Last night, Maiki Sherman and ONE NEWS got very excited about their poll showing that more New Zealanders oppose the Treaty Principles Bill than support it. Never mind that:

1. The largest number are unsure about the Bill.

2. Other polls say the contrary.

3. Our polling shows that there is a large cohort of New Zealanders who oppose the Bill purely because they are worried about the division it is causing.

In our poll conducted between the 1st and 3rd of this month by Curia Market Research, respondents were asked if they agreed or disagreed with the statement:

More people agreed with that statement than disagreed. 

It is seriously concerning that in a liberal democracy, such as ours, people are opposing legislation not on its merits but rather because they are worried about social conflict.

This kind of thinking creates the conditions where political decision-making comes down to whichever group is making the most noise and causing the most intimidation. That is no way for a free and equal society to function.

We cannot be held to ransom because radicals scream racism over and over again and meet disagreement with fury.

It is not racism to advocate for equality regardless of race or ancestry, but if determined activists are given enough of a platform in our media, people start to feel that tensions are getting too high and are more likely to believe the whole exercise is not worth it. 

We must have the discussion. A fair one would be nice! We need to empower New Zealanders to feel they can have an opinion on the future of their country and that those who tell them their view is not valid are the extremists. 

Unfortunately, the whole establishment machine is invested in stifling debate and promoting only opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill. I have mentioned the media's clear bias, but it goes beyond that to elite institutions like academia, the public service, and local government. 

Some councils are wasting their ratepayers' time and money holding debates and votes on the Bill even though they have no influence on its outcome. Despite record rate hikes, failing infrastructure, and no shortage of local issues to deal with, they indulge their own egos and spend hours virtue signalling.

I'm looking at you, Auckland and Hutt City councils, and Environment Canterbury. Good on Taranaki Regional Council for being more sensible on the matter. Deputy Chair Neil Walker said:

"I think personally that the regional council is not a political body, and I certainly don't want to be sitting here time and time again, sending the government political messages about various things.

We're essentially an environmental council and a statutory body doing regulation. We are not doing all of these kind of things, lecturing the Parliament on everything."

It may feel like we are asking you to take a lot of action this year and that is because we are. As I have said before, we are in a now or never situation where we may never again have such opportunities to be heard on the future of New Zealand.

So I am, again, urging you to have your say by making a submission on the Treaty Principles Bill. We have created a tool that makes it quick and easy!

Another way you can make a difference is to talk to your friends and family about supporting the Bill in ways that promote unity and equality. We all need to have the courage to not bow to intimidation and to proceed with sometimes challenging conversations. The best way to do this is to relentlessly stick to our values.

Fundamental human rights for all should be the baseline for modern societies. We won't stop fighting for equality.

Given the overt support the media has demonstrated toward Te Pāti Māori’s Toitū Te Tiriti campaign, New Zealanders could be forgiven for thinking that there is clear consensus that the Treaty Principles Bill must not pass.

Those who support it might reasonably think they are in a minority.

We commissioned some polling and it shows that both assumptions are false.

Our polling was conducted between the 1st and 3rd of December by Curia Market Research and asked a range of questions about the Treaty of Waitangi, the so-called principles, and related issues.

It is safe to say that there is still a lot of confusion and uncertainty around the principles and I can understand why! The discussion is being stifled and stymied at every turn. Only one radical perspective is being promoted by media.

The question of which body, or bodies, should determine the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi is one on which New Zealanders have a range of views. But ultimately, when asked who should have the final say, 54% of respondents said either Parliament or a Referendum should make the final decision with just 8% opting for the Judiciary and 19% for the Waitangi Tribunal.

However, our polling showed that a majority of New Zealanders are supportive of honouring the Treaty, but only if it can do so in a way that doesn’t undermine fundamental human rights. In fact, voters from all parties except Te Pāti Māori had strong net agreement to this statement:

Similarly, only 13% of respondents agreed that the Treaty means that 50% of MPs must be Māori and only Te Pāti Māori voters were in net agreement with the statement.

A truly open conversation is needed on the clash between fundamental human rights (such as equal voting rights and political representation) and the way the Treaty and its so-called principles are being interpreted currently, particularly by the courts.

The disproportionate cheerleading Te Pāti Māori receives from the media is not a fair representation of the beliefs of the New Zealand public. The promotion of their activism as righteous and justified is distorting the true picture of an electorate that prioritises unity and human rights.

This polling demonstrates that Te Pāti Māori’s views on the principles of the Treaty and how the country should be politically organised are out of step with the great majority of voters, even including voters who support Labour and the Greens. Te Pāti Māori are radicals and in a minority.

Christopher Luxon has seriously misjudged the mood of voters in his careless dismissal of the opinions of New Zealanders submitting on the Treaty Principles Bill, particularly those who voted for his Government. He has allowed himself to be railroaded by the press gallery and intimidated by the noise made by a group of activists organised by Te Pāti Māori.    

New Zealanders are entitled to be informed of the bigger picture rather than lectured to directly from the Wellington beltway and activist academics.

New Zealanders are entitled to expect that any law, policy, or action taken by our Government should not breach fundamental human rights.

These are not big asks. It is not remotely racist to expect equal rights for us all.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT OUR POLLING

If you are in the Tauranga council area, you need to speak up – now!

For others around New Zealand, you just need to take note as this will soon be happening to you.

On Monday morning at 9.30am, the Tauranga City Council is meeting toapprove placing unelected iwi members onto three of their standing committees. 

You have read that right - an elected council is wanting to select unelected, unaccountable people, to sit on three of its key committees simply because of their ethnicity – in this case, because they are affiliated to local iwi. They want these people to have full voting rights and to be fully remunerated!

We need you to write urgently to Mayor Drysdale and local councillors to tell them that is entirely wrong and inappropriate.

A modern democracy is about one person, one vote; and about direct accountabilityto the voter.

There is no place in New Zealand for race-based appointments, let alone unelected persons sitting on council committees. What’s the point of electing a council when it then goes ahead and stacks the deck with the unelected!?

The three committees are substantial and include the Audit and Risk Committee; City Futures Committee; and Community and Performance Committee. It’s three today, but how long before more are demanded?

And get this – Tauranga already has a specifically elected Maori Ward, called Te Awanui.

Reading the council agenda, you won’t believe what they say –

“A Māori ward councillor is not expected to speak on behalf of tangata whenua, they speak for themselves when working with elected members.”

Yep, you read that right. According to the council documentation the specifically created Māori ward does not speak for Māori. They now need even more undemocratic representation. We wish we were making this stuff up!

So, if you are in the Tauranga Council area, you need to email the Mayor and councillors now and tell them to stop this nonsense. We have included their emails for you below:

Mayor Mahé Drysdale
Email: [email protected] 

Deputy Mayor Jen Scoular (Mauao/Mount Maunganui Ward)
Email: [email protected]

Rick Curach (Arataki Ward)
Email: [email protected]

Kevin (Herb) Schuler (Bethlehem Ward)
Email: [email protected]

Glen Crowther (Matua-Ōtūmoetai Ward)
Email: [email protected]

Steve Morris (Pāpāmoa Ward)

Email: [email protected]

Marten Rozeboom (Tauriko Ward)
Email: [email protected]

Rod Taylor (Te Papa Ward)
Email: [email protected]

Hautapu Baker (Welcome Bay Ward)
Email: [email protected]

*Mikaere Sydney, the councillor for the Te Awanui Ward, is currently on a leave of absence. 

Please act today – you have till 9.30am this coming Monday (9 December) to have your voice heard before the Tauranga council hands even more power over to unelected people.

Yesterday we brought you the excellent news that the Supreme Court has determined that the Court of Appeals "erred" in their ruling on the claims brought under the Marine and Coastal Areas Act.

Today, iwi lawyer, architect of the original MACA Bill, and former Attorney-General Chris Finlayson is quoted in NBR calling for the Government to abandon its amendment Bill in light of the Supreme Court decision.

No. That is not an option. One ruling is not indicative of an end to judicial activism. The Marine and Coastal Areas Amendment Bill is vital to setting parameters so that we don't have to take things up to Supreme Court level every time because lower courts think the law should be interpreted in their political image.

We will be making our position clear on this and reaching out to our contacts to emphasise that Hobson's Pledge expects that Bill to proceed regardless. On the off chance you happen to bump into a minister, make sure you tell them to pass the damn Bill too!

Massey University endorses Te Pāti Māori

It has become fashionable for organisations of any kind to take public stances on political matters that have nothing to do with their purpose or cause.

I also find it quite presumptuous that they think that New Zealanders are hanging out to hear what Papamoa's Knitting Circle or The Greymouth Premier Chess Clubthink about a piece of legislation.

It is even worse when it is publicly funded institutions making grand political declarations. This week, the Free Speech Union posted that they were approached by a staff member from Massey University who shared that official banners for staff members to put in their emails were distributed that emphatically assert support for Toitū Te Tiriti. 

As most of us have figured out by now, Toitū Te Tiriti are simply Te Pāti Māori with a slightly different hat on. Winston Peters describes them as an "astroturf group".

Massey's endorsement of Toitū Te Tiriti and Te Pāti Māori destroys any claim of political neutrality the university might wish to make. Among their large number of staff there will inevitably be many different perspectives on this issue and this activism falsely suggests that they are all in agreement.

I don't know about you, but I resent my taxes going to institutions that so explicitly endorse the politics of a party that is observably extremist and often utterly contemptuous of our laws and Parliament.

I think it is fair to assume that the university would not allow a similar banner with "Support the Treaty Principles Bill" on it.

Rāhui are being treated as law by police - didn't we warn about this?

Remember when, not long ago at all, we ran an ad on the front page of the NZ Herald and Māori activists complained en masse that we were promoting "disinformation"?

Well, one of the key things they took issue with was that we claimed that rāhui were one way that iwi could restrict access to beaches. They pointed to the fact that the law is vague on rāhui and that they are usually not enforceable. We argued that a culture of de facto enforcement has taken hold in New Zealand whereby dominant cultural influencers like politicians and media treat rāhui as official and enforceable. As a consequence, the police, rangers, and other people of authority behave as if they are the law even if they are not.

This week we had a stark example of this.

Why are the New Zealand Police issuing a statement about a religious/cultural concept declared by local iwi?

Will the police fine or arrest any person who ignores the rāhui? 

The job of the police is to enforce the laws of New Zealand. Not to communicate and enforce the beliefs and practices of a select cultural group.

The Herald is deleting comments it disagrees with

I have previously shared with you one example of the NZ Herald deleting entire comment threads on articles because they weren't reflecting the opinions they wanted them to. 

We aren't talking about abusive or threatening comments. We are talking about comments in support of the Treaty Principles Bill, for example. 

Since I informed you about this last week, we have observed the practice of deleting in more articles related to the Bill or race relations in New Zealand. The vast majority of these comments are in line with what a Hobson's Pledge supporter might say. They are pro-one law for all and pro-equality.

Yesterday, it was an article on the Supreme Court ruling. One sharp-eyed supporter noted that after around 42 comments, and 40 minutes after commenting was opened, the NZ Herald closed it down and deleted readers’ thoughts. 

This is an outrageous display of contempt for their subscribers (they are the only ones who can comment). It is censorious and it highlights what we are up against when it comes to informing New Zealanders about what the Bill is really about. 

If you happen to be a Herald subscriber, I encourage you to enquire why they are deleting comments reflecting a particular viewpoint on Treaty articles. Tell them that included in your subscription is the ability to comment on articles and it is completely inappropriate for a moderator to delete them - not because they are violent - but because the Herald staff are as woke as the Wellington public service. 

Orwell must have been a time traveller

The 21st Century seems to be a rollercoaster of Orwellian nightmares running on a loop. George Orwell's 1984 is a treasure trove of quotes that are painfully relatable for any of us being battered by the culture wars. 

I came across a quote recently and I couldn't help but think of all the Treaty revisionism we have endured over the last few decades. I thought of how the iconic Sir Āpirana Ngata has gone from a man respected by all to having his wise words torn apart by Māori activists. The sudden assertion that Māori did not cede sovereignty is another example. Never mind the extensive records of speeches in 1840 at Waitangi and 1860 at Kohimarama nor the earlier reports of the Waitangi Tribunal - those have been memory-holed.

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”

Actions to take

I'm again going to bang the drum of the Treaty Principles Bill. I appreciate that I am repeating myself, but this is too important not to ensure every last person possible submits on the Bill. If you have already done so, please encourage others to do so too.

Please remember that written submissions for the Treaty Principles Bill are only open until the 7th of January 2025.

Additionally, it is important that we apply pressure on the Prime Minister and National as they have already sworn not to pass the Bill. We created an easy email tool for you to send an email to Christopher Luxon telling him to support the Bill.His timidity around Treaty issues is not good enough and he should know that.

You're likely to hear from me or Elliot again soon as there doesn't seem to be a day go by without important news about the Treaty, New Zealand's future, and race relations.