WAATEA NEWS COLUMN: First week of oral submissions for Treaty Principles Referendum shows real hope for Aotearoa New Zealand
It has been the first week of Oral Submissions on the Treaty Principles Referendum Bill and we have seen some of the most intelligent and articulate rebuttals against this foul legislation and for the first time in a long time i have felt hope.
Voice after amazing voice presented to the Committee and challenged everything from the process, to the politicians, to the dog whistle politics behind it all.
We saw some of the most intelligent debate come from The New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Former Health Minister and Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little, Economist Ganesh Nana, The Tangata Whenua Social Workers Association, Treaty Lawyer Natalie Coates, Dame Marilyn Joy Waring, Citizens Advice Bureau, Christchurch Methodist Mission, Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network, Asians Supporting Tino Rangatiratanga, Ngati Manuhiri Settlement Trust, Janine Hayward, professor of politics at University of Otago, Political Science Professor Bronwyn Hayward, Political scientist Areti Metuamate, Chris Finlayson on behalf of the New Zealand Bar Association, Youth development body Ara Taiohi, Māori health at the University of Auckland, Legal Eagle Graeme Edgeler, New Zealand Maori Council, Tangata Tiriti Aotearoa, Te Puna Ora O Mataatua, Helmut Modlik CEO of Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira, Lady Tureiti Moxon, Managing Director Te Kohao, and Chair the National Urban Māori Authority, Prof Jane Kelsey, Te Hunga Roia Māori, The Council of Medical Colleges, the Ministry of Justice and Former justice minister Kiri Allan.
On the other side, we had David Seymour, right wing blogger David Farrar, fake historian club Hobson’s Pledge and a handful of people with opinions on race relations that deserved to be in the 1800s.
For me it was Maringi James, who helped coordinate a petition against the Bill, who was the highlight.
Her passion, her vision, and her unwavering commitment to the truth by making clear why the political Right were putting the country through this needlessly divisive debate was a loud statement that the next generation of Māori will not accept being second class citizens in their own country.
I believe the right wing of NZ have made a terrible misjudgment in all of this, and that there is a majority who see the Treaty as a source of celebration.
Those who seek to turn it into a point of divisiveness will fail.
We have 5 months of this.
Yes, and the process has achieved what nobody else has been able to before now – it has motivated young people, some not even old enough to vote, to participate in politics.
The school lunch fiasco will too.
That’s for sure.
Just come out of hospital and it seems Seymour has been busy on the menu there .Compared to 5 years ago the meals were dog food .
Yes ignore the young voters at your peril David Seymour. They are the generation of immersion in the language and culture .
ACT ,Seymour, his school lunch program and this attack on the treaty are a fucking political joke. There, said it.
We must not forget this little runt Seymour is Minister for Regulation with that other dangerous bill trying to be sneaked in the back door which is the elephant hiding behind the TPB smokescreen.
Exactly. Beware the classic red herring.
Yes let’s hope the extreme right is hung by it’s own petard. They didn’t recon with how proud most NZrs are about the Treaty and Maori culture that helps define our nation in the world. And how most NZers see the fairness of enacting the treaty when making policy and righting historic wrongs. This just shows up how narrow and backwards the racist right are. And that they are azsnall minority …was that 14%? This tail wagging the dog needs to be cut off.
Now do Te Pati Maori.
TPM more teeth than tail
ACT party president confirmed for sexual offenses against boys
What say you now Bob the first?
Your type of thing probably.
The old red neck in the next bed to me in hospital shot himself in the foot with his racist opinion.Every nurse we had he questioned her on her breeding ,our night nurse was an NZ maori so he asked her where she was from ? here was her reply .Thinking she was being smart he then asked where her parents were from ? HERE SHE SAID AGAIN .In the end she said I am a real NZER where are you from ? .lATER IN THE NIGHT HE FELL OUT OF BED AND NEEDED HELP TO GET BACK UP ,.He was gutted that the only staff on duty were all of Asian decent so he had to swallow his pride and allow them to lift him off the floor and back into bed .He is an example of whats wrong with NZ ,thankfully the new generation are having none of that shit .
Had the same experience with a workmate. Spouted the usual opinion about “white NZ”. Pointed out to him that his DNA was 99.997% the same as every other human, including Maori, Indian and Chinese. I then asked him why he was putting 99.997% of himself down. Gotta laugh when science trumps redneckery
.
Any chance that someone could say what exactly are the principals of the treaty, and how many principles there are ? Could you list them please…??
The Treaty contains three ‘Articles’ there are no ‘Principles’.
Bob the First;
“Seymour will win favour simply because there are more non Maori in the electorate.”
Wow. Talk about saying the quiet part out loud. ACT thought they could make this into a Māori vs. Everyone Else shitfight. They were dead wrong, as the ethnic diversity of the crowd who gathered around Parliament for the arrival of the Hikoi made very clear.
Regardless of our ethnic backgrounds, kiwis overwhelmingly support partnership-based models of governmence. Not the warmed-over European imperialism pushed by ACT.
Our Tama!, where coming, but the meals supplied, did not, feed our Tama Children, too exausted to speak. eh thsi, oops had a power drink, this, who he.