Since Don emailed you last week things have got even wilder with Te Pāti Māori.

They've escalated from revolutionary rhetoric to straight up announcing that they are going to establish their own Parliament.

Oh and by the way they're demanding 20% of New Zealand's tax revenue in order to fund it!

We all got an insight into what a Te Pāti Māori-led Māori Parliament could look like a couple of days later when The Post reported a whole lot of allegations that don't look good for the party.

The allegations have come from whistleblowers who worked at Manurewa Marae and the Ministry of Social Development. According to advocates, they have been punished for speaking out, losing their jobs or being reallocated. 

They say that Manurewa Marae staff (of which Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp was CEO prior to the election) photocopied census forms after they were contracted by Whānau Ora to collect them. They also entered personal information into a database for Waipareira Trust.

This information was then used by Te Pāti Māori to solicit votes at the election. 

There is a common denominator here. The CEO of Whānau Ora, the CEO of Waipareira Trust, and the President of Te Pāti Māori are all the same man:

John Tamihere

Further allegations have now emerged that the same data misuse occured when the same organisations were engaged to work on the COVID-19 vaccine drive.

Can you imagine a Māori Parliament with this lot in charge?

If these allegations are proved true Te Pāti Māori are too crooked to put their pants on straight!

As far as our work goes, all of this further highlights why race-based systems and policies are no good for New Zealand.

We have our work cut out for us raising awareness about all the ways that democracy is being undermined in New Zealand and, as Don said in his email last week, we can't be caught napping.

Our efforts to oppose racial division haven't gone unnoticed. In a press release on Thursday night, John Tamihere named Hobson's Pledge as one of a handful of organisations he is putting "on notice".

Neither Tamihere nor Te Pāti Māori can hope to intimidate your Hobson's Pledge crew.

He Iwi Tahi Tātou (We are now one people) 

There have been racial tensions throughout our nation's history, but I cannot recall a time when rhetoric danced so close to outright sedition.

Te Pāti Māori and its supporters believe that Māori never ceded sovereignty. By extension they view every democratic election held since 1840 as illegitimate.

A few days ago, in a rant that can only be described as unhinged, Kiri Tamihere-Waititi (who works for Te Pāti Māori, is married to co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and is the daughter of Te Pāti Māori President John Tamihere) declared:

"We could overthrow any government. We could do whatever the f*** we want."

Today, the Party led protests it referred to as a "rangatira revolution". Rangatira means sovereign or control and the Oxford Dictionary says a revolution is "a forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favour of a new system".

I am worried. There are far too many ill-informed Kiwis who still think that this is about righting the wrongs of the past. These naive folks are enabling a minority of radicals to advance a race-based power grab that is not far at all from refusing to recognise the authority of our current Government. 

We have to be ready to fight off the inevitable attacks on our democracy. Hobson's Pledge is preparing for any eventuality, but we are a small group of volunteers and we cannot prepare effectively without the support of people like you who are equally as concerned. Will you chip in to our fighting fund so that when the time comes we're ready to defend our values?

Under Labour, race-based policies and laws were embedded giving these radicals more power. Now that the Coalition Government has explicitly ruled out further race-based policies and begun reversing some of those introduced by the last Government, ethnonationalists are switching tactics.

Our biggest challenge is getting through to the majority of New Zealanders who value their fellow countrymen and women not by their race but by the content of their character. We need to convey to them the urgency of the situation and that we must stand up for our vision of an equal New Zealand. 

We are committed to peaceful expression of our defence of democracy, rule of law, and equal rights. You won't see us with smoking guns on our posters or 'fire and brimstone' style videos on social media.

Instead we want to plaster billboards, newspapers, bus stops, and social media with messages that assert our values and call on New Zealanders to raise their voices to defend those values. These things do not come cheap. We have to battle media companies to even get our messages published in the first place and then we have to find the money to pay for them! Will you chip in to ensure this is possible?

Te Pāti Māori supporters are turning out in droves to spread their messages of division and racism. We can't sit back and let them drive us to the brink of civil war. We've seen this overseas and it always seems unthinkable until it happens. 

>>> Make a contribution to our Fighting Fund so we can defend New Zealand and the values we cherish <<<

I'll be honest, I was hesitant to speak in such frank terms. To even say out loud the words 'sedition' or 'civil war' feels like madness. However, we have a group of powerful radicals challenging the authority of our democratically elected Government and it is plain to see they won't stop pushing the boundaries until enough of us get brave enough to say "no".

Te Pāti Māori now routinely refers to New Zealand's laws and Parliament as Pākehā laws and Pākehā Parliament. Nevermind the many Māori New Zealanders who have contributed to making our laws over the years and who have proudly taken seats in our Parliament. TPM are marching closer and closer to rejecting the law of the land and the supremacy of Government.

This is not the future I want for our country. I have been repeating messages of racial equality for decades now and it is disheartening to see that instead of growing closer to that goal, we have been driven further apart. I wanted better for my children and grandchildren. I had hoped they wouldn't know racial disharmony and strife.

New Zealand has one Government and it is democratically elected. No matter what ideas Te Pāti Māori has about the chiefs not ceding sovereignty at Waitangi in 1840, the Government's authority has been cemented by every subsequent general election and in our body of legislation.

I understand not everyone is in a position to speak up about such 'controversial' issues. It is challenging to speak about race at the best of times but to do so now can provoke aggressive attacks. We at Hobson's Pledge are not afraid to draw attention to the issue and with any monetary contribution you make to boost our effectiveness we can make a world of difference.

We do not want to be caught napping on this. I hope I have conveyed the critical juncture we are at in New Zealand and that you will stand with us in defence of equality and democracy.

It feels like it has been a long time since we were able to encourage you to make a submission to SUPPORT a Government bill, but the time has come! In fact there are two bills I encourage you to support.

The first bill is a matter of urgency as there are only two days left for you to submit. The Government is pushing it through a rapid process as there are deadlines that need to be met for local body elections.

This bill is the Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill introduced by Local Government Minister Simeon Brown.

You'll probably recall Nanaia Mahuta removed the right of ratepayers to petition for a referendum when councils decide to create Māori wards. She did this with an even shorter consultation period than the Government is now doing to reverse it.

Your submission need not be lengthy or complex. A simple paragraph supporting the return of the right to demand a referendum before Māori wards can be implemented by councils will do. You may like to mention that this is enhancing local democracy and ensuring that a matter of constitutional and representative significance is decided by the people. You could also mention that democratic principles like 'one person, one vote' and equal weighting of votes are important to you. 

>>> CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT IN SUPPORT OF SIMEON'S MĀORI WARDS AMENDMENT BILL <<<

We have a little bit longer to submit on the second bill. Thirty-seven days to be precise.

This bill is the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill introduced by Minister for Children Karen Chhour.

This bill and its minister have been at the centre of some really nasty attacks from the Opposition. That is because the bill will remove the section that has been used to justify Oranga Tamariki treating children differently because of their race and putting their identityahead of their wellbeing. 

It has resulted in children being uplifted from families in which they were happy and healthy because their foster parents were not Māori and placed with distant relatives elsewhere in the country. 

Incredibly, Labour, Greens, and Te Pāti Māori are opposed to the idea that a child's wellbeing and safety should be prioritised above their race or culture. 

Again, your submission doesn't need to be long. The main point is to support the removal of section 7AA and to reinforce that every child in New Zealand is entitled to know that if they need the intervention of the state their race will not be prioritised above their wellbeing.  

>>> CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT IN SUPPORT OF KAREN'S SECTION 7AA REMOVAL BILL <<<

Have no doubt that those who oppose these bills will be submitting in droves. Even a short submission in support will give the Government more confidence that their bill is supported by the public. 

These are important reversals of race-based legislation that the previous Government foisted on us. Let's tell the Coalition Government that this is why we voted for them!  

We cannot rely on our courts.

The judiciary has been captured by the divisive ideology that separates New Zealanders into two groups - Māori and non-Māori - and assigns rights based on this.

Today, the Court of Appeals overturned the High Court decision that said the Waitangi Tribunal had erred in issuing a summons to the Minister for Children Karen Chhour. The new decision says that the Tribunal has an important constitutional role and full powers of a commission of inquiry.

We have to be strategic. The courts may be captured but the Government has made several promises in their coalition agreements to unwind racist policy and law. We must demand they end the Waitangi Tribunal now.

Here's why:

• It was always meant to be a temporary standing commission and it is nearly 50 years old
• It has been radicalised and is now run by activists rather than legal experts
• The bulk of Treaty settlements have been achieved and all remaining and future cases can be heard through the court system or negotiated directly with the Crown
• It has steadily pushed the boundaries of its purpose and power and is asserting the right to interfere with Government policy
• Helen Clark's Labour Government introduced a September 2008 deadline for the lodgement of all historic claims and that has well passed

SIGN OUR PETITION TO END THE WAITANGI TRIBUNAL

The only way we can achieve our goal of equality of all New Zealanders is by dismantling the systems that have been set up and manipulated to consolidate power in the hands of iwi.

The Waitangi Tribunal has done its dash. It served an important role in righting historical wrongs, but in recent years has begun creating new wrongs. 

It is time to wrap up the Tribunal. Sign our petition now.

If we don't achieve change with this Government, we may well never get the opportunity again. National appears to be the handbrake on this Government taking definitive steps toward removing race from our constitution. Winston Peters and David Seymour need to be able to demonstrate that they have public support so that they can carry Christopher Luxon, however reluctantly, over the line.

We need to get as many signatures as possible to show that the silent majority don't care what the media or academics say. We want change and we voted for it. Sign our petition to show that you support removing racist institutions.

If you agree that it is now or never and that we must push the Government to take action so that the courts can't run roughshod over our rights, sign our petition and then share it with everyone you know.

Quick, go sign it and then copy the link into your family group chat or send an email around your networks.

I feel quite ill thinking about how far down the rabbit hole our judiciary has gone. But given the Waitangi Tribunal is not a court, it is a standing commission of inquiry, the Government has power to disestablish it. That is where we must begin.

At least if the Waitangi Tribunal goes there will be one less lever for the activists to pull.