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. 

 

BREAKING NEWS:

The Supreme Court of New Zealand has made an incredibly important judgement today – and one in line with Hobson’s Pledge's advocacy and position.

It has essentially stated that the creative interpretation that allows such a broad application of the law - and so opened up most of New Zealand’s coastline to iwi claims - was wrong.

The Supreme Court has been reviewing the Court of Appeal decision around what is colloquially known as "the Edwards case". The Court of Appeal effectively reinterpreted the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 (MACA), which in turn meant that iwi could effectively claim all of New Zealand’s coastline.

Today, the Supreme Court has said that interpretation by the Court of Appeal is wrong. They said the lower court ‘erred’ in its decision making.

We can hardly believe it!

As you know, Hobson’s Pledge has been fighting hard for the right of all New Zealanders to share and enjoy our coastline. We even put out a full front page advertisement in the New Zealand Herald to point out what the earlier court ruling meant. Despite lots of vocal opposition to what we were saying, we feel vindicated by today’s ruling. 

We have consistently stated that if the Court of Appeal ruling went ahead, then all the coastline was open to being claimed. Parliament recognised this and has put together a Marine and Coastal Area Amendment Bill to ensure the original interpretation was kept. This Bill is currently going through Parliament and is due to become law in a few weeks. The Supreme Court’s decision today also confirms that the law was not being followed if iwi could claim everything.

You are owed an apology. Hobson's Pledge supporters, like you, stood up for what was right and true and were attacked by Te Pāti Māori, Labour, the Greens, the media, activists, and all sorts of characters on the internet! 

As you will recall, a change of law in 2011 was made to remove Helen Clark’s Foreshore and Seabed Act. This 2011 law meant iwi could seek rights over coastal areas if they could prove continuous and exclusive use of the area since 1840. The Minister in charge at the time, Chris Finlayson, suggested only around 10% of the coastline might be claimable. The Court of Appeal however took a very creative approach and "interpreted" the law to mean what it thought it should read, and not what Parliament had explicitly written. This meant most of the coastline could plausibly be claimed!

With today’s judgement by the Supreme Court, this radical and activist interpretation of Treaty related issues has been dealt a blow. 

We have supported the Government’s move to update the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 to ensure the original intention is honoured. It is good that the Supreme Court effectively agrees. We are also grateful to all of you as supporters for the hard work preparing submissions to the select committee.  Your voice and words have made a difference. 

We still have much more work to do though. Hobson’s Pledge advocates for a law change to return our seabed and foreshore to Crown ownership for the benefit of all New Zealanders. While we will continue to push for this change, we still see the current Bill going through Parliament as a major step forward.

Finally, there are still many other battles to fight to ensure the legal equality of all New Zealanders. We win battles when we all take action so please take a few minutes to use our submission tool to have your say on the Treaty Principles Bill.

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

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.