We received almost unanimous support for our idea for a boycott of National membership until Christopher Luxon makes the Treaty Principles Bill a conscience vote. So, it is full steam ahead and we will be rolling out a social media campaign.

But, you may have noticed that we aren't shy of fighting on multiple fronts when necessary. So I will set aside Boycott for the Bill for a moment and direct your attention to a matter that is simmering away largely unnoticed in local government.

Long story short, a stealthy iwi takeover of Whanganui District Council is underway. 

Whanganui iwi and the Crown are currently negotiating a Treaty settlement and as part of it they want to embed several co-governance dynamics into the Whanganui District Council.

This would mean that co-governance would be locked into the council via legislation. So much for an end to co-governance!

Additionally, the 'relationship agreement' is set to include a large amount of land transferred to iwi and the establishment of a charitable trust run by iwi and council.

I know you're able to appreciate the significance and finality of these kinds of decisions and how important it is that we fight them before it is too late. Once settlements are finalised in legislation, it is all but impossible to unwind them.National especially likes to put things in Treaty settlements and then hold up their hands and say "can't change it now!"

Our friends over at Democracy Action say:

While Mayor Andrew Tripe and the council appear to be largely supportive of this initiative - what the mayor calls ‘a world-first indigenous-council partnership’ - the council is encouraging its citizens to have a say on the proposals.

Under the plan iwi would participate in decision-making in the joint management of lands, resources, and socio-economic strategies. If approved the proposals would bind future councils, future generations.

This is a matter of utmost importance to the people of Whanganui, but it is also a glaring red flag and warning siren for the rest of the country. If Whanganui iwi succeed in gaining this power, other iwi groups will attempt to obtain their own co-governance powers in similar ways. Council co-governance, coming to a town near you! 

What can we do?

Take part in the public consultation. And do it ASAP. Feedback closes on 2 February 2025.

Tell the council in the strongest terms (without getting disqualified due to profanities!) that you oppose local democracy being dismantled via central government legislation. The council has set up a short survey, but you can make comments.

That is the most important thing you can do☝️☝️☝️

The next thing is for Whanganui residents to contact their councillors.

This is an example of what you might like to say:

Dear Mayor/Councillor,

It has come to my attention that a proposed Treaty settlement with local iwi is set to embed co-governance into Whanganui District Council via legislation. As a local resident, I oppose this completely. Local democracy must be protected. I have provided feedback via the council website, but I wanted to make it clear to those who have been elected to represent us that I oppose co-governance in any form.

I seek your assurance that you are committed to local democracy and intend to protect equal representation and rights at Whanganui District Council. What will you do to ensure no Treaty settlement compromises democratic process?

I will not in good conscience be able to cast a vote at the upcoming local elections for any council candidate who supports co-governance being embedded in Whanganui District Council.

Regards,

[Your name]

Here are the email addresses:

[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]

For those not in Whanganui, you can focus your attention on contacting the relevant ministers:

Dear Prime Minister/Minister,

It has come to my attention that a proposed Treaty settlement with Whanganui iwi is set to embed co-governance in Whanganui District Council via legislation. 

I have been advised that should this go ahead iwi would participate in decision-making in the joint management of lands, resources, and socio-economic strategies. If approved the proposals would bind future councils, future generations.

I oppose this completely. Local democracy must be protected.

All three coalition partners promised an end to co-governance before and after the last general election. It was a key promise and a key issue for many voters.

If this Treaty settlement is passed with stealthy co-governance fish hooks snagging local government, it will be a huge betrayal of those who voted for this Government.

I seek your assurance that you are committed to democracy and intend to protect equal representation and rights throughout New Zealand including Whanganui District Council. What will you do to ensure no Treaty settlement compromises democratic processes?

I will not, in good conscience, be able to cast a vote at the upcoming local elections for any council candidate who supports co-governance being embedded in Whanganui District Council. Likewise, come next general election I will not vote for a party that promised to end co-governance and then went back on their word.

Regards,

[Your name]

Here are the email addresses:

Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith

NEW Local Government Minister Simon Watts

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon

ACT Leader David Seymour

New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters

Every single Hobson's Pledge supporter who gives feedback or contacts the people above makes a difference. Trust me, I know how tiresome it can be to send off submissions and emails to ministers and councillors. My best advice is to keep it short and simple. 

We appreciate your support as always.

After seeing our Prime Minister caught on camera gleefully promising to "kill" and "spike" the Treaty Principles Bill before a single submission has been read, the Hobson's Pledge team put our thinking caps back on. 

Clearly, Christopher Luxon has no respect for his voters. He must have seen the polling on the Bill. Polling that shows 64% of decided National Party voters support passing the Bill.

With such a mammoth response to the public consultation and support from all decided coalition party voters (53% NZ First and 95% ACT), the Government should pass this Bill and send it to a referendum.

That is an important thing to remember. The Bill will not become law simply by the Government passing it. First, it will go to a binding referendum at the next election and will only be enacted if that referendum passes.

So what can National voters do? Hobson's Pledge has written letters, sent emails, and made it pretty clear that Christopher Luxon is upsetting a large portion of his own supporters. But he has dug in. 

It's time to step things up and we have an idea, but we wanted to put it to you first and see what you think.

What if National Party members cancel or don't renew their membership unless Christopher Luxon and the Government make the Treaty Principles Bill a conscience vote?

A conscience vote means that instead of each party voting in a bloc, every individual MP casts a vote. Generally, conscience votes are used for Bills regarding controversial or 'moral' issues e.g. alcohol laws and Easter trading.

What do you think? Are you a National Party member? Would you be willing to cancel your membership in order to remind National who their voters are?

If we get enough support for this idea, we will launch a Boycott for the Bill campaign.

Click the button if you back our idea and want to chip in to fund spreading the word*.

I have had some good news... apparently because of my race, I get to pay less to attend music events organised by a group called Browntown than my non-Māori/Pasifika friends! 🤯🤯🤯

Chris Lynch reports from Christchurch that tickets for a Sunday Session event featuring King Kapisi and others was initially advertised with different tiers for pricing based on race.

“Early bird (for all Tangata): $15, Tangata Moana (for our Māori and Pacific Tangata): $20 and Tangata Tiriti (for our allies): $30.”

Browntown was founded last year by Devyn Baileh, Grace Colcord, and Shea Wātene (pictured below) and promotes itself as "a platform for cultural engagement aimed at addressing racism".

Browntown founder and director Grace Colcord (pictured left), allegedly of Malie and Afega descent, was defiant in the face of criticism of their racist ticket pricing. She told Chris Lynch that it was "in line with our kaupapa" and "pricing models based on specific groups aren’t unique to this event. Many venues and organisations offer discounted pricing for children, seniors, students..."

Not quite the same thing, mate.

The group has received $35,000 in funding from Creative New Zealand's Pacific Arts Fund. Another case of arts funding going to blatant racism.

What Browntown haven't got is an understanding of the Human Rights Act 1993 and how discrimination works! Or maybe they just don't care?

A Pasifika Community Leader who didn't want to be named - probably because he would be harassed for daring to speak out - said: 

“This is a blatant attempt to manufacture victimhood, and Creative New Zealand fell for it. Charging higher prices for white people doesn’t foster unity; it drives a wedge between communities."

I couldn't agree more. We don't need this racist crap in New Zealand. What's next? Separate drinking fountains?

The manager of the bar Muy Muy, where the event is scheduled to be held, was unaware of the discriminatory ticketing and told the organisers to amend the pricing or face cancellation of the event.

“At Muy Muy, we have a great sense of acceptance for all cultures and traditions. We support all communities equally,” Bugz Munasinghe said.

Chris Lynch says that by yesterday afternoon, the wording for the ticket prices had been changed to “early bird, $15.00, Alofa Access Ticket $20.00 and Ally Access Ticket $30.00.”

Not really an improvement.

You and I both know that if the ticket pricing was arranged the other way, and Māori and Pasifika were expected to pay higher prices, there would be an uproar. 

I guarantee you, Chris Lynch wouldn't be the only brave journalist reporting on it as is the case here. TVNZ would have a reporter stationed outside the bar calling for it to cancel the event. Stuff would have a journalist tracking the three Browntown organisers and writing full exposes on them and their immediate families. The Spinoff would spontaneously combust.

It sickens me that this kind of thing is happening in New Zealand. It isn't 'progressive'; It is divisive.

Shout out to Chris Lynch for covering this story. If only we had more journalists like him.

Before I sign off, I just saw a video that is doing the rounds on socials of Christopher Luxon telling some people at the airport (I think) not to worry because he is going to kill the Treaty Principles Bill. He's going to "spike it"!

More than 300,000 submissions and our Prime Minister doesn't give a flying you-know-what about considering a single one. He has made up his mind and our opinions don't matter.

No wonder the polls aren't looking too good. Don't forget you can still send him a message on our Scaredy Cat Christopher website telling him to support the Bill or lose your support.

When I was at school we called people like him 'try hards'. Trying to fit in with people who blatantly don't like them.

Someone tell the Prime Minister all the cool kids believe in equality.

I hate to break a promise, and I did say that my previous email would be the last reminder about the Treaty Principles Bill consultation, but the breakdown of Parliament's submissions process has resulted in the Justice Committee reopening submissions until 1pm on Tuesday 14 January. I figured you would forgive me for letting you know!

We have quickly put our submission tool back online and we encourage you to use it rather than going through the Parliamentary website. It is likely that the Parliament submission system will again come under immense pressure due to large numbers of people attempting to submit at once. However, to be extra sure of success, we are collecting, printing, and delivering all submissions that come through our submission tool.

Justice Committee Chair James Meager told media that they have received more than 300,000 online submissions so far.

This blows previous records for number of submissions out of the water and doesn't include hard copy submissions.

As we have seen in the extensive coverage the media has given to those opposing the Bill, we are far from the only community organising to support each other to make submissions. Though the integrity of some of these efforts appears dubious. 

We have been contacted about allegations of groups opposing the Treaty Principles Bill submitting multiple times using their children's names to make the submissions appear unique. We have also been contacted about influencers advising their international followers that they can submit against the Bill and indeed encouraging it.

This just reinforces that we must use these extra five days of submissions to ensure that every New Zealander who supports the Treaty Principles Bill has their say. We won't play dirty like the other side, but we do need to make every effort to throw our weight behind the Bill and behind the simple idea that we should all have equal rights.  

Don't worry if you've never written a submission before. Our tool helps you choose the points you agree with and builds the submission for you. Quick and easy.

The sheer number of submissions clearly demonstrates that a referendum is warranted on the matter. Naysayers who oppose the people of New Zealand voting on the Treaty Principles Bill must explain why more than 300,000 submissions have been received online alone. New Zealanders want to have their say!

I urge you to join us in this last push for submissions. Talk to your friends and family. Send them the link to our submission tool.

Let's ensure that the message of equality and democracy is heard loud and clear by the Justice Select Committee.