Submission

SUBMISSION OPPOSING THE PRINCIPLES OF THE TREATY OF WAITANGI BILL

To the Select Committee considering the Treaty Principles Bill.

  1. My name is Jonathan Tucker, living in Northland, and write as a historian who has lived in Maori communities for many years.     
  • I expect the Select Committee to read and digest my submission.
  • I strongly oppose this ill-conceived Treaty Principles Bill.
  • The Bill seeks to place interpretation of te Tiriti principally in the hands of 21st Century politicians in a 21st century context,  This overturns the longstanding acceptance of legal precedent, and nullifies the intent of the 19th century signatories.
  • The intent of those signatories was driven by three perceived necessities of:
  • The Humanist movement in Britain whose members were aware of the damage caused by earlier colonisation, (and who would now be perceived derogatorily as ‘woke’).
  • The British Foreign Office which responded to Busby’s correspondence and sought to avoid confrontation with a vastly dominant indigenous population as at 1840
  • The hapu and Iwi leadership, whose Rangatira were very aware of the advantages of utilising Pakeha technology and discipline to alleviate the devastation of recent internecine warfare..

6.      Rangatira signatories of both versions of te Tiriti were placing their marks in good faith on the clear understanding  that the interests and well-being of their mokopuna and further descendants would be catered for, under the umbrella of the British crown. This bill works against this intent, by reducing their unique cultural taonga into the same category as all non-Maori cultures within this nation.

7.       The misleading use of the term equality by the ACT leader is not applicable in this context. It is a simplistic populist tool in the hands of a self-serving politician. The issue is about equity which is a totally different concept. Equality assumes that every New Zealander has identical cultural and socio-economic parameters. Equity allows for diverse opportunities to be available, suiting the culture and constraints of diverse citizens.  

8        As New Zealanders, we need to focus on the biculturalism between Tangata Whenua and those of us (of all cultures) who came to inhabit these motu after 1840. This does NOT preclude day-to-day inclusivity of the wonderful people of many other cultures who now live amongst us, but there is a real danger of being hoodwinked by Mr Seymour’s rhetoric into watering down te Tiriti under the guise of catering for multiculturalism. Maori culture and language is embedded into our uniqueness as a nation, and we owe it to the Waitangi signatories to defend its intent.

9.      The call for a referendum to justify overturning precedent is totally unacceptable. It is abundantly clear that with the use of social media and misinformation, the outcome would almost certainly run against the interests of Maori who are a minority of the voting public. This has clearly already been demonstrated by the overturning of public sentiment towards Australia’s indigenous Voice referendum, and the more recent US right wing election results driven by misinformation. The ACT Party and other extreme right wing influencers have a vast array of resources from overseas sources, especially the Atlas network, to manipulate the NZ voting public.

10.      As a nation our integrity and unique inclusive values are at stake. This Bill is totally unacceptable.