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Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Where should the Treaty of Waitangi sit within our law?


Thomas Coughlan is joined by University of Auckland sociologist Elizabeth Rata to discuss her views on the Treaty, where it sits as a legal document.


Click image to listen
Professor Elizabeth Rata is the Director of the Knowledge in Education Research Unit in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at the University of Auckland.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Professor Rata's arguments are superb: respectful to history, clear and to the point.

Do we want liberal democracy to continue in New Zealand or a new tribalism in which individual rights are subsumed under collectives run by unelected elites?

LFC

Anonymous said...


Poor Tom’s brain couldn’t handle non-indoctrinated truth bombs?

New Zealand was under the 1839 Royal Charter/Letters Patent laws and dependency of New South Wales when the Tiriti o Waitangi was signed.

This treaty and the 1839 Royal Charter would have both been superseded with the issuing of the 1840 Royal Charter/Letters Patent which separated New Zealand from New South Wales dependency and made New Zealand into a British Colony with a Governor and Constitution that created New Zealand’s Legislative and Executive Councils and granted authority to Governor Hobson to make laws for all under one flag irrespective of race, colour or creed.

The 1840 Royal Charter/Letters Patent would have been superseded on the 30th June 1852 when Governor Sir George Grey issued a proclamation to bring the New Zealand Constitution Act (UK) 1852 into operation, establishing a system of representative government for the colony. New Zealand’s first elections were held in 1853 and Parliament sat for the first time in 1854.

The 1852 Constitution Act was superseded by the 1986 Constitution Act, which declares the power of the United Kingdom Parliament to legislate for New Zealand to be at an end. New Zealand, as of 1987, is a free-standing constitutional monarchy whose Parliament has unlimited sovereign power.

Andrew Osborn said...

Elizabeth Rata is a national treasure who should an important voice in the upcoming Treaty debate.

Anonymous said...

Add Michael Basset to the list of qualified academics who support Elizabeth's position.

Terry Morrissey said...

After listening to that interview, I am convinced that Thomas Coughlan is a semi-literate air head, has a speech impediment, is on something. is just not cut out for radio or all of the above. He also has a hearing problem, was just not listening to the professor or, as is common with journalists, he is far more interested in getting his opinion across rather than listening to a perfectly lucid explanation of history as it was at the time. I would think that the whole thing would have given Professor Rata moments of amusement and frustration. Coughlan's political leanings could not have been more obvious.

Anonymous said...

The standard of MSM journalistic capability is exposed in this interview with Professor Rata. What a disgrace and all power to the professor for persevering with her explanations, albeit without any progress made with this clown.

Anonymous said...


Poor Tom’s brain couldn’t handle non-indoctrinated truth bombs?

New Zealand was under the 1839 Royal Charter/Letters Patent laws and dependency of New South Wales when the Tiriti o Waitangi was signed.

This treaty and the 1839 Royal Charter would have both been superseded with the issuing of the 1840 Royal Charter/Letters Patent which separated New Zealand from New South Wales dependency and made New Zealand into a British Colony with a Governor and Constitution that created New Zealand’s Legislative and Executive Councils and granted authority to Governor Hobson to make laws for all under one flag irrespective of race, colour or creed.

The 1840 Royal Charter/Letters Patent would have been superseded on the 30th June 1852 when Governor Sir George Grey issued a proclamation to bring the New Zealand Constitution Act (UK) 1852 into operation, establishing a system of representative government for the colony. New Zealand’s first elections were held in 1853 and Parliament sat for the first time in 1854.

The 1852 Constitution Act was superseded by the 1986 Constitution Act, which declares the power of the United Kingdom Parliament to legislate for New Zealand to be at an end. New Zealand, as of 1987, is a free-standing constitutional monarchy whose Parliament has unlimited sovereign power.

Anonymous said...

Elizabeth Rata spoke very clearly, obviously understanding the subject well. Elizabeth hits the nail on the head.As for the tongue tied Thomas Coughlan, it was painful listening to him. If I hadn’t wanted to listen to Elizabeth’s commonsense commentary, I’d have pushed the stop button. Trying to take a stance on an historic document with the hindsight of a world that has moved on is wanting your cake and eating too! Māori can’t have it all ways and NZ’ers must stand up for democracy.