PETITION <<<

We will be running lots of ads on social media that will draw attention to the issue and the petition. You will see them on Facebook and Instagram. We ask that you share our posts and ads to your own accounts so that your friends and families have the opportunity to sign the petition too. It is vital that we spread the word.

Our first job is to make New Zealanders aware of what is happening. The media will not report honestly on the matter, so we have to go around them.

As I said in my Friday email, we have to speak directly to Kiwis. We are kicking off the social media aspect of the campaign immediately and will be focused on gathering signatures for the petition to demonstrate the strength of feeling surrounding this. 

I wanted to update you right away on this first stage, but there will be more to come. Rest assured I will be in touch to let you know as our strategy develops.

The central point we will be shouting from the rooftops is that we are all New Zealanders and public ownership must be restored.

Can I ask that you forward this email on to others who you think are likely to share our concerns about this? If everyone sends it on to one or two friends or family members we will have signatures rolling in for our petition.

I will include the link to the Save Our Shores fund here too in case those you forward the email to would like to chip in. Click here to contribute.

We knew things were bad. We knew the number of claims being lodged through the Marine and Coastal Area Act by iwi far exceeded what John Key and Chris Finlayson forecast when they championed the law in 2011.

But few knew that almost the ENTIRE coast of New Zealand would be claimed by iwi either through the courts or by direct negotiation with the Crown.

This is bad. It has happened largely under the radar and most New Zealanders have no idea. Many think this was all sorted with the Foreshore and Seabed legislation under Helen Clark's Labour Government. That could not be further from the truth.

We have to stop this blatant land (coast) grab. We have a plan to demand that the Government restores our coast, foreshore, and seabed to public ownership. We are calling on supporters like you who are willing to take a stand with us to save our shores. Will you join us?

The red on the map shows coastline that is currently under High Court Application. 

Our clogged up courts may just be our saving grace as without the backlog it would be too late for us to halt the seizing of our beautiful beaches and marine areas. It has bought us some time to organise, but time means little if we don't have the means to fight this battle. Will you chip in to ensure we can have as much impact as possible?

Our first job is to make New Zealanders aware of what is happening. This is no small task given we can't rely on the media to report honestly on the matter. So-called journalists are too often cheerleaders for signing over public land and marine areas to iwi.

We have to speak directly to Kiwis. This requires a massive social media campaign, newspaper ads, and (if enough supporters chip in) even billboards.The scale of our campaign depends on supporters like you. Are you with us? 

There is a lot of completely false information we have to cut through - much of it deliberately disseminated by those supporting the land grab. For example, we are told ad nauseum that Customary Marine Titles (CMT) awarded to iwi won't block public access to beaches or prevent fishing.

This is a lie.

Once an iwi has a CMT they need only declare a rahui (order to stay away) or wahi tapu (place of special/sacred importance) in order to prevent access to a beach or marine area. In some instances iwi leaders have placed boulders in front of access points and although they are technically not allowed to do this local authorities aren't interested in taking any action. Contribute to our fund to save our rapidly disappearing coast.

In addition, CMTs allow iwi veto over all resource consents and conservation activities; involvement in coastal planning and policy development; the ability to charge commercial operators, and ownership rights to all non-nationalised minerals – including royalties from existing mining operations, back-dated to when applications were first submitted.

All of this could soon apply to almost the entire coast of New Zealand.

To put it more directly:

• Every commercial operation on New Zealand's coast will have to pay iwi (sometimes multiple iwi) to be able do their business. From fishing to tourism and everything in between.
• Everyone along the coast seeking resource consent on private land could be at the mercy of iwi who wield veto powers if they can prove it relates to their CMT.
• On-water events, including fishing and boating competitions, held anywhere along New Zealand's coast could be slapped with a rahui and be forced to cancel. This has already happened up North.
• This has the potential to make iwi very wealthy, especially if they hit the jackpot and can draw royalties from non-nationalised minerals.

This is not right. We are all New Zealanders and public ownership must be restored.

Governments have been mucking around with our foreshore, seabed, coast, and marine areas for far too long. It is time to deal with the matter once and for alland ensure that all Kiwis have equal rights to public land and water now and into the future. 

Will you join the fight to save our shores and protect the rights of all New Zealanders? 

If we don't take action now, many of the reasons we love this country and choose to live here will no longer exist. What's the point in living in a beautiful island nation if you can't enjoy the wonderful natural shores and waters that surround it? Take action now.

Kiwis deserve to know the consequences of what is going on and the extent of it. I like to think that most Kiwis would support public ownership and be horrified to know that our coast is being parceled off to iwi groups. If you agree, do your bit to ensure we get the word out far and wide.

New Zealand must wake up before it is too late. It is as simple as that.