At last, a political leader has asserted that everyone in New Zealand owns the water, and that was National Party Leader Judith Collins.

Ihumatao is perhaps the most visible race-relations shambles that the next government will have to fix. Located near Auckland Airport, Ihumatao is where activists have protested against Fletcher’s plans to build almost 500 homes on land that it bought from a private owner whose family had owned it since it had been confiscated in 1863 as a consequence of tribal rebellions. 

Last Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she had “listened to Kiwis” and will make Matariki a public holiday from 2022 if re-elected. The Kiwis she had listened to were the 30,000 who had signed two petitions calling for Matariki to become a public holiday. Launched by Action Station and New Zealand Republic, these online petitions were handed to Labour MP Paul Eagle on Friday night, July 24. There were also the 630 people polled by the Labour Party’s research firm, UMR, in July, who backed a Matariki holiday.

Signature collecting is well under way after the New Plymouth District Council on July 21 voted to establish a Maori ward. A similar campaign is under discussion in Tauranga after the city council there on August 25 also voted for such a ward. Three other councils are being pushed to have separate voting or representation for members of their communities who may have Maori ancestry.

Once again, we are seeing appalling examples of Maori tribes taking the law into their own hands, and putting barriers around what they refer to as “their territory”, Hobson’s Pledge spokesman Don Brash said today.

The election campaign has started and the political parties have published their policies. What follows is where Labour, National, Green, ACT, NZ First, New Conservative, and the Maori Party stand on Hobson’s Pledge issues.

It is appalling that this Government, which pretends to oppose racism, nevertheless wants to allocate contracts for building infrastructure on the basis of the race of the contractor, Hobson’s Pledge spokesman Don Brash said today.

It is the height of arrogance for New Plymouth District councillors to decide to create a Maori ward in that city, despite 83 percent of those who voted on a similar proposition just five years ago rejecting it, Hobson’s Pledge spokesperson Casey Costello said today.

Will Judith Collins as the new National Party leader support the agreement between Te Kawerau a Maki and Fletchers to proceed with housing at Ihumatao, Hobson’s Pledge spokesperson Casey Costello said today.

A two-year inquiry by the Waitangi Tribunal predictably has found that the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 breaches the Treaty of Waitangi and prejudicially affects Maori.