I have a lot to update you on today, so bear with me. This is more of a newsletter than my usual style. Some good news and some not so good, but either way we are busy at Hobson's Pledge HQ!
The ASA Decision
You may have seen media reports that the 600+ complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority about our advertisement on the front cover of the NZ Herald have been reviewed and the ASA Complaints Board has made a decision.
We were pleased to see that the majority of complaints about the advertisement were not upheld. However, the one small part that was upheld appears to tie itself in knots in its attempt to make something misleading out of the advertisement. We are considering our options and whether to appeal.
It is astounding that even though a majority ruled in our favour on most matters, a minority on the Advertising Standards Authority Board consistently held that statements unwelcome to Māori should be suppressed, irrespective of truth.
The tendency for amateur authoritarians to paint those whom they disagree with as ‘evil’ rather than just holding a differing viewpoint has been cancerous to our ability to debate important and difficult subjects. It was pleasing to see the following decisions in relation to nonsense complaints that sought to paint Hobson's Pledge as evil:
A majority of the Complaints Board said the advertisement did not reach the threshold to breach the ‘Decency and Offensiveness’ rule in the context of advocacy advertising.
A majority of the Complaints Board said the advertisement did not reach the threshold to cause fear or distress without justification.
We also note that the Complaints Board said they ‘accepted the source for the map and the factual claim that almost the entire coastline is under application for customary marine title.’ This was central to our advertisement and to have that validated is important.
MACA Submissions
As we shared with you a while back, we were having some real trouble with getting the Select Committee to accept your submissions if they didn't go through the special government web form.
We saw right through their objections. This is about control and deterring New Zealanders from exercising their right to submit on bills. They hate when groups such as ours work together to make having our say easier.
We offered to send submissions through in one file - their choice of type - and let them know that if we weren't able to do this we would print out every single submission and hand deliver them to Parliament.
I guess they didn't take us seriously.
On Tuesday we delivered 5166 submissions to Parliament on behalf of Hobson's Pledge supporters.
Update on defamation action
I have been touched by the level of support I have received thus far on this matter. Sometimes we just have to take a stand and refuse to let the usual suspects tell lies about us.
Here are some excerpts from the press release we sent out earlier this week:
Don Brash has today filed a defamation claim with the High Court in Auckland against Matthew Hooton after several attempts to resolve the matter privately.
Specialist defamation lawyers, Peter McKnight and Ali Romanos, have been retained as counsel for Dr Brash. Dr Brash received a delaying response from Mr Hooton’s lawyers just ninety minutes before the requested deadline and has been left with no choice but to file proceedings.
Mr Hooton seriously defamed Don Brash including suggesting he is profoundly dishonest, lacks integrity, and is corrupt. This goes far beyond disagreeing with what Dr Brash has said on any given matter and impugns his character in a very serious way.
In any case, debates relating to the Treaty cannot be allowed to deteriorate into personal attacks. It should not be beyond public figures to argue the facts and their beliefs without resorting to smearing reputations.
Outrageous new Prosecution Guidelines released by Solicitor General
If you haven't seen them already, prepare to be dismayed. Or furious, perhaps.
The guidelines quite literally call for a two-tiered approach to charging alleged criminals.
As the NZ Herald's Audrey Young wrote:
It is astonishing that the seasoned Solicitor-General, Una Jagose, KC, has got herself into political difficulty over the latest revision of the Prosecution Guidelines in which she asks prosecutors to “think carefully about particular decisions... where a person is Māori”.
...
She is clearly including guidance to think carefully about prosecuting when the offender is Māori.
That is problematic at any time, let alone for a Government that is united on one thing if nothing else – equal treatment of citizens.
As you might expect, Hobson's Pledge is horrified by this. We are in the process of pulling together a response. We are writing to each and every minister with a connection to this matter and pulling together a campaign to stop this race-based rubbish in its tracks.
Watch this space.
Gary Judd KC takes on regulations
Gary Judd KC has proven himself to be a heroic champion of common sense and equality. This week he brought another fight to the Parliament's Regulations Review Committee - the compulsory completion of Tikanga Māori courses for all law students.
Gary argues that tikanga is different from law and that if the compulsory courses go ahead "they will essentially be seen to be giving the green light to what is really just political activism."
Gary has also said:
“For a custom to be accepted as law, it had to be certain, consistent, reasonable, and it had to be not repugnant to justice and morality.
“If judges were doing their job properly, they would have said, ‘tikanga cannot satisfy these requirements, therefore we reject the notion of tikanga being part of the law’.”
He is correct. Tikanga is variable from whānau to hapū to iwi. It cannot be treated as law.
We will be keeping a close eye on this and will keep you in the loop.
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Phew! Quite a download of information for you.
Thank you for all your support on these issues and the many more that have come our way this year.