Pages

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Sandra Goudie: What Treaty Principles

What Treaty Principles? There are none.

The Attorney General responded to my request for a copy of the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi by saying that there is no ‘authoritative copy’ of the Treaty Principles, but he said they have been ‘explored and discussed’ by the courts and the Waitangi Tribunal. (Letter available from the Attorney General’s office – just write and ask him for it.)

Exploration and discussion does not a principle make.

The Attorney General also happens to be the Minister for the Environment, or was, maybe he still is…. and of course I raised this matter in my submission to the select committee on the Natural and Built Environment Bill.

There is an escalation of the Treaty Principles being incorporated into legislation, and the wording is changing and escalating alongside it. From the old days it was ‘have regard to’. Then it became ‘have regard and give effect to’, now we get the ‘give effect to and provide for’ the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. Fascinating when no-one seems to know what they are.

Next came the Election Review Panel, and lo and behold apart from the idiocy of wanting to give 16 year olds the vote, they also want to incorporate the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Naturally I emailed attaching the letter from the Attorney General and asked them to provide a copy of the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Election Review Panel aped the Attorney General and offered a ‘guide’ to the Treaty Principles. Well, how can you have a guide to principles that don’t exist? Besides, I asked for a copy of the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, not a ‘guide ’. Clearly the request was too simple.

So what to do! I know, write to the boss! Said the little red hen, and so I did. And once my 20 days are up I should have a reply from Chippie! One thing they did do as I started down this track was to get me to send to DPMC (Dept PM and Cabinet) identification to prove I am me. That was a new one. After asking if that was a scam, by which they replied by email no, I supplied the requested documents to prove I am me. Oh and yes, I have been sending my correspondence to lots of other people. Accountability comes through the eyes of many. Sunshine love.

So as this farce continues, it would appear that there are no Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, so ergo, there can be no guides or guidelines. Somewhat dis-ingenuous to be able to create something from nothing. It rather begs the question about what Councils around the country will now do as they recognise this somewhat glaring oversight which I suspect has been known by some for a while now. Think of the money they can save!

Given the absence of the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, there can be no breach when we all go about our business as fellow human beings.

Sandra Goudie. Retired Mayor. Retired Member of Parliament.

13 comments:

Empathic said...

Well done for formally calling the bluff of several political forces regarding the mythical principles that are costing us a great deal of money, inefficacy in public services and, worst of all, racial disharmony through racism. And a plainly written, succinct account of it was greatly appreciated.

One small grammatical point. A question is definitely begged by policies and laws requiring principles of Te Tiriti to be upheld, but no question was begged regarding what councils around the country will now do.

Anonymous said...

The 1975 TOW Act and its amendments are the biggest injustices ever created by any government on its people, as it allows one group of NZ citizens the privilege of a taxpayer funded apartheid tribunal to claim against their fellow NZ citizens using 'principles' and a 'partnership' dreamt up by the ministers and bureaucrats using false information and a false treaty document. The principles and partnership have no relationship to our Tiriti o Waitangi. They were enacted into law under Geoffrey Palmer's direction and a court of appeal based on false information and a false treaty document.
There are NO 'principles or partnership' in the Tiriti o Waitangi, which gave the same rights to all the people of NZ, irrespective of race, colour or creed.

WILLIAM MOCKRIDGE said...

EXACTLY! Totally invented.

mudbayripper said...

It really doesn't matter if there are any principles or not. These evil scammers, ie the current government and the racist postmodernists who are members of the thieving Waitangi tribunal, just make it up as they go along.
Logical reality just doesn't cut it anymore.
Its all about power, they have it at the moment, we don't. If enough people wake up through the next couple of months, maybe sanity will make a come back.
But I'm not betting on it.

Doug Longmire said...

Well done, Sandra.


You have graphically illustrated something that we have all known for some time - which is that there are NO "principles" in the Treaty of Waitangi.

This whole invented charade of "principles" is simply a fictional pipe dream that has no substance at all.
So all of the huge volumes of writing, all the Tribunal pronouncements regarding Treaty "principles" are all based upon a totally false and erroneous base.
Building a castle on foundations of sand.

John Ansell said...

The principles that for 33 years have been deployed to turn New Zealand into the People’s Republic of Aotearoa New Zimbabwe have nothing to do with the Treaty of Waitangi 1840.

They can rightly be called the Principles of the Treaty of Wellington 1989.

They are an unconstitutional concoction of the communist sympathiser (and certainly tribalist sympathiser) and traitor Geoffrey Palmer.

It was Palmer who abolished the death penalty for treason. I wonder why.

Andy Oakley said...

Great job, Sandra!
In my 2013 Treaty Claim to the Waitangi Tribunal, detailed in my 2013 book "Cannons Creek to Waitangi", I highlighted not only the absence of Treaty of Waitangi principles. Astonishingly, the government also lacks a definition of what a Maori is.
Although I presented 22 distinct self-definitions as Maori in my claim, without meeting me, they disputed my Maori status. Their letters demanded proof, before advancing my claim.
So, I turned to the experts - the Waitangi Tribunal – and asked them for a definition of what a Maori person is. I would happily prove my Maori status upon receipt of their definition.
Despite many reminders, the Waitangi Tribunal never responded.
Remarkably, the Waitangi Tribunal fails to possess a definition of what a Maori person is.

Richard Buckler said...

When the concept of the "principles of the Treaty" was first introduced in the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 there were no such principles, either in the Act or anywhere else. The Waitangi Tribunal was created under the Act and given the function of inquiring into claims against the Crown for beaches of the principles of the Treaty. It was also given the task of identifying the principles but strictly for its role as a commission of inquiry, and limited to the claim before it. Its findings are not binding in law.

In 1987 in the Lands case the Court of Appeal had to decide it the Crown had acted "in a manner that is inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi". The Court stepped outside its role as the interpreter of the law and proceeded to opine on what it considered the principles to be. In its various judgments the Treaty and its principles were elevated into a concept akin to partnership and a solemn pact between two races.

The jurisprudence relating to the Principle of the Treaty now includes the non-binding findings of the Waitangi Tribunal, the judgments of the courts, and the opinions of anyone else in need of a slogan. The concept of the principles has become entrenched in government, in health, education, sport and virtually every aspect of the lives of New Zealanders by people who have no idea what it means.

The facts relating to the principles of the Treaty can be seen in various posts here:

https://thetreatyfacts.blogspot.com/p/the-treaty-of-waitangi-act-1975.html

Anonymous said...

Well done Sandra!
For this country to progress we need to abolish the Waitangi Tribunal and all further claims and define what percentage of blood relationship you have before you can lay claim to that ethnicity.

One New Zealand Foundatuion Inc said...

This is not correct, I have a copy of a book on the Principles for Crown Action on the Treaty of Waitangi produced by the Goverment in 1989. ISBN 0-477-007229-11. This book with an introduction by Hon David Lange sets out the Principles with a commetarry on each Principle.

Don said...

OOPS! to NZ Foundation. Your book is about the Principles for Crown Action,
not the Principles of the Treaty. Your comprehension is on a par with your spelling.

Anonymous said...

According to the official search page ISBN 0-477-007229-11 is not an real book. Who are you trying to tric?

Ron Kendrick said...

Excellent piece Sandra!
I have been posing the very question of Maori identification for some time but have failed to elicit an answer from anyone!
My last question was to the Hon Winston Peters on that very subject! At a recent public meeting which he addressed i am sure he stated 50% bloodline was required to prove ones Maori identity!
I explained to him that because of the poor quality of the PA system i missed the explanation & asked him to clarify it in writing to me…….still waiting!!!
I am sure if that is in fact the case the ‘gravy train’ would be considersbly shorter!!