MEDIAWATCH: Willie Jackson’s powerful Post column on the day of Hikoi
Willie Jackson’s explosive speech in Parliament has become one of the most watched speeches ever as it goes viral…
…the Oxford Debating champion has doubled down on that explosive speech with an equally powerful column in The Post attacking and laying bare the real issues behind this appalling legislation…
What the Treaty Principles Bill is really about
David Seymour pretends his Treaty Principles Bill is about democracy, equality and fairness.
It is not. It is about bigotry. Pure and simple bigotry.
Bigotry that Māori have faced from day one of the founding of this nation.
There were two versions of the Treaty, one in English and one in Māori.
The Māori version is different from the English version.
The Māori version was signed by the majority of Māori.
New Zealand has signed UN Declarations that when you are in this exact situation, where there are two versions of a Treaty, the Treaty in the indigenous language takes precedence, that means Maori did not cede sovereignty.
Acknowledging that Māori didn’t cede sovereignty doesn’t mean that the Crown isn’t sovereign, of course it is. But what does that mean in a practical sense?
Well, our judiciary along with experts developed principles that allowed Māori and the Crown to agree on how we can move forward constructively, together.
Is it perfect, of course not, but the principles provide a platform for Māori and the Crown to address past injustices and how we can work meaningfully together. ACT are proposing the opposite. They want to redefine the principles, undoing 50 years of constructive bipartisan work, and simply impose their own version of the principles on Māori.
You can’t renege on a contract, redefine that contract and then just force it on the other person without their agreement.
David Seymour keeps fuelling misinformation that this is about race-based rights.
That’s a lie.
It’s about honouring a contract signed between the Crown and Māori chieftains, it’s not a contract between the races.
Seymour keeps saying the Treaty isn’t a partnership, but when one side didn’t cede sovereignty and the Crown then seizes sovereignty, you need a new arrangement to take into account the uniqueness of that relationship, and that’s what the Treaty Principles sought to establish.
Māori want to work together with all New Zealanders, this constant claim that Māori want to be separatist or targeted Māori initiatives and policies are apartheid is a filthy lie.
Are Māori angry?
Yes.
We feel that just as we are starting to build from the injustices of the past, along comes another right wing agenda to kick over everything we’ve established and be told that if we get upset that we are racist.
This terrible slap in our face isn’t just ACT, the responsibility must lie with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
His claims that his hands are tied because of MMP are nonsense.
Luxon was supposed to be the great deal-maker remember?
The truth is Christopher Luxon been played like a sucker by Seymour who has managed to get his six month hate tour and he is ultimately responsible for this terrible divisive legislation all so he could grab power.
We want to debate the issues that are truly hurting Kiwis right now, but we can’t have any of those debates because Christopher Luxon has allowed David Seymour to unleash.
I believe the vast majority of Kiwis are good and generous people, however David Seymour is playing a tune that attracts the rats. All the experts are saying you cannot make fundamental changes to the way the Treaty is interpreted without Māori agreement, to do so is to turn upon oneself.
We can collectively stand against the right because Māori will never agree to rewriting the constitutional framework of our nation without our agreement.
Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever!
…this is what real political leadership looks like.
It’s time for all New Zealanders to stand and be counted, are we really going to allow the far right to denigrate all that we hold dear while masquerading as equality or will be unite and push back?
It’s time to resist this terrible divisive right wing Government.
The fight back starts here.
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IMO it is an error to consider the denigrating, greedy & cruel treatment of Maori here in Aotearoa as being simply a case of all pakeha, aka whitefellas getting well looked after whilst tangata whenua got SFA.
For me a more correct readingy woul;d be that no matter which of our duopoly was in power, a small mob got really well looked after, a larger mob of working people got fairly screwed benefiting l;ittle from wealth the generated. whilst another group Maori were really exploited.
There is much to repair cos at the same time as Maori kiwis are getting a fair shake of the stickl all working kiwis need to be uplifted as well.
We could do this simply if we all worked together top ensure that as well as Maori kiwis copping a fair shake all kiwis copped a fair shake.
eg Far too many born & bred kiwis struggle to find aff6ordable accommodation near where they work.
Until all Aotearoa born kiwis who need to live in a particular accommodation have found that home, no blow-in from england, south africa or anywhere else should be sleeping anywhere but the street in that region.
Look after kiwis first. Yes especially Tangata Whenua who’ve been burned since pakeha first arrived, but also the millions of other Aotearoa born humans whose jobs & homes have been sold off to the highest bidder from everywhere but here.