Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta refused to rule out making the reforms mandatory, only confirming the legislated approach in late October.

Cabinet agreed on June 14, 2021, to a mandated approach to the Three Waters reform and spent the next four months telling councils that the plan was voluntary and councils could opt out, according to Cabinet papers quietly released last month.

Radio New Zealand reported this late on Friday afternoon, after news the previous day that introduction of a Three Waters bill would be delayed until next year, See Mandated

“Discussions (during a two-month consultation period) would have been "quite different" if councils had been told about the mandated plan from the outset,” Whangarei mayor Sheryl Mai said.

According to sources in Wellington, there is a standoff between Labour's Maori caucus (who want co-governed water) and the provincial Labour MPs and Cabinet Ministers who are feeling the political heat from widespread opposition to the Government’s proposal.

Dear former New Zealanders . . .

Here is a letter sent in to us:

“I left what was previously known as New Zealand on Friday. No longer could I take the constant racial and cultural division. The communisation and Marxism of the nation that once was the blood that flows through my veins. A sixth-generation New Zealander, my family elders helped build that nation. We even have a small town named in honour of our family.

“I was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. My passport says so. My birth certificate says so. Every legal document I have says so. But all I got for the last four years was Otautahi. Aotearoa. And a whole bunch of other words that I don’t understand because they’re not the nation I was born into, or my children, or grandchildren, or my parents, my grandparents, my great-grandparents, my great-great-grandparents. No, we were all born in New Zealand.

Read the full letter at https://www.hobsonspledge.nz/peter_clark_dear_former_new_zealanders

He Puapua author fights book-ban attempt

Dr John Robinson, who wrote He Puapua: Blueprint for breaking up New Zealand and other books, has taken One News to task for broadcasting an appeal last week to bookstores to refuse to stock his book and books by his publisher, Tross Publishing.  https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/12/04/educators-say-publishers-books-anti-maori-hateful-and-untrue/

The claim of “half-truths and out-right lies” (in his He Puapua book), unsupported by any clear example, is unacceptable from anyone, let alone a university lecturer (who attacked him on television), Dr Robinson wrote in a statement titled “TV1 News has proposed a ban on sales of books”.

“As my book makes clear, the separatist movement that is clearly described in the He Puapua report is aimed at destroying democracy and setting up a three-chamber legislation for New Zealand (one for Maori, a second for the others but with a strong Maori presence, and a third joint chamber, with a Maori veto, for negotiation between the two divided ‘partners’),” he wrote. 

“There are no “half-truths and out-right lies” here. These comments are supported by quotes from Maori activists and lengthy quotes from key sources, such as the He Puapua report,” he wrote.

Campaign update

Since the Maori Party declared war on “coloniser names”, and since Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta revealed that the Three Waters plan would be forced on councils, we have experienced a surge both in numbers of supporters and donations, for which we are deeply grateful.

Your financial support enabled spending on three advertising campaigns.

Thirteen billboards erected in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, during November, reminded everyone that we live in New Zealand, not Aotearoa. The billboards certainly attracted attention. Every billboard was attacked.

A dual New Zealand, not Aotearoa/Three waters social media campaign, active until just before Christmas, helped increase signatures on our petition and on our letter to the Prime Minister. 

A two-week Three Waters radio campaign on the NewsTalk ZB network throughout New Zealand widened awareness of the co-governance aspect of water infrastructure seizure.

Buying advertising space is not cheap. Those three campaigns chewed through around $60,000.

Your engagement as citizens concerned about the racist Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill led to thousands of submissions being sent in.

For five years, we have been keeping pressure on MPs over pending race-based legislation, and on councillors, over tribal appointees and Maori wards.

The decision to defer introducing three waters legislation could be a sign that this work is making a difference.

New Zealand, not Aotearoa

Nearly 35,000 have signed our petition calling on our Prime Minister to affirm publicly that the name of our nation is New Zealand, not Aotearoa. If you have not yet signed, click here  https://www.hobsonspledge.nz/new_zealand_not_aotearoa and like and share the page.

Dear Prime Minister . . .

More than 14,000 have signed our open letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern which says that we are especially worried about the iwi entitlement to governance of Three Waters. If you have not done so already, you may sign the letter at https://www.hobsonspledge.nz/letter_to_jacinda

Dump two governments plan

Nearly 24,000 have signed our He Puapua petition calling on the Prime Minister to reject outright and cease implementing all aspects of the two-government plan as described in He Puapua, the plan presented as realising in New Zealand the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. If you have not already done so, click here to sign  Reject co-governance.

Beaches for us all

And our petition which asks Parliament to amend the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 to restore public ownership of the coastal area, put all claims through the High Court, and repeal customary marine title, while affirming customary rights, has picked up nearly 48,000 signatures. The petition may be signed at https://www.change.org/beaches4all

Frequently asked questions

• What is Hobson's Pledge? Hobson’s Pledge supporters think it is absurd to argue in the 21st century that people who chance to have a Maori ancestor, always with other ancestors too of course, should have superior rights to those who don’t.  And utterly absurd that there are politicians who want to be taken seriously who still push this nonsense.
• What are the issues we're facing today?
• What are our campaigns?

Join the debate on Facebook. You may visit this page at https://www.facebook.com/hobsonspledge/

Visit our website at http://www.hobsonspledge.nz/

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Buy a book. Visit http://www.hobsonspledge.nz/resources

Former MP and founder of Te Tai Tokerau Border Control Hone Harawira flying the Maori sovereignty flag at a checkpoint.

Thank you for supporting massive protest

Thank you to those who taped a sign to your vehicle and drove the Groundswell route through the town nearest you on Sunday.

National MP Nicola Willis showed the unprecedented Three Waters headline to Parliament. Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta accused councils of spreading misinformation.

One of a number of billboards around our cities drawing attention to the actual name of our country, not the mythical name that is being quietly imposed. Our petition calling on the Prime Minister to delete any reference in official communication to any name for our nation other than New Zealand may be signed at https://www.hobsonspledge.nz/new_zealand_not_aotearoa.

You may have missed it but the Water Services Act that became law a week ago quietly added to legislation water “partnership” while establishing a framework “to provide transparency about the performance of drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater networks and network operators”.

The Three Waters Plan centralizes national water management while indulging iwi demands for ownership of water, according to businessman Gary Judd QC.

It’s questionable that the New Zealand Government has any legitimacy, the state must give up some power, and New Zealand has a lopsided view of democracy, which should not be tyranny of the majority.

Lobby group Hobson’s Pledge is pushing for the name “Aotearoa” to be removed from official use until a binding referendum is held to decide whether or not to proceed with changing the name of New Zealand.

Click on the Curia research poll of 1,000 New Zealanders to get the full poll that shows that only 28% support changing the name of our country from New Zealand to Aotearoa.

The survey, conducted in the first week of September 2021, shows that 39% are strongly opposed and 49% are opposed.