And so it begins...the pre-election posturing and promising. With just three months to the election, the noise and flashing around of shiny trinkets to entice voters is already well under way.

The noise isn't just about shouting slogans and making promises though. It is also about drawing attention away from the things political parties would rather we don't remember as we enter the voting booth.

In particular, there is one big scary elephant in the room that Labour wants us to ignore. They have actually done an impressive job of shifting the attention away from this political kryptonite. It is our job to stick the spotlight firmly back on it.

What is Labour's political elephant in the room? It is He Puapua and its stealthy enabler, the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP).

A little history...

In March 2019, then Maori Development and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta, commissioned a working group to provide advice and recommendations on how to realise UNDRIP.

The working group called their report He Puapua.

Although completed in November 2019, the report and its radical recommendations avoided any public scrutiny until after the 2020 election when Labour secured a majority government.

As recommendations of the report have become a reality, Labour has been quick to distance themselves from this report, denying it is policy, denying it is a plan, and denying that they have acted on the recommendations.

Nothing to see here, folks.

Let’s take a closer look at what the report says...

Broadly, the report called for a focus on:

1. Self-determination by Maori
2. Maori participation in government
3. Increased influence and control of land and resources by iwi/hapu and whanau
4. Iwi, hapu and whanau ability to exercise authority over all aspects of culture and language
5. Equity for Maori in opportunity and outcomes

The general themes sound reasonable until the fine print is reviewed and the process to realise these lofty ideals are exposed.

Despite claims by Minister of Maori Development Willie Jackson that He Puapua is neither a plan nor Government policy, by a miraculous coincidence, they have just happened to implement a number of initiatives that align closely to its objectives:

• Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act – established co-governed health with the separate Maori Health Authority
• Water Services Entity Act – establishes 50/50 co-governance of the 10 water entities which will control the country’s entire water infrastructure
• Resource Management reform – bills introduced to establish co-governed management of natural resources
• Local Government and Electoral Reform – recommending legislative changes that differentiate democratic rights based on race and support co-government structures. This includes the entrenchment of Maori electoral seats.
• Changes to the Local Government Act - that removed the opportunity to hold referenda on the establishment of Maori wards
• Canterbury Regional Council (Ngai Tahu Representation) Act- Unelected Maori representation in local government established
• New History Curriculum - rewrites significant parts of New Zealand's history and leaves other parts out 
• Mechanisms for transferring control of the Department of Conservation estate to tribal authorities
• Insertion of requirement of compliance to the undefined principles of the Treaty of Waitangi into almost all legislation
• National Action Plan Against Racism in NZ - put in place public education campaigns on structural racism 
• Expansion of Te Pae Oranga- $70m invested in 30 more iwi community panels or community justice panels by 2024/25
• Handling of Ihumātao protest - put private land on the table for disputes
• Insertion of matauranga Maori into the science curriculum - undermining of sciences considered 'Western' 

This is by no means a complete list. New Zealand's democracy really is experiencing a death by a thousand cuts.

Every issue we grapple with inevitably has the distinct shadow of He Puapuaover its foundations. Water, resource management, conservation, education, justice, and health...co-governance and the themes of the He Puapua Report are everywhere.

But while Labour has attempted to take some of the sting out of the He Puapua tail, Minister Jackson has also been eager to demonstrate the continued commitment to realising UNDRIP.

In April 2022, under the cover of COVID fallout, the Minister announced that the Government had completed the first stage of a two-step engagement process toward developing their declaration plan.

To be clear, UNDRIP places no obligation or burden on New Zealand to do anything! It was an 'aspirational' non-binding agreement. However, it has been the policy of this Government to overstate the importance of UNDRIP and the need for a declaration plan.

Of course, loading up the parliamentary schedule with the Maori Health Authority, Three Waters, and the RMA reforms, Minister Jackson and Labour pushed their co-governance luck too far. New Zealanders became alarmed and it was evident that more racially-divisive policy would not be tolerated.

Jackson announced that work on realising UNDRIP would be put on hold, although he was at pains to defend the policies. We now know that what he meant was that any publicity and transparency would be put on hold as the implementing of He Puapua has continued at pace.

Despite this frantic and radical reform, Minister Jackson is also on record acknowledging that Maori-specific services don't serve most Maori. In reference to the 2023 Budget, he said, "most Maori are not attached to a lot of our Maori organisations.”

These expensive co-governance policies and separate programmes and entities don't benefit Maori and most Maori don't ask to be divided in this way.

What Maori want and need has been confirmed by polling as being the same as what ALL New Zealanders want. We are all worried about the cost of living, law and order, housing, and education.

As we look forward to 14 October, let's not forget to look for the looming shadow of He Puapua, the elephant in Chris Hipkins' caucus room.

No matter how they dress it up, Labour has spent the last six years (particularly the last three) driving racial division through our institutions and dismantling the safeguards our democracy relies on.

Are you willing to take the risk and give them another three years to implement more of the He Puapua agenda?

I'm not.

Recently, the Minister of Local Government, Kieran McAnulty, disregarded democracy as irrelevant in New Zealand. He commented on the undemocratic Three Waters reforms, stating that they "wouldn't stand up to a purely academic democratic framework, but that's not how we work."

Further highlighting this Government's disdain for democracy, the Independent Electoral Review Committee released a 338-page report with 100 recommendations last month.

It is hard not to throw your hands up in despair as we face yet another attack on our proud democratic heritage, but I am asking you to take a moment and stand up against this madness.

At the heart of the report, and the issue we cannot allow to continue, is that electoral processes will have the Treaty and its undefined principles entrenched into legislation.

As well as various differentiated considerations for Maori and non-Maori voters, the reform will, yet again, undermine the foundation of equal suffrage in New Zealand.

We have summarised this issue on our website with some instructions on how to respond.

What you need to know: Electoral Reform Report

Can you take a moment to find out more, respond and share the message?

I know that you will have much better things to do with your time, and it may seem as though our voices are being lost in the wind. However, we are just three months away from an election... Your voice will be heard!

It will send a message to the incoming Government that we WILL NOT give up our proud democratic heritage at the whim of a few bureaucrats who believe in two standards of citizenship.

It is not coincidental that all of this is being thrust upon us in the final weeks of this Labour Government. They have targeted our water, health, natural resource management, free speech, local government, and now our democratic rights.

We need to keep them focused on outcomes – protect us from crime, manage our economy, and protect the vulnerable and in need.

Make a submission and tell them enough is enough... our democracy is the only thing that protects us and ensures accountability.

With three months to go, you can make a difference.

A total of 29,918 submissions were made by supporters of Hobson's Pledge, like yourself, opposing the investment in bilingual road signs and urging NZTA, now known as Waka Kotahi, to prioritise their core responsibilities of fixing our roads.

Can you help make sure we continue to be the voice that holds this Government to account?

During the school holidays, we experienced more bad weather and road closures due to landslides and flooding. This served as a timely reminder as many New Zealanders took to the road - where NZTA should be directing their resources.

This campaign was just one of the many issues that could evade public scrutiny as we find ourselves, excuse the pun, flooded by initiatives that are dividing us and differentiating us based on when our ancestors arrived in this country.

There are so many issues that need to be addressed, particularly now as we head into the 2023 election campaign. Thanks to your support, our voice is being heard, and we are reaching more New Zealanders, raising awareness of the division that this Government has forced upon us.  

Your voice does make a difference, and your support makes this work possible.

We are entering the regulated period of the upcoming election, starting on July 14, 2023. The next three months will be our opportunity to defend democracy and push back against racism that is underpinning so much of our political landscape. With your help, we can make those who want to be elected in October focus on what truly matters.

Can you help make this a reality?

Defending democracy ensures that ALL New Zealanders will be assured of representation that focuses on better outcomes, and all those appointed to deliver those outcomes are democratically accountable.

Last week, I wrote about the disturbing news that our Government is ordering doctors to assess which patients to prioritise for treatment and surgeries based on their race.

I want to emphasise just how seriously we must take this.

Not only does this policy contribute to a growing list of ways the New Zealand Government is allocating rights and access to services based on ancestry, but it also serves as a giant distraction from the worsening outcomes in our system.

If you haven't signed our petition calling for equal healthcare please consider doing so. It takes a matter of seconds. 

With the election fast approaching, now is the time to show strong opposition to this kind of race-based policy. Politicians are worried, leading up to an election, and will pay more attention to petitions, polls, and public sentiment. 

I encourage you to forward the website www.equalhealth.nz to friends and family. If every Hobson's Pledge supporter signs, and gets one friend to sign, this would be an issue no politician seeking to be elected could avoid. 

Nobody should miss out on healthcare because of their race.

How quickly you receive surgery should be determined by how sick you are, how urgently you need surgery and how long you’ve been waiting. Justifying the inclusion of how long you or your ancestors have been in New Zealand, as a consideration in the decision, is a new low for this Government.   

I can't stress enough how unethical this policy is and how concerned we should all be when we view it as part of a wider picture of a Government attempting to reengineer society.

Please take a few seconds to sign. Please talk to friends and family about this.

Join me in telling the Government that equality before the law is not something we are willing to give up.