Category: Constitutional Reform
Tribal leaders continue to make on-going demands for new rights and privileges based on claims of Treaty partnership and Maori sovereignty. The question that needs to be asked is whether such partnership and sovereignty claims are valid. The first example, which uses the Treaty partnership argument, is the situation in the Far North where iwi leaders are claiming guardianship rights over the region - “as affirmed in Te Tiriti o Waitangi as Treaty partners”.
This paper is concerned solely with the question of whether or not there is anything in the Treaty of Waitangi that requires it to be incorporated into a written constitution, and having the effect of conferring sovereignty in and over New Zealand on twenty first century Maori.
With just a week to go until the consultation phase of the government’s constitutional review comes to an end, if you haven’t already sent in a submission, you have until 5pm Wednesday July 31st to do so. The review has focussed public attention on the exercise of constitutional power in New Zealand. In doing so it has become clear that the Maori sovereignty movement has made significant progress towards their goal of the co-management of the country.
We write this open letter to you to express our dismay at recent remarks by Sir Tipene O’Regan, the co-chair of your government’s Constitutional Advisory Panel, as reported in the Otago Daily Times, and to ask what your attitude can be to an official panel which displays the predetermination and partiality which a good number of panel members clearly hold.
A campaign is presently underway to convince the public that racism in the government sector is responsible for the poor social outcomes of Maori. Predictably the solution offered is preferential treatment for Maori - by enshrining the ‘principles’ of the Treaty of Waitangi into law.
The Constitutional cake is finite. To increase the power of one group will diminish the rights of all other groups. The creation of one privileged minority group with either powers of veto, or to extract rent from necessary economic developments will damage New Zealand international competitiveness, suppress wealth creation, and give rise to widespread social resentment.
The 1986 Royal Commission on the Electoral System, which recommended that MMP replace FPP as New Zealand’s voting system, also recommended the abolition of the Maori seats on the basis that MMP would adequately increase the Parliamentary representation of minority groups including Maori.
On March 5, New Zealand held its census. And for four months starting next Monday, 25 March voting-age New Zealanders of Māori descent will have the option of switching between the Māori and general electoral rolls. The results of the census, and the Māori Option will be used to draw electorate boundaries for the next two general elections.
Over the last two weeks our constitutional review public information campaign advertisement has been published in newspapers across the country. We used the ad’ to inform the public that a review of our constitutional arrangements was taking place - and to encourage them to get involved. After all, public awareness is a key pre-requisite for any constitutional change process, and a Research New Zealand survey published in April had indicated that only a third of New Zealanders had even heard of the government’s review.
The deadline for feedback on the draft Auckland Unitary Plan closed on Friday, 31 May. Assuming Aucklanders can navigate their way around the council’s Unitary Plan website and delve into its labyrinthine text and maps successfully, they will discover many hidden marvels such as the raft of policies that racially privilege Maori over all other Auckland residents.
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