Last week I received an email from a colleague expressing outrage over his experience with the Electoral Commission.
The Electoral Commission is, of course, the independent Crown Entity tasked with running New Zealand’s General Elections. Since most of us are aware of the agency through the quirky antics of the “orange man” and his “orange dog”, let’s take a deeper dive to examine how they operate.
According to their website, they not only run our parliamentary elections and keep our electoral rolls up to date, but they also “work to provide an effective and impartial electoral system that New Zealanders understand and trust.”
Maintaining confidence in the electoral system is a key responsibility: “To keep confidence in the electoral system, we stay neutral, uphold and follow electoral law and work independently from government.”
All of this is what New Zealanders should expect from the organisation that runs our elections, which is why the outraged email was so unexpected.
I’ll let this week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator Dr Barend Vlaardingerbroek, a retired Professor of Education, tell the story:
“My wife urged me to apply for a job with the Electoral Commission for the upcoming elections. I’m rather limited in what I can do with regards to mobility, but I can be pretty handy sitting at a desk and doing some serious number-crunching or other administrative tasks. I was an Area Supervisor for the 1980 PNG National Population Census which involves admin skills similar to those required to run an election. So I went on-line and completed a form, stipulating that I was after a part-time position at the local elections HQ.
“A few days later, I received an email inviting me to an interview. The message contained the following: ‘At the interview, you will be asked… to agree to learn about our values and grow your knowledge of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the workplace…’
“‘To agree to learn about our values’…… Um, are we on about professionalism and integrity here? I have those already, I don’t need to ‘learn’ about them. In fact it’s just a wee bit offensive to suggest that I need ‘educating’ in those.
“But then the punchline: ‘…grow your knowledge of ToW in the workplace.’
“Now what in the blazes could a mid-19thC treaty (using the term loosely, as it did not meet the requirements of international law) between the British Empire and some chiefs of neolithic tribes have to do with running a 21stC national election the likes of which didn’t even exist in 1840?
“Answer: ZILCH. It’s just another opportunity for the ‘treaty’ zealots to have a crack at indoctrinating a captive audience.”
Indeed, Treaty zealots have been having a field day in New Zealand over the last nine years, as public institutions have been forced to embrace “Te Tiriti” – an extremist fabrication of the Treaty that’s been weaponised by separatists to deliver co-governance, partnership, and a Maori world view.
But here’s the real question: How can it be appropriate that the Electoral Commission — a public sector agency that’s meant to be politically neutral and independent of Government policy — entrenches the highly political doctrine of “Te Tiriti” and the values of Tuhonohono, Arataki, Uakaha, Manaaki, and Tika, and requires staff to demonstrate allegiance?
Since Te Tiriti underpins a radical Maori sovereignty agenda, wouldn’t embedding it raise concerns about the Commission’s ability to conduct fair elections – in particular, that they might be tempted to turn a blind eye to irregularities lest it offends a “Treaty partner”?
In fact, isn’t that what happened at the last election when the Electoral Commission chose not to refer allegations of “treating” by the Manurewa Marae – which was being used as a polling booth and where the Chief Executive was standing as a candidate for the Maori Party – to the Police, even though voters were being offered free hangi, doughnuts, hot chocolate, coffee and even ice cream?
While that’s an important question, so too is a more fundamental one: Why is the Electoral Commission still pushing Labour Party ideology, when the new Government rejected such framing almost three years ago?
Let’s start with asking whether the law allows the Electoral Commission to push a political agenda?
The answer is an emphatic “no”.
According to the Electoral Act 1993, the Electoral Commission was established to “administer the electoral system impartially, efficiently, effectively, and in a way that facilitates participation in parliamentary democracy, promotes understanding of the electoral system, and maintains confidence in the administration of the electoral system.”
It states in section 7: “The Electoral Commission must act independently in performing its statutory functions and duties, and exercising its statutory powers, under this Act.”
Furthermore, the Electoral Commission is categorised as an “Independent Crown Entity” under Section 7 of the Crown Entities Act 2004, which makes it “independent of government policy”.
That means that while the Ardern Labour Government’s Cabinet Priorities Committee resolution in March 2018, that “building closer partnerships with Maori” would be a priority outcome, triggered a seismic ideological shift across the State Sector led by the Office for Maori Crown Relations working in collaboration with iwi leaders, the Electoral Commission and other Independent Crown Entities were protected from such centralised “partnership” indoctrination by their statute.
To get around this, in 2019 – under the Crown Entities Act 2004 – the Minister of Finance issued Enduring Letters of Expectations to the chairs of all Crown entities to signal the Government’s long‑term priorities. This non-legislative directive from Grant Robertson, which superseded the previous Letter from 2012, effectively politicised the Electoral Commission:
“We expect your entities to embody the Government’s good-faith and collaborative approach to Maori Crown relationships by engaging appropriately with Maori, pursuing further opportunities for partnership with Maori entities, building staff Maori cultural capability including knowledge of tikanga Maori, te ao Maori, New Zealand history and how to address institutional racism, improving the Treaty-consistency of policy and practices, and supporting the revitalisation of te reo Maori.”
Whether it was the result of this directive to proactively adopt what was to become Labour’s He Puapua agenda, or other pressures, Budget 2022 funding enabled the Electoral Commission to appoint a Chief Maori Advisor and two staff as a dedicated team to entrench a Maori strategy and undertake cultural competency training of staff.
The Electoral Commission’s website explains: “Chief Maori Advisor Hone Matthews leads a team which helps embed a Maori worldview throughout the Commission to honour our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Hone’s team are committed to prioritising engagement and partnership with Tangata Whenua to build trust that influences positive long-term participation in Aotearoa’s democracy.”
By establishing a partnership with iwi and adopting a Maori worldview, the Commission has profoundly deviated from its statutory role of administering elections impartially and treating all voters equally. Its use of “Aotearoa” instead of “New Zealand” further signals an activist approach rather than the politically neutral role Parliament requires.
As we now know, the consequences of this shift are visible in the recruitment of election workers, where some job descriptions spell out that successful applicants are required to operate within a Maori cultural framework: “Demonstrate cultural competence by actively incorporating te reo Maori and tikanga Maori in interactions and upholding the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.”
Others explain: “We have an important role in supporting the Crown in its relationships with Maori under the Treaty of Waitangi.”
So, while the Electoral Commission is meant to be an autonomous statutory authority whose legitimacy depends on its independence from political influence, it appears to see itself as part of the Crown–Maori partnership machinery of Government.
The implications are important. The integrity of an electoral system depends not only on independence and fairness, but on the perception of independence and fairness. Once the Commission embeds a Maori worldview throughout the organisation, it risks eroding confidence amongst voters who expect impartiality.
As the body responsible for safeguarding our democracy, New Zealanders expect the Electoral Commission to stand above politics. But their Maori Strategy challenges that assumption.
Whether or not this has something to do with their declining voter confidence rating is not clear, but according to their 2025 Annual Report, the percentage of surveyed eligible voters who have ‘total or high’ confidence that Electoral Commission staff conduct Parliamentary elections impartially in New Zealand has declined from 71 percent in 2023/24 to 63 percent in 2024/25.
What is clear, however, is that in early 2024, Finance Minister Nicola Willis, issued a new Enduring Letter of Expectations to the board chairs of all statutory Crown Entities including the Electoral Commission, that redirected their focus away from Labour’s prioritisation of the Maori-Crown relationship onto financial restraint, cost-cutting, maximising organisational efficiency, and upholding the principle of political neutrality.
The fact that the Minister’s 2024 Letter was silent on Labour’s Treaty partnership agenda meant that objective was no longer an enduring expectation of the new Government.
Since Crown Entities are expected to align with the priorities expressed in the current Letter, by continuing to promote its Maori strategy, the Electoral Commission has in effect not only thumbed its nose at the Government, but it has also rejected its obligation to uphold its crucial commitment to political neutrality.
Furthermore, by linking “Te Tiriti” explicitly to “our values” in their email to election job applicants, the Electoral Commission is framing the Treaty as an organisational value that staff are expected to internalise. This risks driving away highly capable applicants who respect the statutory electoral framework but reject Treaty indoctrination.
In other words, the Commission’s actions do not align with the Government’s expectations of political neutrality – nor with their removal of Maori-Crown relationship priorities through their 2024 directive. Instead, the perception remains that the Electoral Commission is continuing to operate under Labour’s policy settings.
Following the 2023 General Election, the concerns raised about the performance of the Electoral Commission were so serious that multiple investigations were undertaken into alleged conflicts of interest, miscounts, data‑entry errors, misplaced ballot boxes, inadequate quality‑assurance checks, and an organisational culture that allowed basic safeguards to slip.
Now their Maori strategy and radical recruitment requirements raise concerns about the integrity of the 2026 election.
Has the Electoral Commission made a seriously wrong turn?
It is now up to the Government to determine if anything should be done.
What this whole sorry saga highlights is that the Coalition has not been direct enough when it comes to insisting the State Sector delivers their agenda and not that of the former Government. Because the only explanation for what is going on is that key staff in public institutions like the Electoral Commission, are still committed to delivering the political goals of the exiled Jacinda Ardern.
In effect, that means policy directives, including the Enduring Letter of Expectations, should not only promote the new Government’s agenda, but they should explicitly rule out the previous one.
In other words, the Electoral Commission should have been required to disestablish its Maori strategy in order to focus on political neutrality and equal rights.
This, of course, is exactly what voters expected when they gave a mandate to the Coalition at the last election to remove He Puapua and co-governance. But instead of specifying the necessary steps – namely, the complete de-funding and removal of race‑based programmes in the public sector – the Coalition appeared to assume the bureaucracy would “do the right thing.”
What these concerns over the Electoral Commission have highlighted is not only how deeply entrenched these separatist frameworks have become, but how fiercely the powerful vested interests are resisting disestablishment. That means that if neutrality is to be restored, sweeping structural change is now unavoidable.
Meanwhile the head of the Electoral Commission needs to explain what will be done to ensure the 28,000 New Zealanders applying to help run the 2026 election are not subjected to separatist indoctrination.
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THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
*Is it acceptable that the supposedly politically neutral Electoral Commission requires applicants for election jobs to be subjected to Te Tiriti o Waitangi indoctrination as a condition of their employment?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| That is ‘forcing’ people to participate. Treaty stuff has nothing to do with and employment etc. Stop this now. | Rod |
| Anything MAARI, politics, MSM, news cannot be trusted anymore…. see how they are trying to gerrymander, the voting system all-ready? watch for the, rinse repeat and serve stunt……… | David |
| What in the world, does the Treaty have to be able to do their job better? especially when there is no proper record of Maori history, or record of true culture? This is more force fed Maori mumbo Jumbo B.S! | David |
| Destabilise the Electrolyte Commission. | Natalie |
| Totally unacceptable. Protest!! | Lenice |
| Definitely not. | Mark |
| Absolutely No! It’s hard to comtemplate that the CEO’s and Boards allow such clauses and practices to be inserted in their employment policies. Surely they must notice such requirements are a doctrine of the radical left. This can’t be happening in New Zealand. | Paul |
| Has Dr Barend V. approached Act party with his concerns? | Monica |
| NO, NO, NO! CORRUPTION IS ALL I SEE!!! | Peter |
| No wonder nothing happened over the manurewa marae scandal | Wynne |
| This crap has got to stop, not only with the EC but everywhere it practiced. | Allan |
| Appalling | John |
| Another example of Luxon’s vacillating on this issue. Beyond me why he has not got the message. Main reason National are losing support | Lindsay |
| Absolutely out of line. What part of neutral do they not understand? | John |
| Of course not | Roy |
| HELL NO! | Gavin |
| Te Tiriti has nothing of relevance to participating in running an election beyond the simple recognition that Maori have the same rights as British subjects. It might be useful for election employees to learn something of the constitutional law changes that resulted in NZ gaining a measure of independence from England and that led to our democratic system. However, for a temporary, part-time job such training would be expensive and would add little to any competence required from the employees. | Johan |
| It is Just crazy | Neville |
| NO..NO..NO… RACIST LAWS SUCK! and should be no part of any new administration, as well as laws that require preferencial choice by racial identity, why are other political parties not recognising this fact?? Need to start PREPARING FOR THE WORST! | David |
| Without a doubt | |
| This Maori bull shit is costing this country dearly.. | Murray |
| Keep the ToW out of it.. | Barry |
| NO, NO, NO | Stewart |
| One law for all. | Lachlan |
| Absolutely no. Te Tiriti is a fabrication by activists who are strangers to the truth. Impartiality and democracy are thin on the ground and not readily recognised by the idiots in charge. Maybe they’ll recognise defeat in the ballot box. | Peter |
| Outrageous attempts at indoctrination to the last man standing!!! | Karen R |
| Let us all be one . | Graham |
| Who is the person who authorised this, sack them then re-advertise all of the positions that have alredy been made. | allen |
| That it is , is beyond comprehension | tony |
| Underhand agenda and not in accordance with “One nation one people”. Jobs for the boys at the public expense and further bureaucracy building legislation and separatism we do not want. | John |
| This TOW nonsense must stop. Everyone KNOWS that when it was signed Maori became British Subjects and ceeded sovereignty. There is nothing wrong with learning about accurate history in school but that’s the only place it should be taught. And it really needs to be accurate history…. | Cath |
| I have written an email to the commerce commission to explain its current stance and have receive no reply | Graham |
| Another rort | Chris |
| Govt needs to Look Seriously into This Electoral Commission Urgently and Remove This Training Breaches | leo |
| How do you find out WHO made this decision. I’ll bet NOBODY. | Denis |
| Worked for the Commission for 9 years. As a very successful community service contractor I found this upsetting and moreover racial in its decision. As well as having the management questioned over their marketing and operational decisions over the past few years. We had a special planning meeting called one day that turned into a Treaty of Waitangi presentation – not a forum. Recently I have received feedback from both field workers and the public that some Commission workers have been saying to prospective voters “Enrol so we can get this lot out” – So wrong – and I have a lot to say, which can be backed up by others who worked with me. If you would like to talk I’d be fine. | Wyndham |
| A BIG FAT NO from me,and a raised big fat middle finger,to them for requiring me to.How bloody racist. | Mike |
| This is democracy being destroyed. for me this is freedom of choice @ Elections made more difficult for the majority.& to think 90 plus cannot speak Maori , | Michael Andrew. |
| SO, what exactly is being done to correct this “Ardern Maorification”? Surely, the Coalition ought to be totally over this like an “Airplane Bomber”…How has this been allowed to have ‘slipped’ through unnoticed & still to be completelyu sorted out…can anyone tell me…. ANYONE PLEASE…? | Bruce |
| Certainly NOT. It is an independent government agency it should simply apply the Law that it operates under. | Keith |
| This is just another example of unwanted political influence to give a minority special privileges. When is the government going to uphold the one rule for all policy? | Mary |
| the individuals behind this indoctrination requirement must immediately be named and fired .it is totally unacceptable. If people cannot have confidence in the election process we will have anarchy. | Bruce |
| This and all other spiritual based time wasting has to be stopped. We CANNOT afford it. | Alastair |
| Definitely not! They MUST remain politically neutral. | John |
| This is a blatant attempt to indoctrinate people politically and culturally in their roles assisting at the election into assisting in dividing New Zealanders on racial ideology and values not shared in order to gain what should be a non political appointment. | Kay. |
| Let’s hope this election will bring about a more effective coalition Government that will enforce what they say in removing “Te Tiriti” all sectors of our Public Service. Who knows, pigs may fly! | Martin |
| The Electoral Commission is supposed to be politically neutral. This must be stopped. | Steve |
| How bizarre! The Electoral Commission needs to be made to return to total neutrality before the election. Right now, before all the wrong people are employed to cover the NUETRAL jobs. | Patricia |
| Wake up National.You were elected to clean this stuff out. | William |
| Elections are not even mentioned in the Treaty. Totally irrelevant. | Ross |
| We should have moved on from all tow years ago. 1 people 1 country | John |
| One of the greatest disappointments of the current coalition is their inaction in this area, particularly after all the promises. | John |
| Their job is to facilitate the process of casting a vote – whomever that may be for. And making sure that vote is counted. | Mark |
| Totally wrong | Murray |
| This has become an absolute circus of manipulation. | Lindsey |
| it has nothing to do with voting other than it could bias toward Maori in the long term. | Stephen |
| Long over due | Richard |
| WHAT A JOKE | cliff |
| This is absolutely outrageouss | Jenny |
| Absolutely No!!! | Maxwell |
| Another example of the Maorification of what should be a politically independent New Zealand institution.it is about time the National party grew some testicular strength and carried out what was promised before the last election and get rid of this insidious advance of co governance. | John |
| The coalition must step in and stop this rubbish, and do it NOW | Tina |
| Apartheid | Varina |
| Good grief, I thought this had been knocked on the head. Flagrant disregard of government instruction is grounds for instant dismissal. WHO monitors these outfits? This is so important the management are not fit for purpose by disregarding it which equates to loss of job. Needs giving. Pronto. | Mike |
| One of the best things about retirement is I no longer have to sit and be forced to listen to this agenda working as a practice nurse, it was mandatory to go annually ( in my own time for 3 hours) to be force fed some pretty offensive and inflammatory and downright racist talks on this subject. It was a box that had to be ticked off when completing your education requirements. | Karin |
| This is a continuation of pure racism, which the majority voted to get rid of in the last elections.We want a politically neutral and independent electoral commission. Why have we STILL not got it, despite voting it in last election | Susan |
| This indicates the Commission is biased towards Maori indoctrination. One law for all | Kathryn |
| At is SO disappointing that the current government have been so weak in reversing what they committed to when campaigning to get elected ! | Laurie |
| The Country is stuffed!!!! | Bruce |
| The EC is meant to be impartial !! | Rob |
| Unacceptable for the last election and bureaucratic defiance this time. Drain the swamp! | Grumpy |
| The NO should be in capitals!! | Ian |
| THE DOGS TAIL HAS TO STOP WAGING THE THE DOG IF IT WONT THEN IT WILL HAVE TO BE CUT OFF TO MAINTAIN THE HEALTH OF THE DOG | Noel |
| This disgraceful racist intrusion into our Public Service needs to be stopped NOW! | Peter |
| No comment needed!! | Steve |
| Someone needs to monitor issues that relate to changes in govt policy | Joan |
| This is totally disgusting and should not be happening, but this is not the only place where this sort of thing goes on, it happens in the HEALTH sector, Education, and all other Government departments, and in the odd private sectors. This is absolutely WRONG, some one should be kicked up the ass and delt to, but the Government let’s it happen and does nothing to stop it it’s wrong, wrong, wrong. If that other SHIT lot get back into power we are all stuffed, the country will be totally buggered and the bloody gangs will become the police force, THEN WHAT. And just remember that’s were it all started to get out of hand, with them . If this carryon is NOT RACIST then what the hell is?, it’s total BULL SHIT and it has to STOP. We are one COUNTRY, ONE PEOPLE, ONE LAW and lets just get on and live our best life in this beautiful country we live in and show the rest of the world how it’s done. | COLIN |
| The swamp needs to be drained, and quickly. What a mess NZ finds itself in. Willis, like Stamford, has been let down by her bureaucrats. | Keith |
| The election is for every person to vote honestly and choose the party they want in power. There should be no bribery or corruption. There should be no compulsion to learn about the Treaty. We need to move on. | Dianne |
| Absolutely not. Anyone involved in this activity at the Electoral Commission should be immediately fired. | Paul |
| Typical activist methods still used by the grey brigade of woke government servants | John |
| A criminal waste of taxpayer money and time! | John |
| Totally wrong on every level AND NOT relevant | Barry |
| boss should be sacked | john |
| Breach of their impartiality. | Tony |
| The Electoral Commission is meant to be politically neutral. | Helen |
| Nazism under another name!!! Disgusting. | Angus |
| Hell NO. Why do maori party and their followers get a free pass to do anything at election time. Bribes, free handouts, on marae voting. Coruption in plain sight. Now indoctrination of maori beliefs and religion to all electoral staff. This is against the law. This current govt MUST END IT NOW. | Kevan |
| It has no relevance to the function of their job, so a Big Fat NO. | John |
| No, its disgusting. Those responsible should be publicly named. | Geoff |
| Maori garbage foisted into goverment departments by treaty separatists. David Seymour and ACT will sort thismess out given the chance | Ian |
| has this issue been brought to the attention of each of the coaltion partners? and the relevant Minister? | John |
| Disgraceful | William |
| This is ABSOLUTELY unacceptable. | CHARLES |
| Absolutely not. Elections should be totally neutral as regards to Race as long as all other requirements are met. | Laurel |
| So what is going to be done about this maori racial ideology creep into a democratic vote in 2026. | Laurine |
| Absolutely nothing to do with administration of a national election for forming a government. | Don |
| Absolutely no. How brazenly racist is that. If the National party hadn’t been so weak on reducing all things Maori this would have disappeared long ago. Once again National have let NZ down. | Peter |
| Political neutrality is what everyone expects for a fair election result. | William |
| Current Govt must act now to stop this nonsense. | John |
| nonsense | Gerard |
| I am so anti this strategy | Donald |
| I can’t believe it! Maori racism against the majority of new Zealanders | Sheryl |
| Completely out of order and patently against their responsibility for neutrality etc! | Ken and Audrey |
| It seems everything has to do with the Treaty. I am sick of it and at 78 yrs hope to be dead before New Zealand becomes like Zimbabwe | Gillian |
| Major change required in the Electoral Commission and all other Government Departments. | NOEL |
| How diabolical that such nonsense is still being shoved down our throats. Whoever is doing the maori mumbo jumbo push should be fired forthwith and replaced with a suitably qualified human being. | Dianna |
| I am furious about this. This election is already compromised because of this. As you have said in your letter look how Manurewa Marae has gotten away with what they did. | Greg |
| Absolutely not | Paul |
| I fear for the impartial running of elections. Indoctrination about the Treaty should have no place whatsoever in interviewing potential candidates to help out on election day! | Bertina |
| Disgraceful and a breach of the Human Rights Act. | Grant |
| Integrity is an unknown word in the halls of bureauracy. Rigged elections are now very commonplace throughout the western countries. A result for the left wont be a surprise if the elections are not rigorously examined for rigged results. Trust in NZ government, bureauracy, and msm is down the drain. You will own nothing and be happy! yeah right!! | Alan |
| All involved should be politically neutral. | Peter |
| Absolutely not. | Michael |
| Absolutely not. Yet another example of systematic political enforcement by woke bureacrats whom the current government has failed to reign in. | Hugh |
| No, No, No! | Bill |
| The Coalition must act to ensure all such Maori policies are removed from all Public Service entities. | Colin |
| This is an area where the govt. and particularly National has let us down and not kept their pre- election promise | Allan |
| Maori here Islam there How the west is lost Suicidal empathy | David |
| No way | Rick |
| New Zealand is moving very quickly towards apartheid government which us totally aganst what the majority of New Zealanders want. | Lois |
| Whoever made that decision should be fired immediately. | Denis |
| should not have anything to do with it | Colin |
| Absolutely not!!! | Chrissie |
| COME ON YOU MEMBERS OF PARLIMENT AND GET RID OF THESE PROBLEMS. SHOW SOME BACKBONE , AND CHANGE THINGS FOR THE BETTER | William |
| NO. | Roy |
| B Absolutely not. | John |
| No, certainly not. And I have always been deeply concerned about the Electoral Commission’s endless advertising to push people on to the maori electoral roll. Not their business at all. | Trevor |
| just get rid of this shit…. | John |
| Absolutely not! The English version of “Voting in the 2026 General Election” uses “whanau” instead of “family”, an example of the thin sedge of the wedge! | John |
| Absolutely not | Charles |
| undemocratic at the moment how can we have any confidence in the present system to be honest | Doug |
| Racist separatism has no place in NZ. | Paul |
| Sadly this indoctrination has been enforced for decades now. And the current coalition has done NOTHING to stop it! | Peter |
| A resounding NO, elections or the process of has neither a legal requirement nor a Treaty obligation. | Anthony |
| The Electoral Commission must focus on political neutrality and equal rights. What on earth has cultural competence got to do with performing the statutory functions? | Jenny |
| NEVER! Enough of this treaty tribalism, end it now. | Hohepa |
| One law for all. | Brian Damage |
| When oh when is this govt going to do what they promised last time The clock is ticking | Greg |
| The head of the Electoral Commission should be summarily and publicly dismissed for this however the fact that this appears to be impossible to do is the core reason we continue to slide ever so slowly backwards as a country | Tony |
| It is corruption at the highest levels- when will police become involved | Ihaia |
| Yet more egregious political interference from the activist class promoting their racist agenda. This is precisely what we elected Luxon to stamp out and yet here we are again. | John |
| This is forcing applicants to agree to promoting a political cause, which violates their human rights. | Barend |
| Her we go again maori B S | Grahame |
| End this Racist Divisive Maorification being imbedded now in Every Facet of NZ life. | Derek |
| The Electoral Commission must act independently in performing its statutory functions and duties, and exercising its statutory powers, Not promoting old labour ideology | Bruce |
| This is so wrong! | Tracy |
| Absolutely NOT! | Gray |
| Diabolical! | Pam |
| What is required for this part time position I would have thought honesty and computer skills more appropriate | Felicity |
| the problem is the readers of this blog are appalled by the treaty nonsense- but nothing is being achieved to stop it- national wimped out. act was shut down in its attempt to preserve democracy . we will go to the brink before the majority realize the agenda. the public service enablers will suffer no consequences, and the politicians retire on the silver plated tax payer funded supers. | mary |
| Racism | Cal |
| And the gutless wonders in the National Party will do exactly nothing about it. | ANTHONY |
| Disappointed in both ACT and NZ First for not stopping this Expected nothing from National | Barry |
| This is so wrong for the electoral commission to be involved with. They are supposed to be neutral on politics, religion, race, etc. | Lyn |
| That’s not impartial, that’s blatant recism, eough said | Trevor |
| I’m heading overseas for three months, if I was here my plan was to sign up to work but to cross out that paragraph and see what happened. | Ken |
| It’s wrong and it’s racist because the EC are prioritizing one race above all the other races who will be voting. I worked last year for the EC and have no intention of apply this year due to that requirement | Rowena |
| The current govt is to slow | John |
| Democracy demands a neutral bureaucracy. Maybe all government department heads should be replaced after every election. | Mark |
| Te tiriti has no place in elections in New Zealand. We want proof that it will be removed as a condition of employment for applicants for election jobs. | Dianne |
| Those leading the electoral commission should be sacked and people appointed who are and show that they are totally neutral. | Carol |
| After the Manurewa marae debacle in2023 and all their other shortcomings, the entire Commission should have been sacked | Bruce |
| What is going on. Under no circumstances should should the ELECTORAL COMMISSION be requiring applicants to undergo TE TIRITI indoctrination. WHAT AN ABSOLUTE LOAD OF BS. What the hell is happening to our country. WAKE UP POLITICIANS | ROB |
| Absolutely not. | Daphne |
| Unbelievable!! | chris |
| Emphatically NO | Carol |
| Definitely NO I have been a proud election day worker for over 25 years it breaks my heart to see what is now required. | Diane |
| I will not agree to political influence or interference as a vote counter. I will not subject myself and neither should any other worker in/for the Electoral Commission be subject ot racial indoctrination. The Crown is not Government and should not be subject to any racial political policy no matter where it comes from. Enough is enough. | Kevin |
| Bordering on tyrany where a few want impose their rules on the rest of the population. There are countries in the world where this has been successful. | ido |
| Absolutely not. The Commission should be totally neutral in every respect and not get involved in devisive politics as it might appear to be doing. | Phil |
| Time for a clean out at the Commission. This is electoral tampering | Noel |
| Those involved within the Electoral Commission who have ignored current government directives rectifying the pro Maori activism should be dismissed and the position of political neutrality must be firmly enforced as operational policy. | Stephen |
| Absolutely no way. The EC’s role is to remain impartial. They are being run by captured, woke beaurocrats. Clean out the swamp. Where is the Election Integrity? | Teresa |
| absolutely not! | Yvonne |
| The Government should come down stronger on the Electoral Commission immediately! Also on all Government Agencies to adhere immediately and follow this Governments directives. How can the people of NEW ZEALAND trust we have a DEMOCRACY in New Zealand. | ROS |
| Bloody cheek! https://roddyaxn.github.io/One-tick-election-protest-for-INDEPENDENT/ | Neil |
| Beggars belief all this maori crap in the 21st Century. | Judy |
| Labor were ousted and we were hoping the extremist ideology would go as well and recognition of one people would be established. | Dave |
| This indoctrination must stop! | Stephanie |
| I have applied for a job on election day and they said nothing about learning Maori during the interview, if they had that would have been the end for me. | Don |
| Heartily sick and tired of this racism. | Jacqui |
| Emphatically NO..NEVER | Robyn |
| Because such is the antithesis of impartiality. | Peter |
| Absolutely NO | Gordon |
| To me this ‘directive’ clearly illustrates the political bias of what seems to be more and more racial interference by today’s government ‘driving’ their maorification of New Zealand society – all being aided and abetered by staunch activist racists seemingly working with the blessing of the now widely percieved undemocratic self styled secretive leader of this country!!!! | Stuart |
| But then this IS APARTHEID NZ, we live in. | Geoff |
| Sack the whole lot of them starting with the “Big Boss!” | Helen |
| Any requirement, should such a thing may be required, should be the ability to communicate in English. | Roger |
| absolutly not, how can it be impartial . | Ian |
| The Electoral Commission has abandoned the value of neutrality. How can it ethically/morally/legally/effectively do its job when it is has done so. The heads responsible should be sacked and replaced. NZ people voted in 2023, the electoral commission of all entities should be supporting the democratic process and the will of the people – that is for our public institutions to abandon the forceful pushing of any and all selective Maori agenda(s) or world view(s). | Peter |
| No, emphatically no! Time to remove all these requirements for any job application. It’s what we expected our coalition Government to do. | Lee |
| The electoral commission should explain | Murray |
| Definitely not. This Coalition (read National) are too weak to do anything to stop co-governance and all the handouts that are going to certain “tribes”. | Peter |
| Absolutely Not! This is appalling and outright positive racism! Sack the CEO | Mark |
| I was refused a position as a Safety Inspector because I said there were no Treaty Principles. | Murray |
| I was shocked when I read this. Why isn’t the Govt doing something about it? | Lynton |
| So much for democracy ! | Pete |
| Just when is this continued political interference, ‘adding cost to everything’ going to stop. As well as costly it it even more NON PRODUCTIVE. | Maurice |
| cancel elections until neutrality has been reestablished | Graeme |
| That requirement has corrupted the integrity of the 2026 elections. How can we trust the outcome if the Commission’s staff are all ideologically brainwashed? | Fiona |
| Time for heads to roll. | Nick |
| Its utterly toxic to electoral principles. | B |
| Time we adopted what some other countries do – with a change of Govt, all the senior “civil” servants are replaced… | Noel |
| This situation also covers why we have difficulty recruiting medical staff from overseas. This whole takeover of every aspect of employment is a madness out of hand. | Lynette |
| The current government must make its intentions do apply to public servants! | Rosalie |
| It’s totally unnecessary for the job. | Janet |
| No way is it right to indoctrinate volunteers in this way | Mark |
| Maorification at its worst & must be eliminated! | Michael |
| Tis again shows the level of indoctrination that has consumed all govt appointments over the previous years. | graham |
| Simply wrong | Howard |
| This is racism. It is not good governance it is wilfull ignorance of the expectation of true democracy, as New Zealand once had. | Margaret |
| Bs. | Mark |
| No way, maybe some disobedient heads should roll. | Leon |
| this beggars belief! | Michael |
| This crap makes my blood boil. | Murray |
| Did Maoris have elections prior to early European settlers arriving ?? | Laurie |
| Absolutely no. I am fed up with all the skullduggery going on in Govt departments. | Tim |
| Of course not, 200 %. Who are they . If that is the case , we are not required to vote at all, not at any time. Get your act together first, and then apply the agreed system in court before the whole country can vote it in or out. Does your left hand know what your right hand is doing ??? | Henk |
| Absolutely not !!!!!!!!!!!!! We have all had a gutsful of indocrination agendas and perhaps it needs a revolution to get NEW ZEALAND back where it belongs and rid us totally of Maori indocrination in any form. We have just turned off our TV because like huge numbers of NZ’s we are sick of “Aoearoa” NZ, “Otepoti” Dunedin, “Tamaki Makarau” Auckland etc etc etc. Show some guts Luxon and stop all this rubbish before the public at large does it for you. | Alan |
| Purge this foolish ideology from all political matters. It is time to unite the nation : not continue to divide it. The Green Party is ideology enough to deal with!!!! | Peter |
| I, as a New Zealander, have seen these roles on the SEEK site and have not applied, as I do not want to go under “Te Tiriti indoctrination for a job that is simple for any with common sense and who has done admin work. I feel insulted. It will be interesting who I see when I go and cast my vote at the polling booth. | Jackie |
| The apartheid agenda being promoted by government agencies has to be stamped out. | Rob |
| Definitely not, we don’t stand a chance with the mentality of our left wing public servants and our left wing media. | Wayne |
| It is a brain washing exercise…..when independece is paramount and under the instruct of the Finance minister to run nuetral and equal treatment to all involved. | Gavin |
| The Treaty indoctrination and forced adherence to, must be cancelled. | Megan |
| The commission should be free of all types of political influences. | Theo |
| Emphatically NO | Ian |
| oUTRAGEOUS | Thomas |
| Even asking such stupid racist questions and forcing compliance with it just outs these lowlife bureaucrats as treasonous scum. There is a tremendous amount of cost savings that can be made by slashing the captured bloated public sector to the bone. | Richard |
| It is amazing how this nonsense still occurs. Do we need to sack all of them and start again with proper neutrality? It is frightening to say the least. | Fraser |
| Absolutely NOT !! | David |
| This is yet another example of another commission thumbing their nose at the Govt direction and advice. There has to be a good clean out of Govt Commissions AND Departments in the very near future. But do we have the leadership to do so??? | William |
| It should be impartial and I don’t agree you should attend a course on the ToW | Christine |
| Of course not. | Anthony |
| No organisation, public or private should make indoctrinated in the treaty a requirement for anything | Alec |
| Absolutely NOT!!! | Barbara |
| Emphatic NO! Who the dickens does the esteemed commission think they are? Sack the head. | Mick |
| Absolutely not! What a disgrace! | black.forest |
| Absolutely not | Ron |
| This Govt was elected in on the promise to halt this Maori indoctrination into job descriptions, professional organisations and all facets of Govt. Over the last three years it has increased. ACT gets my vote again! | Rob |
| Name and shame the head of the Electoral Commission. | Alastair |
| It is totally pathetic BUT they are getting away with it. | Dkick |
| When is all this nonsense going to stop? It has no place in our everyday lives. It and the Waitangi Tribunal should be confined to history which would allow us all to be treated as New Zealanders instead of being divided by race as is the case now,. | Bev |
| Definitely not. They should be ensuring that there is no indoctrination | Les |
| Definitely NOT. Why does 3% of the population that speaks Maori have any pressure in anything. I wouldn’t mind betting that only about half of the 3% will even vote a stacked ballot at the marae and paid in free food. and maybe assistance (interference) on what boxes to tick, Is there an adjudicator on site????? NO marae should have the right to be a polling booth. It should be schools halls only.. | jakz |
| No, we are at the crossroads now with the election coming up. If Labour and any of the other lot get in we can kiss goodbye to NZ as we know it. | Judy |
| I have thought that if everyone was to present there family history and the credentials at every meeting it would draw attention to this farsical maori opening. My family tree goes back to 1250 and I could spend 5 minutes reciting all my ancestors. Now if we were to all do this wouldn’t that put the cat among the ? | Andrew |
| NO absolutely not. The other day we had two youth National supporters knock at our door handing out pamphlets. One asked what concerned us most about the current political scene. I told him National has failed in stopping the maorification of NZ, if anything its accelerated. He never replied. | Lawrie |
| We are all to be treated as one people without fear or favor by insisting on Te Tiriti sounds like a jack up of Maori sympathizer’s & not one race for all | Roydon |
| Absolutely NOT. I am dismayed that Nicola Willis (by her omission) has towed the same apartheid line as Luxon, Goldsmith and Potaka in entrenching the He Puapua takeover of New Zealand by stealth, totally contrary to the laws which govern the conducting of elections in this country. Anyone who still supports National has either been brainwashed by the extremist left, or are wearing heavy blinkers, blinding them from reality. I find myself over the past year repeatedly exclaiming in disgust that our country is pretty much f……….. | Colin |
| Politically neutral needs to stay politically neutral | Susan |
| We the people have been lied to regards promises that ensured us that the Maorification of elections would be stopped. | JOHN |
| ABSOLUTELY NOT ! | Bryan |
| Reverse racism | Peter |
| Racist segregation is unacceptable. | Trevor |
| no never. Nor public servants to be required to have prayer meetings at work for ANY religion. OR for any profession/student to have compulsory learning/indoctrination to do a job that has no basis for that learning. | Rita |
| That’s named ‘Enforced Racism’. Very 1984. | Geoff |
| Luxon must fix this urgently | Richard |
| Absolutely not. If I was Barend I’d forward the email to Nicola Willis and suggest she does a “please explain” to the Electoral Commission. Then – heads should roll…. | Dave |
| It just goes to show that not even the Electoral Commission is neutral. | Roger |
| Absolutely no. | Evans |
| The Electoral Commission has a statutory obligation to act in a neutral/unbiased manner not promote a party or ideaology. | George |
| No. It’s not relevant. | Teresa |
| This is seriously bad. ACT focused on wrong thing with Treaty Principles bill. Should have focused on the basics like recruitment, meetings, expectations to undo prior practice. | Paul |
| Insane takeover by stealth from activists who do not represent the average person in NZ | Jan |
| I thought this government was going to make N Z a country for all and get rid of race-based policies | Frank |
| No WAY they are supposed to NUTRAL. Hmmm seems to have been twisted in the wrong direction. And needs addressing, to return it to the center with NO BIAS. | Carl |
| Quote – work to provide an effective and impartial electoral system that New Zealanders understand and trust. – end quote. I have never understood how a system that elects 40% of its MPs to represent their political party instead of constituents could pretend to be a democracy. It patently is not. How any right-thinking person could put their trust in this organisation staffed by racist activists is totally beyond me! It is time that our government stood up to these people and reclaimed our right to be, and to be known as, a democratic nation, NEW ZEALAND! | TOBY |
| This “tiriti bullshit should have been expunged decades ago n!!! | Henry |
| No way, end of story | Peter |
| Definitely not. Some historical “Treaty” has nothing whatsoever to do with a modern election. | Lenice |
| Surprised to read it’s still in effect. | Rob |
| It must be a neutral body at all times for all full stop | Peter |
| This Government should rip it all totally out of all the public service. They are to scared of maori. | Elaine |
| I’m shocked! How can a neutral election be run by a non neutral identify? | Norma |
| NO, IT IS TOTALLY NOT ACCEPTABLE, AT ALL. This is a form of Communism, where you are browbeaten into compliance with said indoctrination. Get rid of the TWT and if necessary, the TOW. Everyone is sick of this BS! | Heather |
| No no no | Barbara |
| I’m getting sick of this Maori this and Maori that the Treaty articles are nothing like these radicals claim when does our revolution start against these beruacrats who think they are running the country | Vaughan |
| Great work Murial,hard to believe we still live in a democracy !! | norm |
| Absolutely not! | Eleanor |
| This is absolutely disgusting. | Heather |
| When is this nonsense going to stop | Hone |
| Definitely not!!! Why aren’t the coalition doing what they promised to do? Why doesn’t Christopher Luxon and the coalition grow some backbone and deal with all these issues that are dividing our nation and ruining this country? | Albert |
| I would tell the EC the ToW can not dictate how I vote. Nor can the Bible! | RICHard |
| This country is becoming ever more rascist in pushing the Maori activist boat, I have had enough of this country bending over backwards to compensate the “poor Maori” for the supposed misdeeds of the colonialists. It is time to establish once and for all what is a Maori. Only someone with at least 50% or more Maori origin can possibly be accredited to be an ethnic Maori . Also it is wrong to classify them as indigenus when they admit their ancestors came here from somewhere else in canoes, they are therefore immigrants! . It is time to put an end to all this nonsense which will put an end to the constant backhanders from govt agencies as a sop to so called grievances. As for this current govt. they have been a big disappointment as they came in on abolishing this apartheid but have instead inreased it. The money saved would help provide more support for hospitals, schools and a myriad of other needful help for families and pensioners. | Patricia |
| This indoctrination is an insult to the competence for ANY job unless a TVNZ1 executive | Peter |
| Racist indoctrination | David |
| Need to ensure fair and equal voting | Bruce |
| I agree with the comment what has an 1840 Treaty got to do with a 2026 General Election. This sort of rubbish has to be thrown on by the Government.. | Ross |
| This is racist, grooming and denigrating to the fair and supposedly impartial system towards an ideaology that is akin to apartheid | Kathryn |
| Potential corruption of our electoral system should be the nation’s No. 1 issue. Watch how the MSM avoid it! | John |
| I don’t understand the rationale of requiring tow indoctrination. As long as they’re honest and impartial. That’s all that matters. | Grant |
| Definitely not | Graeme |
| When will these lefties give up! | Jude |
| WTF | Evan |
| Disgraceful!! Coalition needs to cancel this indoctrination immediately. | Carol |
| Having been a polling place manager in past elections I find the implications disastrous. | Patrick |
| More Maoirification by stealth. Heads should roll at the top | Peter |
| Absolutely apalling that this is still happening. The Electoral Commission must be severely reprimanded and the Coalition must make sure the Commission is following following their agenda not that of the previous racist government. | Mary |
| Under no circumstances | Deborah |
| Who’s running this country? Not Luxon. FFS, when is this BS going to end? This is just another example of how Maori will wreck this country. | Chris |
| It is for this very reason I wouldn’t (and haven’t for decades) consider applying for any position or role in a NZ government or council alighned organisation. | Lindsay |
| Would someone please point out for me exactly where in the Treaty of Waitangi these “principles” are listed? | Colin |
| i DONT LIKE THIS MAORI WORDING TO BE PART OF OUR NZ ELECTION PROCESS, I DONT UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE WORDS. | BARBARA |
| Time to end all of this Maori woke crap! | david |
| I’m speechless! | Peter |
| NO. All management of the electoral commission must be terminated. Govt must install neutral managers. There is no way NZrs can trust this corupted organisation to deliver a fair and unbiased election. The traitor whom started all this is living overseas and is certainly not welcome back in New Zealand. | Allan |
| no way! | Mark |
| Absolutely not! | Dr. Alastair |
| Totally disagree with any political body to demand study of any part of the ToW as part of employment requirements | ross. |
| For goodness sake. This is sooooo worrying for our country. | Lyn |
| No, of course not. I told my sister some months ago that it was highly unlikely that her grandchildren would be able to stay in this country. I blame the whole circumstances we now face in this country at the feet of Parliament, they should have been nipping this whole Cultral take over in the bud a long time ago, but instead of that they chose to appease and appease. You can’t keep on appeasing for ever, now this particular demographic has learnt to expect it, Parliament got us into this mess and now they have to get us out of it. I personally don’t believe they ever will or even can this late in the process, they are probably 20years too late. | Paul |
| When will this country wake up to this crap. | Ranald |
| Absolutely not. It is supposed to be neutral, devoid of race or creed. | Dianne |
| That’s brain washing! What has elections got to do with Treaty Settlements/Treaty issues? Most Kiwis already have an understanding of treaty issues. | Yoke Har |
| If only the current coalition had done what it promised right from the get go – allowing NO deviation from eradicating this sort of thing. As an 80 year old boomer I despair for the next generations. | John |
| Not relevant to the job. | Brian |
| It is an absurdity. Unfortunately we have people in various government departments who push this narrative. One questions why these zealots have not been advised otherwise and why has the coalition not dealt with this issue. It needs to be addressed. | chris |
| Drain the swamp. | John |
| The lot of them should be sacked. | LAWRENCE |
| outrageous – thier one job is to administer the election is a totally impartial manner | Peter |
| There are none so blind as those who will not see, then there`s the outright deceptive manipulators who will stop at nothing to enforce their twisted ideology on others. Its by hook or by crook and I say its by a determined group of paleface “sliver maori” communists with treason burning in their black hearts. They target areas and dig in like a tick sucking the life blood of the host. Grifters that bite the hand that feeds them .Radicalised racists who`s end cant come soon enough and the party that draws a line in the sand and takes a stand against it and runs them into the ground deserves to run NEW ZEALAND. | GLYNJ |
| Ridiculous notion | sue |
| enforcing the political and religious beliefs of a particular group onto the general government and peoples of New Zealand is directly against the provisions of the Human Rights Act 1993 !!!!! | ARTHUR |
| There is too much of this happening in nz Someone needs to step up and have the guts to sort it out. | Ron |
| Absolutely not. This country at this rate is heading towards a third world status. | Sheila |
| Shocking that this is happening. | Vicki |
| what a sorry state of affairs. this sort of thing just gets worse and worse with no sign of abating. it has to stop with urgency, but how! | Reg |
| The Electoral Commission going the way of the rest of government. South. | Martin |
| The guest commentator has summed up the situation entirely correctly and far be it for me to add to such lucidity of prose. | Ronnie |
| The ongoing use of Te Tiriti “mores” is absolutely apppalling! | Ron |
| One vote equal rights for all | Mike |
| I thought luxon PROMISED last election that we would ALL be equal.So much for believing govt. promises.The ONLY party which wants us all to be equal is ACT but I dont trust anyone standing to be elected so I wont be voting any more as us tax payers are ignored & promises before an election I no longer trust. | Cindy |
| DEFINITELY NO. ALL PARTIES, ALL STATUTORY BODIES..IT IS ONE PERSON , ONE VOTE IRRESPECTIVE OF ETHNICITY OR CULTURE. NO BIAS, NO FAVOURITES. | Anne |
| Blatant disregard for democracy. Governance and staffing at the EC were not changed fast enough after 2023 by the Coalition, Luxon/Goldsmith again? | Mary6 |
| I also resent that early voting advertisements said/implied you had Mana if you went on the Maori roll .. | FloJo |
| This is outrageous & so racial how dare they | Susie |
| I was helping a political party with their election campaign in 2023 and we saw many examples of TPM ignoring the electioneering rules (such as not putting the authorised by statement on their signs which is a requirement and having TPM signs up on election day within a short distance of a marae voting station – again a no-no). We sent photos and complaints to the Electoral Commission but never heard anything. I also wondered how those gigantic posters on buses with pictures of TMP people were allowed coming up to the election when they were encouraging people to get on the Maori role. Clearly these were also campaigns for TPM but no ‘authorised by’ statement. A complete scam with TPM thumbing its nose to the rules and getting away with it. | Anna |
| Great article thanks, yet very sad that this has come about. It’s hard to understand how such a defective biased ideology has become so widespread within those in power. We must eradicate this anyway we can, before our country is irreversibly destroyed. | Casey |
| this is an appalling revelation that indoctrination is still rife under National party leadership. I will not be voting for National | Hugh |
| They need to be selected on the basis ability not beliefs | Judith |
| G Robertson was as useful as Jacinta Adern. Both vote seeking failures and about self. Their members are majority of street sleepers, & prison occupiers, Ruled by a few seeking selfish interests. Learn Chinese is of more use. | mike |
| 100%. The treaty is long past its use by date and ALL references to it must be removed before this country is doomed | Gareth |
| Obvious isn’t it!! | Chester |
| Mumbo jumbo has no place in the modern world … or are we going backwards? | Rod |
| What is going on in this country when we have such racial bias right into our election system | Allan |
| This is woke socialist crap. Do your jobs. Stop FORCING people to accept your woke socialist demands based on the treaty. | Tony |
| The should act now or postpone the election until the Commission are brought into line with neutrality. It might be time to bring back first past the post voting. | Kenneth |
| Should not interfere in politics,only prepare for voting | Gosdon |
| We need to stand up to the Maori Taliban or else our country will become New Afghanistan. | Kent |
| Next thing they will require one to know is how high is the moon or how long is a piece of string. | Warren |
| Absolutely no to any treaty indoctrination. The electoral commission is not fit for purpose. The coalition government is utterly negligent in its oversight of this ideological entity that is operating outside its political brief | Greg |
| Pure Pollock and Maori advisory people are a waste of tax payers” money. | Miles |
| Imagine the outrage if applicants were asked to undergo Bible indoctrination. | Nick |
| it would be a conflict of interest if it stays. get rid of it!! | Chris |
| Appalling how far NZ has gone down the rabbit hole! | Trudy |
| The Govt needs to say now that the Commision is off the rails and that if inappropriate actions occur during the election occur anyone acting illegally will be named and prosecuted and a further election held. | Roger |
| More rubbish | Les |
| The coalition should come down hard on these practices!! Perhaps a seperate commission to investigate all Govt linked org”s with these practices imbedded. | Ray |
| Absolutely NOT !!! It’s just a radical indoctrination SCAM. | Bruce |
| get this sorted | jeremy |
| Absolutely not. We need to get rid of this BS | Neville |
| Abolish the whole treaty movement | Tom |
| We are all one people | Peter |
| The Electoral Commission is politically compromised – as the marae treating scandal and the Port Waikato “miscount” indicate.. It needs to be disbanded and new appointments made before November. How did the Coalition allow this situation to continue? | Trevor |
| Absolutely not! – once the Treaty was accepted and signed by the chiefs it became a nullity, as stated by Attorney General Prendergast back in the 1870’s, having served its intended purpose, so it should have no bearing at all in the present day (apart from being recognised as a historical document). If this whole sorry mess is not sorted out soon there is going to be trouble, as an increasing number of NZ’ers, of all races, are getting fed up with this Maori activist B-S being rammed down our throats on a daily basis. And the same goes for this mythological “Aotearoa” as well, wherever that is, it ain’t here! | Scott |
| It’s part of a long term plan to destabilise the country by division and corruption leaving space for an extreme socialist/communist regime | Roger |
| Absolutely unacceptable! | Jim |
| A definite no! And that applies to any Government or private sector position when applying for employment. If you want to become familiar with Maori myths and fantasies that is up to your own personal choice and not have it force feed down your throat. | Wayne |
| I read your article with disbelief and a sinking heart. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.The Coalition must get rid of the rot of the Labour lot and bring bureaucrats including the Electoral Commission to account. | Stuart |
| Unbelievable this is happening. We are heading for a frightening future. | Alan |
| No way | Kerin |
| Emphatically NO!!! | Joan and Don |
| Again even more political B S .Seems every govt dept or entity continues with Woke rubbish . National and NZ First have both failed miserably to rid us of all this maori crap .Obviously Luxon has little interest in standing up for ALL kiwis and lets his fear of the maori mafia stop any sensible approach to continuing separist policies , and Winnie what a joke ,all bluster but failed to support ACTs common sense to the reaty principles , he current idea of offerring $45,000 bribes to encourage more babies ,who does he think will be inspired to have more kids ??? OMG Winnie . | Ray |
| Drop all ToW requirements | Steve |
| The Electoral Commission must be neutral. | Brian |
| Treatyism needs to be eradicated from the public service | Graeme |
| What is ‘neutral’ about this Electoral Commission and where are the National Party promises on demaorification? | Lesley |
| If you are not a recipient of Hobsons Pledge also you should be as this is the sort of thing that they are fighting to abolish. | Owen |
| Gross breach of the Bill of Rights. | Sandra |
| Of course not !- this has all gone far too far and should be stopped in its tracks but National is so weak and feeble they simply let the civil servants do what they want. | Roger |
| It’s unbelievable that the minister in charge of the Electoral Commission hasn’t done his job and put an end to this scandal. | Richard |
| NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO | |
| Total nonsense and is just mumbo-jumbo! | Brian |
| Ridiculous | Murray |
| Absolutely not. They must stay neutral. | Laura |
| This is blatant political propaganda and as a neutral organisation, this is totally unacceptable behaviour. | Douglas |
| Bloody ridiculous … and insulting. A direct attempt to place pro maori activists in a position to alter thr results of an election. | Robert |
| It is supposed to be neutral and fair . | Rosemary |
| Within the limits of my power ( I know, not much) I require the Electoral Commission to disestablish Treaty promotional activities. | peter |
| This is outrageous and this matter must be brought to the public’s attention. The Govt must immediately curtail the power of the Electoral Commission in the Treaty area. | Jerry |
| That should have nothing to do with it !! | Jens |
| Totally unacceptable. The “best” candidates for the positions should be employed, and they should not have to be indoctrinated with political and racist views. | Laurence |
| Absolutely not. | Yvonne |
| Heads should roll | Lyn |
| This is further proof to add to the big stinking pile of corruption and treachery to democratic norms in this country. We are truly in the realms of Third World electoral corruption. This is a cancer that needs cauterising. | John |
| “Te Teriti” indoctrination should not be a requirement for any employment in NZ. Remember the reality estate agent who had her job terminated because she refused to take part in this race based process. | Roger |
| Totallly wrong | RICHARD |
| no to all the B/S and just honour the treaty as was intended | nev kath |
| Against express instructions from govt. Should be corrected immediately | Kay |
| Really annoyed. So voting Act | Lynn |
| The ideological racism has no place in any govt institution | John |
| This government needs to develop a backbone to eradicate all Maori indoctrination in the all civil service departments. This will only be accomplished by sacking managers. | Tony |
| Is this the new meaning of impartiality ? Incredible the way this agenda is still being promoted. | Terry |
| Absolutely not! How can this lead to impartiality! This is preposterous. | Hilary |
| No, especially given that there seems to be a different interpretation of Te Tiriti than there is of the Treaty of Waitangi. It’s becoming an industry. We are one! | Marilyn |
| I do not have a respectable reply for you. | stephanie |
| Absolutely outrages | Suzanne |
| Shocked but not really surprised! You are correct a structural change of some magnitude is now required | Anon |
| Definitely NO | Jim |
| Why hasn’t the coalition government stopped this??? They were voted in on this, so really worried now, that those Adern ba%u2026.tds will get in again. Maybe Australia is looking better all the time | Graeme |
| The requirement is a filter that assures all employees will propagate the maorification. The side effect is that competent employees are not hired and the degradation continues. | Pete |
| We presumably still have a democracy that means equal votes for all citizens and any irregularities will not be tolerated. | Willy |
| Absolutely No,its time to stamp out this rubbish indoctrination by the Electoral Commission. | Peter |
| The Electoral Commission must be disbanded, and a new process put in place that has no bias towards any person, race,gender or creed. This must be done immediately. | George |
| This is crasie. | Robert |
| Absolutely not. The disease of He Puapua must be treated. | Frank |
| No place for ideology at all | Brian |
| You need to ask that question? | Vic |
| Why is anything to do with the Treaty a part of employment in the Public service. Didn’t National promise to get rid of this rubbish. Oh another National promise! | Hugh |
| Absolutely not, this was the reason I finished working in the DHB system as they were introducing Te Reo etc into their everyday workspace. This is a disgrace that the Coalition Government must take responsibility for and disestablish the Adern policies forever. That said it is unlikely that they will do that as the PM and his sycophants will be on the back benches after Nov 7. The PM and his mob has betrayed NZ voters and accordingly they will lose their position, UNLESS they make some rapid changes to smash the maori agenda. | Neville |
| has nothing to do with the election process. straight out racism | Neville |
| Yet another swamp that needs draining, but I wonder, if a left wing govt. is returned in November, could the result be challenged on the grounds of electoral bias within the electoral system. | Allen |
| Its a disgrace. Also difficult to trust that the election wont be rigged | diana |
| Absolutely not. | robin |
| I applied also and if I am invited for an interview am debating my approach. | Louise |
| This current Government is very weak in carrying out their mandate from the last election and I am very concerned they will lose this one | Simon |
| Clearly the unelected NZ Public Service is the governing body in New Zealand. Democracy is dead, Parliament is but a sideshow. Tyranny by bureauc-rats has arrived! | David |
| Yet another example of New Zealand sleep walking towards becoming the Zimbabwe of the South Pacific? | Chris |
| I have mentioned this before, unless the NZ government and it’s departments 100% commit to racial, religion and gender neutrality there is no hope for fairness when so many brainwashed zeolots are about. The Adern period has damaged NZ beyond repair. | Leonard |
| This is absolutely disgraceful. | Jim |
| Disgraceful | Julie |
| No, absolutely not!!! But this shows how deep this TOW rot has invaded every level of society. And the general populace is either ignorant or cowed into silence when daring to speak up. A lot of mistakes have been made by the current Government and they failed from day one to cull all this nonsense out of every single Govt department. No we have this cancer sitting so deep that only radical surgery can remove it. | Michael |
| Independence not Mumbo Jumbo. | Lindsay |
| we voted National in to get rid of all this. They will pay for it this election. Unfortunately that may let the labour/TPM/Greens in | mike |
| To put it bluntly, it is like stepping in dog mess, no matter how much you try to cleanse it, the smell remains. This Govt should be getting the disinfectant out but maybe National like the smell?! | Doug |
| hell no | John |
| Absolutely not! They should be totally neutral. | Gavin |
| The Maori as is a race is so diluted, it has now integrated with us colonists and reap the advantages of it. | Anke |
| Absolutely not! It could be conducted by Eskimos speaking Swahili. It matters not one iota. Independence and impartiality are what matters only | Colin |
| No, please stop this madness Mr Luxon, if not why not? These are the issues, as small as YOU may think they are, they are an insult to peoples intelligence, we know lies and propaganda when we hear them. Coalition Government do what you said you would do now! | Sam |
| This is outrageous! My daughter has applied for a job on election day, but has now cancelled! The Electoral Commission needs to be cleaned out with all staff reapplying and being scrutinised before getting near election day. Luxon will be behind this crap as he wants to see the Maorification of NZ by 2040. NZers need to wake up, Luxon is NOT New Zealanders friend. I was suspicious of the results of the last election with some questionable results. Winston, where are you on this very concerning issue? | Carly |
| Jeeze Wayne, when will the in-your-face garbage end and someone in charge tell the pushers to bugger off. | Donald John |
| Absolutely NOT | caren |
| Absolutely not | David |
| New Zealand since 1975 has been hijacked by activists. There are a lot of politicians that should be in jail. Maori culture has proven to all that if everyone else doesn’t fund it it dries up and blows away. Te tiriti is the activists rewrite of the TOW, where the chiefs ceded sovereignty forever. Which makes the likes of luxson and hipkins actions more criminal. End it. | Mark |
| No voters should feel they are being pressured in any way by any political or social view. The Electoral Commission has an obligation to remain unbiased in things and their members/helpers should reflect this neutrality. Any member/helper seen to be influencing voters in any direction, should be removed immediately. Otherwise the elections can be deemed unfair and results not recognised. | Martin |
| 100 % Woke rubbish. 90 % of NZers are sick of this racist agenda | Russ |
| Sack the pricks at the top and get rid of the maori advisors | Harvey |
| no no no ,absolutely not It could be stopped in a flash by a strong leader and sensible ministers by turning the tap off.yes disastablish the Maori crown office and all in it.the maori eats can go along with the wITANGI TRIBUNAL | galem |
| never never never | Adrian |
| HELL NO | Ian |
| A public servant who continues to ignore what the government of the day requests is an activist working against the wishes of of the people in NZ. But if course these activists know better than the majority. I do not wish to hear they still get paid with my hard earnt taxes. | Mike |
| Hone Matthews and his side kicks need to be moved on to show that this coalition means what they said in their 2023 election campaign. The whole maorification of everything disgusts me. | Bill |
| How was this able to happen where were the government someone must have known what was going on heads should roll | Peter |
| Unbeleivable that this should even be a question raised! | Grant |
| Ridiculous condition for any job. Ban it. | Brenda |
| Racial abuse of us bog standard kiwi | Owen |
| No employer should be making this a requirement for any potential employee, in any sector – ever! | Angela |
| Good article | Bob |
| No no no no no and no | June |
| absolutely not.They should ALL be sacked immediately | Linda |
| All roles in every NZ government agency require alignment to the maori worldview, if you do not agree, you cannot take the job – this is political extortion | Trevor |
| It most certainly is not acceptable. So, Election 2026 has been hijacked. ‘Cos it is not going to change between now and Election Day. | Grahame |
| Absolutely and totally NO! | Anthony |
| Common sense | Michael |
| The government should demand the disbanding of all such practices across all departments and see there is no funding of such | Tony |
| All this stupidity is really sickening, but who is going to stop it? | Stu |
| Of course not. It’s nothing to do with running an election. Complete rubbish. | Andrew |
| Emphatically NO | Kevin |
| Add the TOW to the SCRAP HEAP along with the Maori seats and Net Zero. Cost of living would fall. Future Positive New Zealand | DOUGLAS |
| Reading Musket Wars would give each applicant a better understanding of Maori culture. | Ses |
| STOP this REVERSE racism BEFORE they totally F..k our once wonderful NEW ZEALAND. Do it NOW. | Brian |
| Absolutely not, that is not their function, they are supposed to be impartial, this must be investigated and stopped. | Peter |
| They are there as functionaries to administer the Act. | Chris |
| Same old same old untill we have a government with balls nothing will change, a vote for the new blue labour party is wasted, only winnie and David and seriously who has been singing from the same song sheet since forever | Bob |
| We are stuffed as a one country for all with this continuing agenda of ToW. The current Government is a huge disappointment in not following through with last election promises. | Jan |
| This is 1000 steps too far. | Margaret |
| I worked for the Electoral Commission during the previous election but after reading this article I won’t be putting my name forward again. | Dianne |
| No no no no no! | Clive |
| This is an example of why the electorate will probably not support the current National party for a return to government in November. | Ray |
| If national doesn’t stand up soon and address, them and us they will not get back in | Meg |
| Absolutely bloody ridiculous. I am not sure how the head of the Electoral Commission keeps his job – he is an idiot. | pdm |
| Nor should it be encouraging Maori to move onto the Maori roll so as to boost Maori electorate seat numbers. The continued existence of Maori seats generates division and is race preference that is contrary to a truly democratic system. | Stan |
| More UN UNDRIP pathetic, ludicrous, overreach! To achieve what precisely??? Like poor Nurses and even Military mandates… No benefit, No purpose apart from kowtowing to an indoctrinated WOKE World… Fake guilt! | Wiremu |
| Of course not! Its irrelevant to most of any NZ jobs. All NZ taxpayers are also footing the bill. Its about time for accountability to be applied to those who make these undemocratic decisions. | Andrew |
| There are people in the commission, if not all, who should be sacked. | Michael |
| No. They should not be allowed to do this. It is almost treason. It is so wrong that a minority group can be telling us what we have to do, to have a life. | Gregor |
| Should not be allowed as a condition for job applicants by any government department or agency, not just thee Electoral Commission. The revolution is coming. | Rod |
| A pagan belief should not be indoctrinated into people work life. We have lived by the Waitangi Treaty for generations already, no need to repeat it everyday. Ridiculous nonsense. | Rowena |
| No ! It is totally irrelevant and inappropriate . | Hugh |
| If anything, activism among selected staff should be discouraged. In the last election non-maori new migrants I know were forced to vote on the Maori roll when the went last minute to the local marae to cast their votes. Maybe voting booths shouldn’t be at kura or marae, where there has been obvious bias and corruption at previous elections. I doubt very much that this was an isolated case. | Liz |
| I hope no one wants a job forcing them to be indoctrinated with something which is of no use to them. | Jean |
| We pilgrims walk in the footsteps of Samuel Marsden to spread the gospel and put aside the mumbo-jumbo and hoodoo | Hugh |
| It’s a gut punch to integrity and neutrality enabled and delivered by the Welly woke swamp. | Paul |
| This needs to be stamped on. The Commision CEO should be fired | John |
| This is wrong on so many levels. | Janet |
| Just another example of the duplicitous Governance change we had reason to expect after voting in 23 and the Coalition Agreement. And no sign of a rational hope that any change in the insidious progressive aka neo socialist indoctrination is possible even if the same ‘Governance Team were to be re elected in some form.. ACT and the total reordering of the State Sector with all CEO’s to reapply and be contracted directly accountable and fireable to that Minister would be the only potential sliver of change hope. However Winston wont support that from his history and Pohaka as Luxtons RHM, no chance of Nat support either. Absolutely depressing | Dick |
| The Commission is obviously not politically neutral | James |
| It’s well past time the govt took a tough stance to stamp out all this ToW nonsense that continues to pervade the public service. | Mike |
| Lazy politicians get it sorted ffs | Ernest |
| Another Ardern land mine explodes! | David |
| Absolutely inappropriate we live in a multicultural society | Diana |
| An absolutely emphatic NO. This political doctrination has no place in our electoral system whatsoever. | Mike |
| Elections are a time when people of all persuations are entitled to vote for their future. Those helping need to be neutral. | Deb |
| What the govt says and what they do are two different things, and the taxpayer gets sucked in | Colin |
| Absolutely NOT | Gail |
| Scary stuff | Shelley |
| Absolutely not and until people stand up to this rubbish it will continue | Ken |
| No way that’s racism. Every NZ CITIZEN is equal under the NZBOR | Greg |
| Respect for all cultures by each other without compulsion. Stop racism by all every person is a human regardless of colour. No more for any race to seek supremacy over any other, love one an other. | Stephen |
| I was thinking of applying, but I won’t now. It’s not acceptable for any govt job. | Hilary |
| rediculous! | Graham |
| The ad nauseam advertising for the Maori Roll demonstrated a political agenda with no financial constraint either. | Alister |
| Inappropriate in the lead up to the election | Terry |
| This rot in our civil service needs to immediately excised | Phil |
| It’s outrageous! | Dianne |
| This requirement locks out capable people able to be of help during all people’s democratic rite to simply vote | Aileen |
| This egregious Maorification of New Zealand must stop immediately! | Terry |
| This has got out of hand. | Don |
| On the contrary the electoral officials should be prosecuted (and made an example of) for their failure to be neutral and to be a trustworthy organisation – a core and fundamental requirement of the commission. | Mike |
| I applied for one of the 2026 Elections positions last month i didn’t know I would be subject to this Mumbo Jumbo . | Nick |
| I am sick of Maori doctrine being shifted in my face in just about every aspect of life | Penelope |
| New Zealand is the most RACIST COUNTRY ON EARTH. | Mark |
| Its unbelievable | Graeme |
| I have never voted for co governance and never will. I thought it was being removed by the coalition Government. | Maureen |
| They should be asked about impartiality only | Hilary |
| Totally 120% against the indoctrination in any government or private organisation. This government MUST get rid of this immediately- before the Nov 26 election. I’m a swing voter – typically Blue- right of Centre- after the Luxon leadership scandal I supported Luxon but one week later – and reading your commentary I am deeply concerned National has not gone far enough to eradicate this blatant racism ! | Ranee |
| ToW was intended to unify our peoples under the protection of the crown. What’s so hard to understand? | Max |
| Removal of the previous letter of enduring expectations and any reference to the Adern led government, in particular Ti tiriti o Waitangi. Absolutely 100 % | Frank |
| Ridiculousl | Ian |
| Totally unnecessary! | Kate |
| This is a treacherous move. I fear the electoral commission is as WOKE as. A good case to challenge a result if it swings left. National should have dismissed a lot of Ardern appointments in senior positions. | Dave |
| Absolutely Not | Richard |
| Racist! | Garry |
| All maori BS should be kicked in the bumm and scrapped | peter |
| Absolutely not. | Glenys |
| All bureaucrats that ignore the governments directives should get fired with zero payout | chris |
| One people for all NEW ZEALAND | Bill |
| Certainly not. | Murray |
| Sack the comission | Raymond |
| Government seem to give these directives but don’t follow up to ensure they are done | Karen |
| Totally unnecessary and should not be a prerequisite. | Antela |
| Why has the Coaltion not followed its last election manifesto and by now demolished all the Labour Maorification our public service | Michael |
| The Electoral Commission is supposed to be politically neutral | Dorothy |
| We must eradicate racism. | Margaret |
| NO job should require this, unless it specifically has to do with the Treaty, or a position in a Maori organisation, and then it will probably be incorrectly taught and propaganda anyway. | Christine |
| It’s ridiculous for an independent body to act thus What about the Chinese community views The Muslim community views The Indian community views | Robin |
| Another case of National failures at reform. At least 3 more civil servants doing jobs not needed – some of the 18000 extra Labour hired. | Grant |
| Electoral Commission should have nothing to do with Te Tiriti | Geoff |
| More racist bullshit by the woke public service. These people should be weeded out and given the boot and made to live in the real world | Chris |
| This issue needs to be brought out in the media, that is also another problem -would they I think unlikely. | Ann |
| He iwi Tahi tatoa We are one people | Malcolm |
| Will lead to a race war if this Maori b/s continues | Derek |
| The coalition must take action. | Phil |
| No, too late for worrying about that issue now…. LUXSINGH,…won,t have a bar of it now, won,t serve his interests he is worried about personal matters, worried about getting kicked out of Govt, in 6 weeks, besides he has too much to lose!! like worrying about his next career. The last thing he will be thinking about, will be the OBSOLETE TREATY….. BIGGER FISH TO FRY AT THE MOMENT!! | David |
| Absolutely not! Indoctrinating electoral workers is outrageous. What the heck is happening to this country when we can’t even be sure our elections will be run properly! | Doug |
| My friend backed off applying for a job for the same reason. Good on Barend for bringing it to the attention of the NZCPR. But will the government do anything??? | Murray |
| I was going to apply for a job – but not now! | Paula |
| The tribal takeover has gone further than people realise. If there’s a change in government and Labour with the Greens, Opportunity and the Maori Party press ahead with He Puapua, the country is buggered! | Jason |
| How can a so-called Independent Crown Entity swear allegiance to the Treaty while still pretending to be upholding political neutrality. Someone needs to be held accountable for this breach of their statute. | Karl |