There are many reasons to support the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill and to have your say in a submission. You can read the key reasons we've identified on our Treaty Principles Submission Tool.

Equal rights, fundamental human rights, rule of law, liberal democracy, clarity of understanding, Parliamentary supremacy, to name a few.

But there are other reasons why David Seymour's Bill is worth speaking up for...

1. The status quo will not remain. Unless this Bill becomes law, things will get very much worse. Te Pāti Māori will continue to push rhetoric that would have been unthinkable not long ago and the media will publish it uncritically. Ideas like Māori not ceding sovereignty are relatively new and the mind boggles as to what new concept they will promote next.

2. It has become mainstream to refer to any New Zealander who doesn't have a Māori ancestor as "manuhiri", which translates to visitor. Calling the place of your birth or citizenship "home" should not be a political act that you have to fight for. Speaking up is a way of demonstrating that you will not be bullied into accepting that you are allowed to live in this country only by the grace of New Zealanders who have at least one Māori ancestor. 

3. You are being silenced virtually everywhere else. Let's just look at the New Zealand Herald as an example. They are often touted as the best media outfit of a bad bunch, but a Hobson's Pledge supporter has pointed out how much they have been censoring any comments that are remotely positive toward the Bill.

And (with some help from The Centrist) he provided receipts.

The first screenshot shows that there were 169 comments on the article and the second shows that within a matter of hours the comments had disappeared.However, our eagle-eyed supporter managed to grab screenshots of the comments that the Herald decided to hide.

Look at the number of likes on the comments. It's almost like the Herald doesn't want New Zealanders to realise that large numbers of other New Zealanders also support the Bill and their concerns about separatism.

We haven't spotted anything objectionable in these comments. If there were one or two violent comments, surely they could have removed those and left the largenumber of totally reasonable ones?

This isn’t the first time that the NZ Herald has been caught out deleting comments, especially on Treaty issues. They did it to a story on taxpayer-funded te reo Māori lessons, and then again last month on their article about race-based prosecution guidelines.

This mass censorship of New Zealanders' opinions on a Bill that is before Parliament is why getting your thoughts on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill on the record is so crucial. It is not a symbolic gesture either. Making a submission contributes to building a wave of support that the Prime Minister will have to explain ignoring. 

When the media are pushing such a deliberate narrative that anyone who supports the Bill is racist or stupid, we all need the reassurance that we are not alone. There is strength in numbers and through this submission process we can demonstrate that we have the support to look at a Citizens Initiated Referendum.

It is now or never. I'm not sure how many different ways I can emphasise the critical juncture we are at. All we are demanding is equality. Nothing more and nothing less. We need your voice in the chorus. 

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

Don't listen to the Prime Minister. He may say that he has made his mind up and the Treaty Principles Bill will be voted down after select committee, but it isn't over until it's over. 

It is crucially important that as many New Zealanders as possible share their thoughts on the Bill with the select committee via a submission. 

The odds of changing the Prime Minister's mind may be slim, but a show of strength from a large number of New Zealanders will send a very strong message, which then can be built on for the next election or possibly even for a Citizens Initiated Referendum.

As promised, we have created a Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill submission tool.We want to make it as easy as possible for you to get your thoughts on the record. Our tool allows you to build a submission by choosing the key points that you agree with and then adding your own if you wish.

We, of course, are supportive of the Bill going through, though we do express concern about the framing of Article/Principle 2. If you are similarly worried about the loophole that this principle could create, I encourage you to include that key point in your submission.

You may have heard that there is a six-month consultation period. That is true, but that includes oral submissions and the process of going through all of the written ones and producing a report.

Written submissions are only open until the 7th of January 2025.

That sounds kind of far away, but it is really only a matter of weeks. Add Christmas and New Year in and the time is going to fly by. We strongly recommend you get your submission done and dusted as soon as possible so it doesn't get forgotten in the chaos of the silly season. 

One thing you should be aware of is that the Justice Select Committee (which is in charge of considering the Bill) has told media that they will not accept any submissions that have swearing or accusations of racism in them. 

We need your submission to count so please take a deep breath and keep it direct and professional. Trust me, this is one of those situations where I can understand the urge to express yourself strongly, but it is more important that we build pressure on the committee to acknowledge the strength of feeling because of the sheer number of submissions.

This is one of the most important submissions we will ever make. It has the potential to reveal the will of the people and if the Government then ignores that will it opens the door for a Citizens Initiated Referendum, or for ACT - or indeed any other political party - to take the issue to the next election with a strong mandate. 

Add your voice so that the silent majority is silent no more. Then chat to friends and family and help them access our tool so that they can have their say too. 

This is a rare opportunity for us to get our demands for equality under the law on the record and to force MPs from all parties to pay attention to our arguments for de-racialising our systems and Government.

Don't miss out. Take the opportunity to tell Parliament that you are a New Zealander, not a visitor. 

We have to make an impact and can't do it without you.

At the end of last week, I told you that we were planning to turn up the heat on the Prime Minister and I have never received so many responses to one email. It appears we are agreed that urgent action is merited, and now is not the time to hold back.

That's why we have built ScaredyCatChristopher.nz so that everyone can send an email to Christopher Luxon telling him just how disappointed and disrespected we are all feeling.

Satire and lampooning have a long history in politics and it is our view that the Prime Minister well and truly deserves to be called a Scaredy Cat. He clearly has allowed the media to bully him into making increasingly more strident statements in opposition to the Bill and seems to be so afraid of accusations of racism that he would prefer to dodge important conversations.

Christopher Luxon is so afraid of the media, the Left, and Māori activists that he would rather avoid upsetting them than deliver on what his voters elected the Coalition Government to do.

That has to change. We need the Prime Minister to fear upsetting his own voters more than he does the people who are already committed to disliking him.

It is important to keep correspondence with elected officials respectful, but that does not mean that we cannot tell the Prime Minister in no uncertain terms how much we disagree with his actions.

He has disrespected us by making it clear that he will be ignoring our submissions despite the select committee consultation. He has taken us for fools by saying he likes nothing about the Bill when the very first principle in it begins with: "The Executive Government of New Zealand has full power to govern..." If he disagrees with that he should resign.

He has disrespected the many Hobson's Pledge supporters who voted for a change of Government at the last election. Throughout the election campaign voters made it clear that we wanted an end to race-based policy and for the country to move toward a future where everybody has equal rights.

Scaredy Cat Christopher needs a reality check. He needs to understand how many New Zealanders are unhappy with him and his leadership because of his handling of the Treaty Principles Bill. 

>>> Send a wake-up call to Christopher Luxon <<<  

It is not sustainable for our country to continue bowing to the pressure of activists whose agenda is to create division in our society where rights and responsibilities assigned depend on race and ancestry.

We need clarity and common understanding of what the Treaty Principles are to move forward as a cohesive country. This is absolutely not about disrespecting Māori. It is about respecting everyone who calls New Zealand home.

Did you know polling completed last month showed just 25% of New Zealanders oppose the Bill? It is very unlikely that the Prime Minister's office haven't seen this polling. So why are they ignoring the will of the people?

If you share my concerns about the future of New Zealand - and the emails I received in response to my last email indicate that a lot of Hobson's Pledge supporters do - please take one or two minutes to send a letter to the Prime Minister. 

Once you've done that, share the link with your friends and family, and post it on social media. We need Christopher Luxon's staff to tell him that his inbox is overflowing with emails from disappointed and angry New Zealanders.

What is the point of getting your preferred Government and Prime Minister elected if they advance policies of the people you voted out?  

The only way that Christopher Luxon will change his mind is if enough of us show him that it is political suicide not to do so. Collectively, we have the power to remind him that without our votes he will be a one-term Prime Minister. 

A picture paints a thousand words and the photograph above is a snapshot of the most disgraceful reading of a Bill I can recall in New Zealand's history.

The Treaty Principles Bill is not the first controversial and polarising Bill to have been introduced to New Zealand's Parliament. We have debated abortion, same-sex marriage, and the foreshore and seabed. Inevitably emotions have run high and sharp words have been exchanged, but the behaviour displayed yesterday fell far below the standards we expect of elected officials.

Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke instigated a haka as the vote was being tallied at the end of the speeches. She tore the Bill in half and took to the floor along with her party colleagues. She and Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer performed the haka right up to where David Seymour and ACT sat. Their actions were intimidating and aggressive, and that was the intention.

Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee was left with no option but to suspend the House and empty the gallery which was full of Te Pāti Māori supporters who were also taking part in the haka. It was complete disorder.

Once everyone returned to the House - except Willie Jackson because he had been kicked out earlier for calling David Seymour a liar - Parliament voted to suspend Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke for 24 hours. The Government majority outvoted the opposition parties who all voted against the punishment.

Now, a 24-hour suspension might seem like a pointless and meagre consequence, but the act of the Speaker 'naming' an MP as Speaker Brownlee did is very significant. Maipi-Clarke will have one day of pay docked also.

However, the young MP should not have been the only MP to face consequences. Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi was disorderly in his own speech and concluded it by shouting the colloquialism "see you next Tuesday" at David Seymour. He will, of course, say that he was referring to the protest next Tuesday, but it is relatively well-known that it also refers to a certain four letter word.

Likewise, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer's intimidation of David Seymour was not unlike that of Julie Anne Genter toward Matt Doocey some months ago, and that resulted in a referral to the Privileges Committee. There is no excuse for aggression and intimidation in our House of Parliament no matter if it is cloaked in claims of cultural practice.

We can all stand around pointing and saying "how disgraceful," but there is action we must take on a few different matters.

1. I encourage you to send an email to the Speaker urging him to crack down on disorderly conduct and slipping standards. His email is: [email protected]

2. You might also like to send an email to the Government party leaders asking them to make an appeal to the Speaker for stricter policing of rules and standing orders. [email protected] [email protected]and [email protected]

3. Write to the media about the matter: a letter to the editor, or an email to decision makers about how they are reporting on the issue.

3. Get ready for the first phase of our response to the Treaty Principles Billwhich will come next week. This phase is about putting pressure on the Prime Minister to respect New Zealanders and listen to our submissions.

4. Pop over to David Seymour's Facebook, Instagram, or X and give him a few words of encouragement. What he is doing takes a great deal of courage and we should make sure he knows he has the backing of many New Zealanders.

5. Chip in to our fund to make sure we keep the attention on support for the bill throughout the 6-month Treaty Principles Bill consultation period. Donate here.  

I am worried. We are at a crossroads and I fear it could go either way. Our leaders need us to strengthen their spines because they are vulnerable to the intimidation, manipulation, and coercion of the media and activists - some more vulnerable than others.

The media are firmly supportive of the activism of Te Pāti Māori and their hīkoi. In fact, one of TVNZ's most senior executives, Nevak Rogers, has taken annual leave this week to attend the hīkoi. Her social media posts and activism are directly oppositional to TVNZ's laughable claims of impartiality. How can we be expected to have faith in TVNZ's balance when their Chief Content Officer is behaving in such a partisan manner?

The time has come for New Zealanders to loudly express our honest opinions. This doesn't come naturally for many of us. We are generally a non-confrontational and laidback people, but too much is at stake. We need to openly state support for the Treaty Principles Bill and David Seymour's agenda for equality and clarity. Share your views with friends and family. Post on social media. Be bold.

If we do not emphatically stand up for democracy and what is right now, we will lose the ability to do so at all. New Zealand needs you.

Remember "the standard you walk past is the standard you accept."