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."

A quick note from me just to make you aware of the politicisation occurring in New Zealand schools.

And I would like to quickly acknowledge that you will be hearing from us a bit more frequently in the coming weeks as there is so much happening around the Treaty Principles Bill that we need to keep you updated on. These issues are too important not to share with you.

Yesterday, the hīkoi that was meant to be about the Treaty Principles Bill made its way across the Auckland Harbour Bridge. I say 'meant to be' because those taking part cited a number of issues as their reason for being there, including hatred of David Seymour, a desire to get rid of the Government (that was Willie Jackson), and (judging by the flags) pro-Palestine activism.

It was a school day, and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour made it clear that students should be at school. Some schools, it seems, disagreed.

On his Kiwiblog, David Farrar shared correspondence that some schools sent out encouraging hīkoi attendance and excusing absences!

Here is one example from Naenae Primary School. Kiwiblog also shares one from South Wellington Intermediate School.

David Farrar has suggested that New Zealanders concerned with the blatant politicisation going on should report schools which are breaching political neutrality to the Teaching Council.

We think this is a great idea.

As we are demonstrating with our approach to fighting back with the media, Hobson's Pledge is done with politely tolerating the behaviour of radicals. Our opponents use any means possible to silence and attack us, why should we not use regulatory tools (appropriately, I might add) to disincentivise destructive activism. 

The Kiwiblog article shows some examples that you can report to the Teaching Council, but you may have heard of others. Please let us know if you have, and we can report those too.

CLICK HERE FOR THE TEACHING COUNCIL COMPLAINT FORM

Once the form has been completed, email it to: [email protected] or post to: Manager Professional Responsibility Teaching Council Aotearoa New Zealand PO Box 5326, Wellington 6140 New Zealand.

The Prime Minister says there is NOTHING he likes about the Treaty Principles Bill.

NOTHING.

Presumably this includes Principle One that says:

The Executive Government of New Zealand has full power to govern, and the Parliament of New Zealand has full power to make laws,—
	(a)	in the best interests of everyone; and
	(b)	in accordance with the rule of law and the maintenance of a free and democratic society.

It seems pretty messed up for a prime minister to not want the power to govern and not support the rule of law or a free democratic society.

What about Principle Two?

(1)	The Crown recognises, and will respect and protect, the rights that hapū and iwi Māori had under the Treaty of Waitangi/te Tiriti o Waitangi at the time they signed it.
(2)	However, if those rights differ from the rights of everyone, subclause (1) applies only if those rights are agreed in the settlement of a historical treaty claim under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975.

I have my own reservations about this one, but that’s because I worry it could be a loophole for race-based policy. I would have thought Luxon would agree with protecting the rights of Māori as agreed through Treaty settlements though!

Surely he must be mistaken about Principle Three though. No one could oppose this...

(1)	Everyone is equal before the law.
(2)	Everyone is entitled, without discrimination, to—
	(a)	the equal protection and equal benefit of the law; and
	(b)	the equal enjoyment of the same fundamental human rights.

We have big problems if our Prime Minister opposes equality before the law and human rights. What kind of tyrant is he?

I can't detect anything wrong with those three principles and that is all the Treaty Principles Bill is. The principles are faithful to what the Treaty of Waitangi explicitly says. The creative principles pulled out of thin air by the judiciary are far more outrageous.

The more I think about it, the angrier I get. Christopher Luxon doesn't care that a majority of New Zealanders support the bill. Voters of National, New Zealand First, and ACT especially.

He is turning his back on the people that voted his Government into power and what for? Pats on the head from the media? Well, tough luck, mate. The media are giving him grief regardless. 

The media are acting like promoters of the hīkoi and protests. They are directing readers to meeting points and portraying the whole thing as a moral crusade. Not once have they asked the protestors to explain what they don't like about the bill. Do they know what they are protesting about?

Is Luxon afraid of the Māori activists? We know that Toitū Te Tiriti (the group organising the hīkoi) is just an astroturf for Te Pāti Māori. They have never minced their words about how they feel about Luxon either.

I wonder how his MPs feel about him pandering to the media and Te Pāti Māori supporters all of whom would rather eat glass than ever vote National. They must see the polling in support of the bill and wonder what the heck their leader is doing.

There will be a six month consultation process through the select committee on this bill. Thousands of New Zealanders will make submissions. Will the Government even bother to read them? Christopher Luxon has repeatedly said that nothing will change his mind on the bill. Frankly, his casual refusal to listen to the views of New Zealanders is rude.

Regardless, we are building a tool to enable Hobson's Pledge supporters to make meaningful Treaty Principles Bill submissions. We will get our perspectives on the record even if they aren't respected by the Prime Minister.

But we also want the Prime Minister to understand how angry we are. We cannot afford for Luxon to be another John Key; taking our votes only to cowardly hide from dealing with tough race relations issues. 

Christopher Luxon needs to remember who will vote him into a second term as Prime Minister. It won't be radical Māori activists. 

We are thinking about setting up a tool so that everybody can send letters to Luxon directly, so that everybody can let him know how we feel about how he is treating this bill and New Zealanders. What are your thoughts?

I'm keen to go hard on this. If National don't get how important this is to us they will keep trampling over us. Do you think it's time to stop playing nice?

I'm willing to call it what it is: weak leadership, cowardice, and really, really dumb.

If our supporters are keen to send a message to Luxon and give him a reality check, we will get the tool built and send you the link ASAP.

We've been waiting for its arrival and tomorrow we will get our first look at the Treaty Principles Bill when it is introduced to Parliament.

News of this earlier introduction was allegedly leaked by the ever-combative Waitangi Tribunal.

Tomorrow, we will finally know the exact wording and be able to form our own opinions on the Bill.

Chris Hipkins hasn't been willing to wait, however, and has been handwringing on TVONE this morning. He even claimed that it would put existing Treaty Settlements at risk which has never been on the table with this Bill.

Unfortunately, I think we can expect to see a continuation of the underhanded and less than honest approach opponents to the Bill have being employing thus far. Even as I write, threats are being made to close down motorways next week in protest – because nothing expresses care for people and society like stopping kiwis getting to and from work or school.

We are holding our breath to see how the Government have shaped up the Bill in regards to Article 2 of the Treaty. There has been speculation, but we will reserve our judgement until tomorrow!

We will make sure to keep you in the loop with the Bill and are working on a tool to assist you in submitting your thoughts when it goes to the Select Committee. The consultation period will be six months long so we intend to make sure everyone takes their time and gets a thorough submission in.

Advertising Standards Authority Appeal

Not a lot to share on this today except that our lawyers are working on our appeal and we intend to challenge the decisions of the Authority. As soon as we can share our appeal documents without compromising our case we will do so.

My thanks to those of you who were willing and able to chip in to contribute to legal costs.  That generosity is always appreciated and for those who still wish to help out you can do so by clicking here.

Teach your kid to be a raging racist!

We were sent an opinion piece written by Josie Pagani in August this year about a book called Paku Manu Ariki Whakatakapōkai.

Josie calls the book "a daring and delightful account" but is disturbed by how it promotes divisive race narratives in quite an adult voice.

For example, the main character says, "I will hit all the English people in the face because they stole the land”. He also says, "My Dad is Māori like me. I feel sorry for my Mum. She's only Pākehā.”  

Is this really what we want our kids thinking is okay? To hit people because people of the same race as them did something more than one hundred years ago? To present races as unequal? One race being worthy of pride and one not?

Depressingly, the book has won awards and accolades. It makes you wonder about the people who give these awards out.

Royal Society gets a telling off by Māori academics

The Royal Society Te Apārangi is proposing a governance restructure which will remove dedicated Māori representation from its council. It will also entrench the power of its Academy of Fellows. The new structure halves the council’s size, from 12 to six, and removes its two existing Māori seats.

The Royal Society Te Apārangi is a not-for-profit providing funding and policy advice in the sciences and humanities.

The proposed restructure has drawn the ire of some "prominent Māori academics" who have signed an open letter to the society President, Distinguished Professor Dame Jane Harding.

The letter contains a not-so-subtle threat that "if there is no visible space for Māori decision-making in this reimagined structure, the creation of an independent Māori Academy may be the path forward.”

They also said:

“It feels like a major step backwards from the inclusive governance model we have been working towards and lacks any meaningful consideration of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.”

The Treaty does not provide for race-based representation in any kind of governance so this is just another example of Treaty-creep where the reach and scope of the Treaty are expanded.

Needless to say, we at Hobson's Pledge think that removing race-based representation is an excellent move and we hope the Royal Society holds its nerve under the attacks from academia, media, and activists. 

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I will email you again shortly with more on the Treaty Principles Bill and no doubt other matters, but in the meantime I am sure we all have our eyes cast to the United States! Here's hoping for a swift result and a dignified concession from the unsuccessful candidate. Democracy is precious and we must all protect it in our various corners of the world.