OPEN LETTER: SAY NO TO MANDATORY INDOCTRINATION
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
OPEN LETTER: Add your name to the open letter to be sent to Vice Chancellor Dawn Freshwater of the University of Auckland objecting to the mandatory Māori course to launch in 2025.
PETITION: END THE WAITANGI TRIBUNAL
CONTEXT:
The Waitangi Tribunal is a standing commission of inquiry. It makes recommendations on claims brought by Māori relating to legislation, policies, actions or omissions of the Crown that are alleged to breach the promises made in the Treaty of Waitangi.
The role of the Tribunal is set out in section 5 of the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975.
By establishing the Waitangi Tribunal, Parliament provided a legal process by which Māori Treaty claims could be investigated. Tribunal inquiries contribute to the resolution of Treaty claims and to the reconciliation of outstanding issues between Māori and the Crown.
However, by the 1990s, the Tribunal was increasingly being perceived as an advocacy body rather than a commission of inquiry. There is no doubt that today that is the case.
Helen Clark's Labour Government introduced a September 2008 deadline for the lodgement of all historic claims. That date has been and gone long ago and yet the Waitangi Tribunal remains at significant cost to the taxpayer.
The Waitangi Tribunal consists of a chairperson and up to 20 members who are appointed for a three year term by the Governor-General – on the recommendation of the Minister of Maori Development. The chairperson must be either a judge or a retired judge of the High Court, or the chief judge of the Maori Land Court, but the rest of the members require no legal expertise.
If the Waitangi Tribunal is disbanded, any remaining claims could be dealt with either by direct negotiation with the Crown – which more and more claimants are doing anyway – or by recourse to the courts.
This is how all other disputes are resolved in New Zealand.
We call on the Government to end the Waitangi Tribunal.
It has done its dash. It was established just under 50 years ago to provide a legal process by which Māori Treaty claims could be investigated, but now continues to push its boundaries to influence more and more Government action.
It is the right time to close it down. It was always meant to be a temporary standing commission.
PETITION: We, the undersigned New Zealanders, call on the Government to end the Waitangi Tribunal. Any remaining or future claims can be dealt with either by direct negotiation with the Crown or in the courts.
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