Mike Butler: Dodgy deals and the twisted treaty

Did John Key do a deal with the Maori Party involving repeal of the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 before the 2008 election and not breathe a word of it during the campaign? Part of one chapter in Twisting the treaty – a tribal grab for wealth and power, published last week, says just that.

National anticipated that it would work in coalition with the Maori Party, an expectation that list MP Christopher Finlayson appears to have sold to John Key in 2007. National talks with the Maori Party on replacing the 2004 Foreshore and Seabed Act seem to have started as early as January 2008, as outlined by political columnist Chris Trotter in the Dominion Post on February 8, 2008.

Inexplicable initiatives since then, such as the repeal of the foreshore and seabed act despite widespread opposition, flying the separatist flag on government buildings, secretly signing up to the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People, and now the biased constitutional review, seem more explicable if the Maori Party could release details of a pre-election deal to keep Key in line.

This is all unsurprising for politicians, although such deals are not normal everywhere else. If someone in business does an insider trade and gets a hefty profit that person could end up in court, as a number of former politicians who applied political standards to business have found out.

Twisting the treaty shows how in 27 years the Treaty of Waitangi has been re-interpreted, the partnership myth created, tribal corporations set up, and public assets have been transferred to those corporations that are on the brink of securing a special place in a new, treaty-based, written constitution.

Six authors are credited in this 400-plus page book, although the most strident attacks appear in the introduction, epilogue, and in a number of brief, un-credited chapters titled “Parihaka – the facts”, “Twisted morality – the Matawhero massacre”, and “The brownwashing of New Zealand – treaty indoctrination”.

Since I contributed two chapters, one titled “Twisted History – treaty settlements criticized” and the other “Separate and privileged”, I cannot review my chapters but I can review the chapters that I did not see before publication, and tell you where to buy a copy.

Canterbury law lecturer David Round contributed “The law made simple” and “The Constitutional Advisory Panel – a very nasty smell”, while retired information technology expert Bruce Moon wrote “Real treaty, false treaty”.

Wellington research scientist John Robinson wrote “Wellington settlements and consequences”, Wellington former DSIR scientist Hugh Barr contributed “Stealing the beaches”, “The extortionate treaty claim to native plants, animals and Maori knowledge”, “Fish” and “Water”.

Auckland architect and Libertarian blogger Peter Cresswell wrote “Property rights – a blessing for Maori NZ”.

Included are 27 photos, political cartoons, maps, as well as a table detailing treaty settlements to date, footnotes, and an index.

Twisting the treaty tells how public assets are being stolen in plain sight while taxpayers and voters feel powerless to stop it. Selling for $40 and available at a good Paper Plus store near you, or direct from Tross Publishing, P.O. Box 22 143, Khandallah, Wellington 6441, or www.trosspublishing.co.nz, the book shines a bright light on some very dodgy deals.