John Franklin: “One People, One Language”

Recently I learnt that Te Reo Māori and Sign Language are the only Official languages of New Zealand.

That’s despite over 95% of the population using English in their everyday lives, compared with Māori (4.1%) and New Zealand Sign Language (0.5%).

Like many New Zealanders, I was under the false impression that both English and Te Reo Māori were official NZ languages, but English is only the “De facto” language.

That means that Te Reo Maori is the only “Official” spoken language of New Zealand.

Wikipedia defines an Official language  “An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, legislature, and/or administration)”

Like many other western nations, New Zealand never bothered to make English the official language by statute even though it fulfilled that function in every way, it seemed as pointless as wearing a name badge to a family dinner.

However, we should have because when Te Reo Maori was made the Official language in 1987 thanks to a bill from the Māori development minister, it effectively usurped the English language’s status.

Unfortunately, in New Zealand, we have a Separatist movement from Radical Māori activists who believe that they are entitled to rule New Zealand, they even attempted to claim the seabed and foreshore 20 years ago. Willie Jackson and Nanaia Mahuta were involved in that disgraceful episode in our history and using Labour’s majority government and stealth have recently achieved their goal to control our water via 5-Waters, despite the majority of New Zealanders opposing it.

It’s hard to fathom that they have been targeting ownership or control of our water assets for at least 20 years, but that fanaticism is exactly what Kiwis need to get their heads around. It’s also hard to fathom how this government could appoint fanatical ethnic activists like Jackson and Mahuta to ministerial roles and projects of huge national significance that require them to consider the interests of all New Zealanders when that’s not within their capabilities.

These radical Māori Activists, Separatists, Supremacists or whatever you call them are fanatical about their agendas and are dedicated to playing a long game. Their goal is to divide New Zealand and separate Māori from other New Zealanders and rule over them, they believe that is their right.

It's hard to comprehend how someone could believe they are entitled to rule over other ethnicities, to own the beaches, or even the sky as some tried, and I think Kiwis have also failed to comprehend the genuine threat posed by people with that world view. They are fanatics who have put their interests so far ahead of other New Zealanders that their mindset is aggressively narcissistic, they either don’t care or can’t comprehend how their agenda harms other New Zealanders, and their reflex action to anyone who opposes their agenda is to threaten and abuse and play the race card.

When confronted with this level of narcissistic aggression, there is no choice but to actively defend your rights as they are incessantly looking for ways to promote their agendas to elevate themselves above other New Zealanders.

Instead of defending our democracy and right to equality, we have been guilty of pacifism and underestimating the patience, drive, fanaticism and even political skill of these Māori activists to gain tribal rule

We didn’t contest the indigenous status they fought for assuming it wasn’t significant despite Māori having an immigration story just like the rest of us.

We also sat back and let radical interpretations of the Te Tiriti o Waitangi emerge largely unchallenged to the point that the Te Reo and English versions of the Treaty no longer match, in fact, they are miles apart and then we watched them marginalise the English version as well.

I am convinced we would be making the same mistake leaving Te Reo Māori as the only “Official” spoken language of NZ, as whilst English is the defacto language, it’s not protected by statute as Te Reo is, and these Māori activists are capable and willing to exploit that weakness as they hate the fact that English is our common language.

New Zealand has not been just a Māori and European country for a century, we are a multicultural democracy and have significant populations of New Zealanders with Chinese, Indian and Polynesian ancestry. Unfortunately, Māori activists refuse to accept that all New Zealanders are equal, they don’t want equality or democracy where they are limited to one vote each.

There is no doubt that Te Reo and Māori culture needs to be supported, it’s an important part of New Zealand’s multicultural history but I also have no doubt that Māori can keep their culture and language alive without it being our Official language or forcing it down non-Māori’s throats.

Despite our multicultural democratic status and English being our common language, we are currently having Te Reo forced on us via every government-controlled outlet possible, I have first-hand experience of the heavy-handed force-feeding of all things Māori and the associated anti-pakeha discrimination in the tertiary education system.

Not only are New Zealanders being force-fed Te Reo and Māori culture but we are also being subjected to a systematic denigration of New Zealanders with European ancestry, via government agencies like RNZ. RNZ is New Zealand's public service multimedia organisation funded by our taxes to the tune of $35.356 million annually for its operating costs, yet is clearly run by racist Māori activists and actively promotes anti-white propaganda such as Racism is a white problem.

It beggars belief that a government can allow ethnic activists to run a national media operation, it’s simply hard to comprehend the level of betrayal that represents to the people of New Zealand.

It has got so ridiculous that new Māori names are being invented for European creations specifically to replace the authentic English name despite these creations having no presence in pre-European Māori culture. That really demonstrates that this process is not about cultural sensitivity or fostering Māori culture as they claim, it’s about radical Māori activists’ desire to erase European culture and supplant English with Te Reo.

Somehow, despite only 1 in 7 New Zealanders having some Māori ancestry, and English being our common language, they are legally able to impose Te Reo on all New Zealanders when only 4% understand it. This only makes sense when considering that English was effectively demoted when Te Reo was made the “Official” language.

In short, the English language has lost its authority and its protection, so any objections to Te Reo Māori being forced on non-Māori are mute as Te Reo is the official language of New Zealand, not English, and that legal status is paramount.

For example, in Sept 2021, The Human Rights Commission (HRC) declared that they “will no longer consider individual complaints over the use of te reo Māori or the term Pākehā.”

An English-speaking nation now has news and government publications, not in the common language but in a language they can’t understand, but HRC’s dismissive response to the numerous complaints is that if we want to understand what is said, we should learn Te Reo.

Whilst that response shows disdain to 85% of New Zealanders, ultimately the HRC has no legal authority to challenge the inappropriate and often disrespectful use of Te Reo because it’s our official language, and legally their hands are tied.

To prove my point that the legal status of the English language is critical, the HRC justify their position by stating, “Te reo Māori is an official language in Aotearoa New Zealand”,

Personally, I don’t believe that giving Te Reo the “Official” status was done at a whim, especially when you consider the deliberately orchestrated acts of deception employed to introduce Co-governance by stealth, and the radical ambition of the Māori separatist movement, I believe that what we are seeing is part of a long-term plan to supplant English with Te Reo Māori.

Some may find that far-fetched, and given the prevalence of English in NZ today, not much of a threat, but I wouldn’t keep underestimating the long game being played by the activists, their fanaticism and the current momentum of their agendas. If you have witnessed the growing enforcement of Māori culture in the education sector, it’s definitely achievable, possibly within a few decades.

The education sector is where the younger generations can be assimilated. If you have been to a primary school lately you could be excused for thinking that you are at a Māori school or on a Marae, all other cultures are deliberately excluded from proceedings and the Educators are forced to follow directives to integrate Māori culture and the “Māori way” into every aspect of teaching and school governance.

This agenda and associated propaganda are currently being applied to our children at school, if nothing changes, in 2 decades they will be 25 to 40-year-olds that will have been forcibly indoctrinated into a radical Māori activist worldview, and their version of New Zealand’s history and interpretation of the Treaty, anti-Pakeha propaganda and will likely be programmed to dismiss those who don’t speak Te Reo as bigots.

The education sector is where generational changes are made and therefore is the first target for this type of indoctrination, it’s the high ground and thanks to this insidious Labour government, radical Māori now possess it.

It’s the current voting generation that needs to defeat the Separatist agenda, as the future generations will be at the complete mercy of the classroom environment and propaganda imposed on them, it’s our obligation to ensure that environment is free of these racist agendas and propaganda.

We can’t afford to underestimate this agenda anymore, it can be successful and is already well advanced, it has been fully empowered and funded by this Labour government for 5 years and is now embedded in nearly all our legislative and regulatory framework.

For example, the latest target is Local government, this excerpt below is part of Labours plan for the “Future for Local Government”.

“That central government provides a statutory obligation for councils to give due consideration to an agreed, local expression of tikanga whakahaere in their standing orders and engagement practices, and for chief executives to be required to promote the incorporation of tikanga in organisational systems.” (NOTE the highlights have been added)

This document mandates control of Local government to Central government and then to Iwi in keeping with the concealed co-governance agenda, that is bad enough, but notice the bastardised mix of English and Te Reo without interpretation which has made what needs to be concise and clear, fuzzy and ambiguous.

The English language was used for judiciary and legislature 800 years before Te Reo was first written by Christian missionaries and British scholars, and it’s perfect for that purpose, on the other hand, Te Reo Māori is not a natural civic language, it’s an oral language from a culture completely isolated from the developed world till 200 years ago that been written down.

Consider the term used above, “local expression of tikanga whakahaere”, which loosely translates to the local expression of “the Māori way” or “procedure”. Even after looking up the translation, you don’t know what that means unless you also know the particular relevant local Māori custom associated with that context. So basically, you won’t know unless you engage with local Iwi so they can have a hui to tell you what the “Māori-way” means to them at that particular time in history, which may well be different to the interpretation from the tribe down the road.

That relational, evolving understanding of concepts is how an oral culture works, but it is not how our legislative process needs to work, it needs to be based on a suitable written language that can convey complete, clear and concise legal concepts within a self-contained written document.

Look what has happened with the Treaty, the written Te Reo interpretation has evolved over time and no longer resembles the English version to the point that the Treaty is so divided and contradicting it’s worthless.

For example, the treaty was translated from English to Te Reo and the word “treasure” was interpreted as “Taonga” but apparently, “Taonga” is so vague it can mean anything Māori think is important, and you can guess what the Māori activists have done with that. They are now claiming that Queen Vic promised them they can have everything they desire when clearly, they were only guaranteed that they could keep their physical items of wealth. Even though the interpretation of the English version has been stable and unambiguous, it’s a complete mess and the Treaty is now worthless and that’s what we can expect if Te Reo is used as our Official language.

Obviously, the Waitangi Tribunal’s job was to prevent that type of out-of-context interpretation that clearly doesn’t represent the intention of the treaty, they have completely failed NZ and can only be one of two things, incompetent or corrupted and are as worthless as they have made the Treaty.

However, the fact remains that using Te Reo as an official language will create a level of ambiguity and division that is going to create havoc for our society and legal system moving forward, our legislation, documents and contracts won’t stand the test of time, just like the Treaty hasn’t.

Our common language serves to unite us and our judiciary system and legislature needs a suitable written language, so our only viable option is to instate English as the official language.

Te Reo does not need to be, nor does it qualify to be our official language and should remain as an alternative spoken language to be interpreted into our common and official language in courts and legislature.

That would be a key victory for democracy as the large majority of New Zealanders want one common language and for that language to be English, it would prevent our legislative process from becoming ambiguous and it would stop the Separatists from using Te Reo’s current official status as part of their agenda, and if they have taught us anything, it’s not to underestimate the significance of these legal precedents.

On a broader note, considering all the Separatist’s agendas, I suspect that we only have one chance, one time in history to defeat their tribal rule movement once and for all, and that time is 2023.

Obviously, we must remove this insidious Labour government and install one that will represent all New Zealanders equally regardless of their colour, but we also need to give the new government a clear directive and democratic mandate to rip out all the race-based policies from our legislative and regulatory framework.

And then replace those race-based policies with directives that ensure equal treatment for all New Zealanders regardless of their ethnicity as a human right in line with the declaration of human rights which states that "All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law”.

Because if we don’t undo labour and He Puapua’s dirty work, they will have won, they will have successfully bypassed the democratic process with deceit and covertly installed raced-based mechanisms that will continue to transform our nation from a multicultural democracy to Tribal rule.

We need a referendum to achieve this, I can’t see another successful strategy, and it’s important for the nation to see democracy in action again, where majority rule is exercised, and we can also look to install the English language in its rightful place as New Zealand’s official language as part of that referendum process. I would also add the treaty to that referendum as it’s no longer fit to be a foundational document that drives governing policy in a multicultural democracy.

New Zealanders need to realise that this radical separatist agenda has no end, its insatiable, they will always want more and if we don’t defeat them, they will take everything, these radicals don’t care how their agenda negatively affects other Kiwis, we either stop them or get trampled underfoot.

So, the little I would ask you to do today is to encourage others to demand a referendum and only vote for those who will commit to it, so we can end this divisive agenda once and for all and give ourselves a chance to be “One people” respectful of each other ethnicity and united by one common language.

As a wise man once said. “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little”.

John Franklin -another person who can only do a little.