OPEN LETTER:

Dear Vice Chancellor Professor Dawn Freshwater,

We the undersigned are writing to you to express our concern about the University of Auckland forcing students to take a course on the Treaty of Waitangi and New Zealand history. 

This is not because we don't think that these are worthwhile subjects to study. Rather we object to the fact that it is mandatory and that the facts around the Treaty and our history are highly contested. There are polarised views about whether Māori ceded sovereignty, for example. The people who are involved in writing and delivering these courses may take a radical view of the Treaty and may teach their opinions as truth.

Pro Vice Chancellor Māori Te Kawehau Hoskins said students will benefit from the various units which include critical thinking, academic writing and working in groups. Surely these are skills learnt as a consequence of studying any course at the University of Auckland, so why do they need to do it via this one?

If a person wants to study the Treaty, New Zealand history, Māori mythology, and te reo they should enrol in a course to do so. They're entitled to seek that kind of education, but no one should be forced into it.

We are concerned that this course will takeaway the opportunity for students to enrol in other courses that are more suited to their interests and skills. Depending on the degree and what they are majoring in, this mandatory course could be totally irrelevant to their studies.

This issue further highlights the fundamental problem with universities making the Treaty of Waitangi a key part of their vision and claiming to be "Treaty led". This makes critiques of the Treaty beyond the pale. At universities there should not be 'sacred cows' like this.

We have some serious questions about the course, including:

• Will students be able to challenge the content of this course - employing critical thinking - without facing being marked down or disciplined?
• Can a student object to being made to take the course altogether? Can a student opt out?
• Who is writing and delivering these courses? Will the university be taking a plurality of views into account rather than presenting a single truth as determined by a handful of people?
• If a student asserts that Māori did cede sovereignty, would they be marked as wrong?
• How much will this course cost students?

Vice Chancellor, one of the best things about university is having the choice to chart your future. If one is interested in the history of New Zealand and the Treaty they could enrol in a history degree and we assume that there are other courses that cover te reo Māori and other aspects of te ao Māori. It is fantastic that students have the option to do so. Making this course mandatory takes that choice away.

We urge you and the University of Auckland to roll out the course next year as optional. 

Students don't want to be forced to take courses of no relevance to their study or interest to them. To push this politicised content on them is indoctrination and that is wrong. 

Regards,

Hobson's Pledge and the undersigned supporters

As probably the key element in the He Puapua strategy designed to achieve joint Maori-Crown sovereignty by 2040, the proposed curriculum is hugely important. If you are alarmed that your children and grandchildren may be indoctrinated through a heavily biased history curriculum, you should at least send in a submission. Feel free to use anything from my work below. Submissions close May 31.

A bizarre craze seems to be sweeping New Zealand right now. All things derived from Europe, except our creature comforts, must be set aside, as we are expected to embrace all things Māori. It's racism on a grand scale.

Submission by Dr Tom Johnson on the Education and Training Bill

As someone with post graduate academic knowledge and practical experience in the embedding of culture on both a macro and organisational basis I believe I am qualified to comment on the Education and Training Bill, and its limitations and errors. The bill in its present form is alarming. Ethnic fundamentalism is used to masquerade as a panacea for solving future educational and training needs.

There are two pieces of legislation wending their way through Parliament at the moment designed to further entrench the crazy notion that the Treaty of Waitangi created an obligation on governments nearly 200 years later to treat anybody with a Maori ancestor in some kind of preferential way.

One is the Public Service Bill, introduced to Parliament last month and now being considered by the Governance and Administration select committee.  It represents the Government’s grand plan to revamp the whole public service by repealing the State Sector Act.

A massive "Education and Training Bill" is currently before Parliament. This radical Bill requires State indoctrination of children and young people in Marxist identity ideology and Maori cultural propaganda, and grants Maori elites undue influence over the education of our children and young people. The new rules seek to impose Maori cultural values on our predominantly non-maori population and transfer power, jobs and funding to Maori academics and iwi elites. In a particularly sinister move, the Bill will allow Chris Hipkins and Kelvin Davis (Minister of Maori-Crown relations) in consultation with Maori to issue a "Statement of Expressions" outlining what education providers (schools, pre-schools, training institutes etc) will be required to do to meet their obligations under Treaty legislation. The creation of these rules by the Minister and the Minister of Crown-Maori relations in consultation with "Maori" (presumably representing the bogus Crown-Maori "Treaty partnership") represents a novel form of "Treaty negotiations", and with the Bill expressly removing Parliamentary powers of oversight: a gross corruption of democratic principles.

Please read further to help us defeat the Bill where it seeks to indoctrinate our children with identity politics and Maori cultural propaganda and to hand undue influence and powers to unelected, unaccountable Maori elites.

Treaty Indoctrination

The indoctrination plan is outlined in Section 9: Te Tiriti o Waitangi:

Section 9 states that a purpose of our education system is to honour the Treaty of Waitangi and support Maori-Crown relationships. Section 9 will require teachers to teach the lie that the Treaty created a partnership between the Crown and Maori.

Section 5 will require teachers to promote Marxian identity ideology and elevate the significance of Maori language beyond its modern day relevance and, in particular, relevance to non-Maori children. Ironically, the drafters of the Bill don't appear to realise that New Zealand has only two official languages: te reo Maori and New Zealand Sign Language, so the Bill requires teachers to instil in children the importance of te reo Maori and NZ sign language while ignoring English, the world's most widely spoken language and the gateway to jobs in a modern economy.

"Statement of expectations": a massive transfer of power to "Maori"

This provision in effect creating backroom "Treaty negotiations" between the government (Chris Hipkins) and Maori (Kelvin Davis and iwi elites) as to what education providers will be required to do to meet their Treaty obligations appears to be part of a movement towards constitutional change by stealth, a sinister corruption of democracy likely to result in a massive transfer of broad powers to "Maori" within the education section. 

It is unknown as to what a "Statement of expectations" might stipulate, soft indoctrination: the adoption and elevation of maori culture and maori religious practices (karakia etc), is already widespread throughout the education sector on a voluntary basis. It is possible that the Statement might set out compulsory curriculum material to be taught in primary and secondary schools including maori language and tikanga, as well as compulsory Maori staffing quotas, perhaps even the separate tuition of Maori children. This is quite possible, as section 122(1)(d) requires School Boards to ensure that school policies and lessons are aimed towards achieving equitable outcomes for Maori students.

While we cannot know what the Statement will contain, the point to note is that unless the Bill is amended, all education providers will be be required to give effect to measures outlined in the Statement without reference to Parliament or the wishes and needs of the wider public: taxpayers, teachers, parents or the students themselves.

School Boards required to push Maori propaganda and religion and achieve "equitable outcomes" for Maori students

Section 122(1)(d) states that a primary objective of School Boards is to ensure that school plans, policies and lessons reflect:

• local tikanga Maori, matauranga Maori and te Ao Maori; and
• that schools take all reasonable steps to make lessons available in tikanga Maori and Maori language; and
• achieving equitable outcomes for Maori students

As such, the Bill requires teachers to indoctrinate children with sanatised Maori lore, Maori religious beliefs (animism) and the so-called "Maori world view". Presumably the stipulation of local tikanga will require school boards, prinicpals and teachers to consult with local Maori elites in matters of school governance and the preparation of lesson plans.

The Bill does not define who is a "Maori" student, or what "equitable outcomes" means, or any way of measuring "equitable outcomes". Presumably, schools will be required to jump through the numerous hoops stipulated in the Statement of Expectations and allocate funding to meet the additional perceived needs of a child due to that child's ancestry rather than treating the child as an individual with individual needs. And while we would all want all children and young people to achieve to the best of their abilities, it is not at all clear why the entire burden for achieving "equitable outcomes" (however interpreted) should be placed at feet of schools, rather than parents.  Nor is it clear why "Maori students" are relegated to belonging to a generic minority "identity", stigmatised and patronised as requiring special attention regardless of their individual skills and unique personality. A better approach might be to encourage Maori (all) parents to instil in their children a love of reading and learning, an appetite for study and encouragement to eschew drugs and alcohol.

Continued segregation of many young Maori from mainstream education

Part 3 Subpart 6 of the Bill provides for the continuing segregation of Maori children and young people from mainstream education though the provision of separate schooling (Kura Kaupapa Maori) at all levels catering almost exclusively to Maori.

It is unclear whether independent research has been conducted to see whether Kura Kaupapa Maori serve the best interests of these children and young people.

Transfer of rights and powers to "Maori"

Section 10(1) the definition of "school community" is broadened beyond the parents and families of school students to include "the Maori community associated with the school". This might be interpreted as a requirement by schools to consult beyond the immediate family of pupils and consult with local iwi.

Click here to see other provisions in the Bill that transfer powers to "Maori" and de facto Maori quotas eg that "Maori" contribute to decision making in Universities and Training providers

Under these provisions, all "Maori" are regarded as belonging to a generic minority "identity".

What you can do:

Probably the best way that we can have the Bill changed is by contacting New Zealand First MPs (and ACT's David Seymour) about how the Training and Education Bill will confer undue rights on Maori to influence the eduction of our children and young people. 

Email or write (Freepost Parliament) to NZ First MPs

urging them to propose amendments to the Bill that would remove all references to the Treaty, as outlined within section 9 of the Training and Education Bill. 

Winston Peters, Darroch Ball, Mark Patterson, Ron Mark, Shane Jones, Clayton Mitchell, Fletcher Tabuteau and Tracey Martin

David Seymour (ACT)

Submissions on the Bill closed 14 February 2020.

tell our MPs:

• that our children and young people should be treated as individuals, rather than as a sub-set of a politically constructed identity
• that we do not want future generations indoctrinated with Treaty propaganda
• that is is wrong to foist largely irrelevant, sanitised cultural propaganda: tikanga Maori and the so called te Ao Maori (Maori world view), in essence religious teachings, upon a largely non-Maori population
• that you do not support the granting of powers to unelected, unaccountable iwi elites
• that school staff should be employed solely on the basis of competence

which is why the Education and Training Bill must be amended to remove all race based preference as outlined within section 9 of the Bill

Other provisions in the Education and Training Bill that transfer powers to Maori and create de facto Maori quotas, as outlined in section 9(2):

• section 307(1)(c) power of Maori Advisory Committee to elect 1 member of the NZIST Board
• section 312(1) requires the NZIST to establish a Maori Advisory Committee
• section 312(3)(a) NZIST Council must consult with the Maori Advisory Committee
• education Councils acknowledge the principles of the Treaty in the exercise of their functions and powers
• the NZ Institute of Science and Technology collaborate with Maori and iwi partners to improve outcomes for Maori learners and Maori communities
• New Zealand Institute of Science and Technology: Schedule 13 requires that the Institute's governance, management and operations give effect to the Treaty of Waitangi etc; recognise that Maori are key actors in regional social, environmental, and economic development

De facto Maori quotas in employment rules

• section 258(2)(a) NZIST Council must include at least 1 "Maori"
• section 344(3)(b) Workforce Development Council must include representation by Maori employers
• section 128 a school Board's policies and practices must reflect cultural diversity. Presumably this governs Board's roles in the appointment of Principals, which may favour an applicant's ancestry over competence.
• section 380 the Tertiary Education Commission appoint members only after consultation with the Minister of Maori Development
• section 449(4)(b)(v) require the Minister to consider the collective understanding of partnership principles when considering appointments to the Teaching Council
• section 564(2)(d) general principles: schools and training providers to recognise the aims and aspirations of Maori, the employment requirements of Maori and the greater need of Maori in the education service

Under these provisions, all "Maori" are relegated to belonging to a generic minority "identity", stigmatised and patronised as requiring special attention regardless of their individual skills and unique personality.

Candidates are holding meetings up and down the country. We thought we would put together a few questions to ask your candidates. Go to a meeting and see how many you can get a response on. You may email candidates in your area. Let us know how you get on.

A delay in slip clearing at Kaikoura over the cultural concerns of a local runanga draws attention to looseness in historic places legislation that enables delays and costs for little reason.

A local runanga halted slip-clearing on earthquake-damaged State Highway 1 and the rail link north of Kaikoura, on Thursday, over concern about exposing or damaging cultural sites.

Everything grinds to a halt once there is any claim of cultural significance or sacredness.