Yesterday, in commenting on the decision by New Zealand First to vote against his Bill to entrench the Maori electorates, Te Tai Tonga MP Tino Tirikatene accused that party of pandering to anti-treaty rights group Hobson’s Pledge”. I’m disappointed that Waatea News did not take the trouble to get a comment from Hobson’s Pledge on Mr Tirikatene’s totally unwarranted description of us as an “anti-treaty rights group”. For that, I believe you owe us an apology.

Over the last year, the Hobson’s Pledge Trust has been promoting the message that New Zealanders are one people, with equal rights to live in this land – not two people, Maori and “the rest”, as successive governments have asked us to believe.  Over the last month or so, with the upcoming election in mind, we have been urging people to “use your vote to end National’s race-based policies”.  Not surprisingly, people have asked: how?

First let me explain why voting National won’t end the race-based policies which have been increasingly built into central and local government practice in recent years.