Senior ministers are emphatically rejecting claims from Māori, including actress Keisha Castle-Hughes, that Māori should be eligible for citizenship to Aotearoa New Zealand.
The Waitangi Tribunal held an urgent hearing into the issue of citizenship, with many overseas-born Māori saying it is unfair and unconstitutional that Māori are being denied citizenship to the country they whakapapa to.
I will be amazed if the Waitangi Tribunal doesn’t agree with the claimants, as they have long since left behind any pretence of not being an activist body. But they will be terribly wrong.
What Castle-Hughes and others are arguing for is literally two standards of citizenship – a superior one for those with a Maori ancestor and an inferior one for everyone else.
There is a case to be made that citizenship eligibility should be extended to having a NZ citizen as a grandparent, not just a parent. But that must apply for everyone.
But there is a larger issue – people eligible for NZ citizenship do not take it up. If Castle-Hughes had bothered to become a NZ citizen in the last 30 years, she would not have a problem now.
But to be fair to her, there is little reason to do so. NZ is almost unique in that we give permanent residents almost all the rights of citizens. This means many people living here never apply to become NZ citizens. I want them to do so. I think citizenship is vitally important to a country, and promotes unity. As many of our residents as possible should be citizens.
One change I advocate is that we should restrict voting in elections to NZ citizens (grandfathering in all current residents who are not citizens). This is common to almost all other developed countries. We should proactively promote citizenship through publicity campaigns.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders
What Castle-Hughes and others are arguing for is literally two standards of citizenship – a superior one for those with a Maori ancestor and an inferior one for everyone else.
There is a case to be made that citizenship eligibility should be extended to having a NZ citizen as a grandparent, not just a parent. But that must apply for everyone.
But there is a larger issue – people eligible for NZ citizenship do not take it up. If Castle-Hughes had bothered to become a NZ citizen in the last 30 years, she would not have a problem now.
But to be fair to her, there is little reason to do so. NZ is almost unique in that we give permanent residents almost all the rights of citizens. This means many people living here never apply to become NZ citizens. I want them to do so. I think citizenship is vitally important to a country, and promotes unity. As many of our residents as possible should be citizens.
One change I advocate is that we should restrict voting in elections to NZ citizens (grandfathering in all current residents who are not citizens). This is common to almost all other developed countries. We should proactively promote citizenship through publicity campaigns.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders
7 comments:
This would make sense if there was any value in having citizenship. When you can be unilaterally locked out of your own country, as we were during covid, what's the point of it? Personally, I am finding it literally impossible to live with my own family here because of the malicious pedantry of Immigration. Shortly, I will be pondering why I bother to be a citizen as I wave my wife and children goodbye at the international departure lounge, not knowing if they will ever be allowed to return. There is no priority gate for citizens when it comes to immigration. You stand in line behind everyone else. And yet surely it is family of citizens that would make the most compatible immigrants. For that matter, surely returning Kiwis are even more attractive. But how do we treat them when they do return? We arrest them at the border for not paying their student loans and make it almost impossible to bring their families with them. But if you are a foreign national who misses their grandma, not a problem.
Agree we should limit voting to citizens. We should also limit access to super to citizens only.
"What Castle-Hughes and others are arguing for is literally two standards of citizenship – a superior one for those with a Maori ancestor and an inferior one for everyone else."
That's called APARTHEID. Welcome to New Zimbabwe.
Paul says "There is no priority gate for citizens when it comes to immigration". What a bizarre statement. New Zealand citizens don't immigrate. They cross the border quite literally at the priority gate marked "New Zealand Passport Holders". If some member of his family can't get though that particular gate, perhaps they should get a New Zealand passport. I'm told any New Zealand citizen can get one. So why haven't Paul's wife and children bothered? Sounds like he's being a bit economical with the truth. As you might expect from someone who frames the COVID pandemic as being all about themselves.
Just claiming to have the smallest amount of Maori DNA gives some people extraordinary privileges already.
See what will happen when Luxon allows He Puapua !
I agree with Doug - and CXH, that 'super' should only be after they've at least generated an income (other than welfare) and over their time in NZ paid at a minimum of ten years of tax. Otherwise, they can support themselves with no right of suffrage or welfare, should they choose to continue living here.
A lot of other countries only allow citizens to vote and also get super, s0 why not NZ?
Post a Comment