NZCPR Newsletter: Reversing the Cultural Takeover

All around New Zealand there’s a growing concern that a cultural takeover of our country is underway. It’s a problem that’s being exacerbated by the weaponisation of “Te Tiriti o Waitangi”, and the domination of the Maori language.

“Te Tiriti o Waitangi”, the Maori translation of “the Treaty of Waitangi”, can be found everywhere these days. It’s been inserted into legislation, regulation, constitutions, professional standards, codes of practice, and a myriad of other forms of communication in both the public and private sectors.

In 1922, Sir Apirana Ngata, a Member of Parliament and New Zealand’s first Maori lawyer, outlined the meaning of “Te Tiriti o Waitangi” in an explanation that was held in such high regard that it was subsequently distributed by the Government to all Maori families.

He wrote: “These are the words of the first article of the Treaty of Waitangi: The Chiefs assembled including Chiefs not present at the assembly hereby cede absolutely to the Queen of England for ever the government of all of their lands.

“This is the second article: The Queen of England confirms and guarantees to the Chiefs and Tribes and to all the people of New Zealand the full possession of their lands, their homes and all their possessions…

“This is the third article of the Treaty: In consideration thereof, Her Majesty the Queen of England extends to the Natives of New Zealand Her Royal Protection, and imparts to them all the rights and privileges of British subjects.”

Sir Apirana confirmed what we all knew: the meaning of “Te Tiriti o Waitangi” was essentially the same as the English version of the Treaty - an historical agreement under which Maori ceded sovereignty to the Crown, property rights were protected, and Maori were given the same rights and privileges under British law as every other New Zealander.

The problem we now face, is that Te Tiriti has been fundamentally redefined by Maori sovereignty activists into a “living document” that embodies a proactive commitment to tribal supremacy.

That means wherever “Te Tiriti” has been adopted – whether by government agencies or private sector organisations - it no longer holds the original meaning but has instead morphed into an activist framework demanding “Partnership, Participation, and Protection.”

Under Te Tiriti tribal leaders are elevated into a power-sharing co-governance role, relegating all other New Zealanders to second-class status. Iwi call the shots – not in the best interests of New Zealand, but to boost their own self-worth and billion-dollar balance sheets.

Since ‘co-governance’ encompasses the power of veto, it is a euphemism for tribal rule. With co-governance delivering decision-making into the hands of iwi leaders, Te Tiriti o Waitangi has become the embodiment of He Puapua, the Labour Party’s blueprint for tribal rule by 2040.

As a consequence, all government and private sector organisations that have embedded Te Tiriti have become levers in a power game designed to replace democracy with tribal authority.

We can see it in education through the Ardern Government’s 2020 Education and Training Act, where section 127 requires school Boards to “give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi”, requiring children to be indoctrinated with separatist propaganda: “to ensure plans, policies, and local curriculum reflect local tikanga Maori, matauranga Maori, and te ao Maori.”

The regulatory body for New Zealand’s 100,000 teachers, the Education Council, has been captured as well, pushing the agenda of tribal leaders through their “Standards for the Teaching Profession”, which prioritises Maori rights and forces the compliance of all New Zealand teachers: “Demonstrate commitment to tangata whenuatanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership in Aotearoa New Zealand.”

Similarly the Nursing Council, which regulates New Zealand’s 80,000 nurses, has embedded separatism: “The Nursing Council is committed to ensuring Te Tiriti o Waitangi is instilled into the values of our organisation and is fundamental to the way in which the Council undertakes its statutory roles.”

Their newly updated standards reinforce their capture: “The changes emphasise a greater focus on Maori health, culturally safe care. The standards of competence incorporate the articles and principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.”

The Ardern Government used Te Tiriti o Waitangi to justify Maori co-governance of the entire health system. However, once it became clear that apartheid had been introduced, with health services prioritised on the basis of race instead of need, the public backlash was so great, opposition parties pledged to abolish the Maori Health Authority once elected.

To the Coalition’s credit that occurred within weeks of the election, but the problem is, that’s all they changed!

The legislation governing New Zealand’s health system is still underpinned by Labour’s separatist He Puapua goals. Maori rights continue to dominate, including through the Hauora Maori Advisory Committee and the Iwi-Maori Partnership Boards, with the New Zealand Health Charter still reading as if New Zealand is already a tribal country: “Te Mauri o Rongo… is underpinned by Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles: tino rangatiratanga (self-determination); oritetanga (equity); whakamaru (active protection); kowhiringa (options); and patuitanga (partnership).”

While the bigger question is whether the health system’s race-based legislation is fit for purpose, a more immediate concern is whether it is acceptable that official government communications are dominated by the Maori language.

Like Te Tiriti, separatist language and culture are everywhere - and not only in the State sector, but the private sector as well including through sports, businesses, and charities.

This over-riding of our traditional Kiwi culture and language is driven by official advice from the Ministry of Maori Development, which recommends the use of dual languages with Maori prioritised.

This is not a trivial issue.

The domination of Maori language and culture are pivotal to He Puapua and the tribal takeover of New Zealand. Once the Maori language and culture are used widely enough, concerned New Zealanders will stop objecting. At that point, the domination would have become normalised, and the final stage of implementing totalitarian tribal rule will begin.

By then, those New Zealanders who are left in the country will simply accept that democracy is dead and comply.

The “Maorification” of New Zealand is also a huge concern to this week's NZCPR Guest Commentator John Bell, a former teacher and union organiser, who explains where the cultural takeover of education is leading:

“That cultural take-over has not by any means been the end goal, rather a necessary step towards the end goal. With the whole of society conditioned to accept Maori as its default cultural identity and Maori language as a necessary component of every communication, every official title and every TV news item, we have now entered the phase of forcing an activist Maori version of history and agenda of iwi entitlement on everyone in schools, in workplaces, in local government and even in leisure organisations which, if Incorporated Societies and required to adopt a new Constitution, have been urged to become “te Tiriti-led”.

“At the half-time stage in the Coalition Government’s three-year term, its success in halting the advance of the activists’ agenda has been anything but spectacular. The spectre of iwi sovereignty is now a significant factor in causing many able and ambitious young New Zealanders to leave, and it becomes increasingly obvious that penetration of our institutions by the activist agenda has gone so far that even a government opposed to that agenda now seems unable to halt it in the absence of significant grass-roots community support.”

And that’s a real problem.

Even a cursory examination of the depth of the infiltration of Te Tiriti and tribal activism into the official workings of our government will reveal that He Puapua has spread like an aggressive cancer.

In reality, opting for a colourblind society by removing race and culture from our Statute books will be the only way to save New Zealand. This is the approach taken by other countries including Sweden, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, and Austria, that have been faced with similar difficulties. New Zealand now needs to follow suit.

The situation in local government is particularly dire.

All around the country, iwi have secured preferential deals with councils not only through Treaty settlement legislation, as well as Mana Whakahono a Rohe and Joint Management Agreements under the Resource Management Act, but also through a wide variety of directly negotiated partnership and co-governance deals, including the establishment of advisory boards and Maori wards. Many of these arrangements are now being updated - ahead of local body elections and without the approval of locals.

Ngai Tahu, the $2-billion tribal corporation that, like other iwi, has built its wealth not only on the back of taxpayer handouts, but through a legal exemption introduced by Labour that allows such business conglomerates to register as charities and pay no tax, has secured special deals with virtually all South Island councils.

The updated agreement they have just negotiated with the West Coast Regional Council, has been described as a takeover as a result of the significant new powers they have secured.

In Taupo, Ngati Tuwharetoa is similarly updating their co-governance agreement with the District Council, introducing significant new powers that will come at a huge cost to ratepayers.

In reality, stopping this tribal juggernaut will clearly be no easy fix, especially when local authorities are turning a blind eye to the change in direction being promoted by the Coalition.

But as John Bell suggests, it is possible to make a real difference through grass roots action - if enough people get involved.

John’s target is the charity sector where he’s leading by example by challenging those that use the Maori language in their appeals for funding. He explains that he will not support organisations that promote separatism, but if they return to using the English language, his contributions will resume.

He makes the point that bringing about change is a numbers game: “Cleansing the charitable sector of ‘Maorification’ is perfectly achievable if enough people decide to make a stand… As people gain confidence in saying ‘NO’ to the activist agenda in one sector, so will they start standing up to that agenda in others - in schools, in work places and wherever free speech and democracy are threatened.”

As John reiterates, enough people getting involved can make a real difference - but it does require numbers.

We already know that from our experience in 2023: with the legacy media backing Labour in the lead up to the General Election, the only reason the Coalition was elected was that Kiwis from all walks of life got involved in a collective effort to change the government.

The cultural takeover has now reached the point where grassroots New Zealand needs to again be mobilised. We need to send a strong message to central government that New Zealanders have had enough. We can do that in a number of ways, but the most urgent is to vote “No” to Maori wards in the October local body elections. And we need to encourage everyone else to do the same.

Some forty-two councils around New Zealand will be running a Maori ward referendum – the full list of affected councils can be seen HERE.

A YES vote in favour of Maori wards would be a significant step towards the tribal control of local government – tapping, no doubt, into the vast resources and rating income streams of councils.

A resounding NO vote, on the other hand, will send a strong message to all political parties in Wellington, that the will of the people must be respected.

It will also lay the foundation for a referendum on the Maori seats in Parliament.

That not only means voting against the Maori wards in the referendum, but it also means ensuring good people are elected to councils, who will support the removal of all race-based privilege - including advisory boards and partnership deals.

With local body nominations closing at 12 noon on Friday 1 August, there is still plenty of time to encourage the right people to stand.

It is now time for New Zealand to mobilise - and take back control of local government!

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Dr Muriel Newman established the New Zealand Centre for Political Research as a public policy think tank in 2005 after nine years as a Member of Parliament. The NZCPR website is HERE. We also run this Breaking Views Blog and our NZCPR Facebook Group HERE.