Dear Vice Chancellor Damon Salesa,
We are a group of New Zealanders whose primary objective is to fight for equality under the law and advance the vision Governor William Hobson expressed at Waitangi in 1840.
He is said to have spoken the following words to each of the chiefs after they took their turn signing the Treaty:
He Iwi Tahi Tātou / We are now one people
Given our goal to see a unified New Zealand, it was with dismay that I read the comments of Auckland University of Technology’s Dean of Law Khylee Quince about Gary Judd KC. Calling him a “racist dinosaur” and saying he can “go die quietly in the corner” is juvenile and abusive.
Mr Judd has had a career of nearly 30 years appearing many times in front of the Supreme Court and the Privy Council. He is entitled to, at the very least, collegial respect from Dean Quince even if she disagrees with his stance on tikanga’s role in law.
The law by nature is adversarial, pitting people, ideas, and legislation against each other. That is why a standard of behaviour and the tacit agreement to “play the ball, not the man” is so crucial to the practice. Expectations of how lawyers should handle themselves are written in legislation, by the Law Society, and informally in every chambers in the country. Dean Quince has fallen well short of all these standards.
In a role such as the Dean of Law, Khylee Quince has the additional burden of role-modelling to the nation’s future lawyers. This is why her comments are of such great concern to Hobson’s Pledge supporters. New Zealand is currently finding its way through challenging discussions about race relations, tikanga, and the role of the Treaty. Rather than fuelling the fires of division, our leaders, including legal and academic leaders, should be facilitating respectful and productive discussions. It is unacceptable that a Dean of Law would be contributing to the toxicity instead.
The purpose of this letter is to urge you to remind Dean Quince of her obligations and the privileged position she is in. But most importantly, I ask you to make a public statement affirming that AUT’s Law School does not take political positions relating to race, but rather it teaches the law that pertains to the matters. Making it clear that Dean Quince does not speak for the University and that her remarks were inappropriate and unacceptable for someone in her position is critical to present and future law students and the confidence they can have in their education at AUT.
The matter of the role of tikanga in law is an active debate and no one should be discouraged from engaging in it. Dean Quince’s comments, given her position, will likely have a chilling effect, dissuading any student for questioning or arguing a position different to her own.
All the best,
Don Brash
He Iwi Tahi Tātou / We are now one people
Given our goal to see a unified New Zealand, it was with dismay that I read the comments of Auckland University of Technology’s Dean of Law Khylee Quince about Gary Judd KC. Calling him a “racist dinosaur” and saying he can “go die quietly in the corner” is juvenile and abusive.
Mr Judd has had a career of nearly 30 years appearing many times in front of the Supreme Court and the Privy Council. He is entitled to, at the very least, collegial respect from Dean Quince even if she disagrees with his stance on tikanga’s role in law.
The law by nature is adversarial, pitting people, ideas, and legislation against each other. That is why a standard of behaviour and the tacit agreement to “play the ball, not the man” is so crucial to the practice. Expectations of how lawyers should handle themselves are written in legislation, by the Law Society, and informally in every chambers in the country. Dean Quince has fallen well short of all these standards.
In a role such as the Dean of Law, Khylee Quince has the additional burden of role-modelling to the nation’s future lawyers. This is why her comments are of such great concern to Hobson’s Pledge supporters. New Zealand is currently finding its way through challenging discussions about race relations, tikanga, and the role of the Treaty. Rather than fuelling the fires of division, our leaders, including legal and academic leaders, should be facilitating respectful and productive discussions. It is unacceptable that a Dean of Law would be contributing to the toxicity instead.
The purpose of this letter is to urge you to remind Dean Quince of her obligations and the privileged position she is in. But most importantly, I ask you to make a public statement affirming that AUT’s Law School does not take political positions relating to race, but rather it teaches the law that pertains to the matters. Making it clear that Dean Quince does not speak for the University and that her remarks were inappropriate and unacceptable for someone in her position is critical to present and future law students and the confidence they can have in their education at AUT.
The matter of the role of tikanga in law is an active debate and no one should be discouraged from engaging in it. Dean Quince’s comments, given her position, will likely have a chilling effect, dissuading any student for questioning or arguing a position different to her own.
All the best,
Don Brash
Dr Don Brash, Former Governor of the Reserve Bank and Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2003 to 2006 and ACT in 2011. Don blogs at Bassett, Brash and Hide - where this article was sourced
9 comments:
Quince is behaving like another academic ult-left shill. Like the fruit whose name she bears, a bit sour.
The thrust of the Mr Gary Judd KC essay was to make certainty for all NZers that "Tikanga " is NOT NZ law and any decisionn using Tikanga ie Justice Churchman and the Takutai Moana cases (seabed and foreshore ) is potentially fraught with difficulty and possibly anything other than honest and lawful.
>Dean Quince’s comments, given her position, will likely have a chilling effect, dissuading any student for questioning or arguing a position different to her own.
There is a word for that - bullying.
Is Quince and ( albeit nasty) comments any different from the views espoused by the Supreme Court?
Isn't the bigger issue the question of the foundation and substance of the NZ legal system and the intellectual integrity of the judiciary? And the manner in which fundamental change is being made without the sanction of the people.
Dear Dr. Don Brash.
This 'new affront from an Academic' is very similar to the 'stupidity' you faced from a female Academic (Australian by birth) who held a Senior position at Massey University, Palmerston North and her 'high handed stupidity' in denying you speaking privileges' at Massey Uni, to which you had accepted an invitation from a Student Union Body, to speak on "Hobson's Choice".
All on the basis of 'racism' - strange statement coming from an Australian.
Am I allowed to state - "That across the world, we are seeing females, who hold either CEO status in business, are Academics, Politicians, in the majority white - who make the most appalling decisions and statements that are then ridiculed, proved incorrect and in many cases uttered with out actual fact".
My 'monetary bet is - that the Vice Chancellor will continue working with out any repercussion, unless the NZ Law Society decides to take action, which they should'.
Expect no corrective or disciplinary action at all.
Why? Look at the actors in this sorry affair :
VC Salesa ( husband of Labour MP Jenny Salesa) - the power Polynesian couple.
Ms Quince: Maori law academic - and woke icon.'
Clear evidence of what happens when CRT ( critical race theory) takes over key institutions.
Good bye to legal wisdom, professional and constructive debate, courtesy.
Hello to power drunk, shallow and rude people - in charge of important places.
PS. Furthermore, expect no action from the NZ Law Society (NZLS) - except to fully endorse Dean Quince.
The NZLS is, itself, divided - due to a radical report on its future and the future of the legal profession ( written by 3 authors including Prof Ruru of Otago Uni - an author of the He Puapua document ). This report supports Tikanga as a parallel and valid legal system in NZ. Already, many lawyers of all ages hesitate to challenge this view for fear of the impact on their careers.
The NZLS has disbanded its most important committee ( the Rule of Law Committee) - this prompted lawyers Gary Judd KC and Stephen Franks ( former MP) to set up a lobby group for lawyers. ( https://www.ruleoflaw.co.nz/)
An excellent letter that focuses on the key issues of concern.
As Brash notes here, insulting people with ad hominem attacks is unhelpful at the best of times, but is totally unprofessional behaviour by an academic.
I admire people such as Brash who “speak truth to power”, including now those with identity-politics power.
I wish extremist identity politics and its suppression of open, balanced debate was a problem only at AUT. Unfortunately, it has spread much wider in NZ universities and if anything becoming more entrenched.
LFC
Don keep up the great work. Please follow up with their response. I'm betting their isn't going to be a response. The left are a confused lot trying to defend their racist beliefs by calling those who try to unify as the racists. Bizarre. But thats why they shy away from a fair debate as they play the man not the ball as their beliefs are quickly and easily unpicked.
The left despise great men like you holding them to account on the toxic racist divisive insidious agendas.
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