Te Pāti Māori has spent years pushing for a tikanga-based legal framework and even a separate Māori Parliament. However, the moment internal conflict erupts, the Kapa-Kingi’s seek refuge in the so-called colonial courts. That is not a show of confidence in tikanga justice, it is an admission that New Zealand’s legal system, rooted in British law, works. It is fair, consistent and gives every voice, no matter who they are, a chance to be heard.
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Seymour is right that the Western legal system is not perfect, but it is one of the fairest in the world. It is built on values that uphold democracy, individual rights and the rule of law. Those are principles that protect everyone, Māori and non-Māori alike. Without them, New Zealand would descend into a patchwork of competing tribal laws, each claiming authority over the other.
The irony is that while Te Pāti Māori vilifies “colonialism”, they benefit from every one of its structures, the courts, Parliament, education and welfare systems they constantly criticise. If they truly believed in their rhetoric, they would settle disputes through tikanga, not the High Court.
Matua Kahurangi is just a bloke sharing thoughts on New Zealand and the world beyond. No fluff, just honest takes. He blogs on https://matuakahurangi.com/ where this article was sourced
Click to view
Seymour is right that the Western legal system is not perfect, but it is one of the fairest in the world. It is built on values that uphold democracy, individual rights and the rule of law. Those are principles that protect everyone, Māori and non-Māori alike. Without them, New Zealand would descend into a patchwork of competing tribal laws, each claiming authority over the other.
The irony is that while Te Pāti Māori vilifies “colonialism”, they benefit from every one of its structures, the courts, Parliament, education and welfare systems they constantly criticise. If they truly believed in their rhetoric, they would settle disputes through tikanga, not the High Court.
Matua Kahurangi is just a bloke sharing thoughts on New Zealand and the world beyond. No fluff, just honest takes. He blogs on https://matuakahurangi.com/ where this article was sourced
4 comments:
Agree, top-notch dog whistling from someone who has never worked a day in his life in a real job and is perfecting the art of culture war distraction nonsense. This is the time for it, and he is a man for the time!
I love a bun fight. And the people want to run our country. Sorry I can’t stop laughing and crying.
Matua Kahurangi is right: when the revolution meets reality, the megaphone militants suddenly remember they quite like the Westminster system after all. One moment it’s “colonial oppression,” the next it’s “Your Honour, may it please the court.” If irony could be harvested, Te Pāti Māori could power the national grid.
But let’s not pretend the politicians are doing this alone. They have air support — the academic division. You know the type: revolutionary in theory, Wi-Fi dependent in practice. The moment anyone questions them, they summon the full force of university press offices, DEI units, and whatever committee currently regulates Thought and Feelings.
They rail against the “structures of colonial knowledge,” yet remain deeply committed to:
• academic salaries (colonial currency only, thanks)
• grant funding (also colonial currency)
• superannuation funds (strictly capitalist)
• international conferences (business class when possible — overthrowing empires is tiring stuff)
And like their political cousins, they specialise in emergency evacuations to whichever part of Western civilisation keeps them safest. Courts for MPs; institutional grievance channels for lecturers. Same energy, different staffroom.
When David Seymour pointed out the tactical retreat to British law, he lifted the curtain on a much wider theatre production. Behind it sit people who have built impressive careers announcing the imminent collapse of systems they never actually intend to stop using. If hypocrisy had KPIs, the sector would get platinum certification.
These programmes and “communication hubs”? Marvels of modern engineering. They convert public money into hashtags, word salads of contorted jargon, and the occasional panel discussion on RNZ.
The outputs are best understood as renewable — outrage begets workshops, workshops beget reports, reports beget funding proposals, and round we go like a cultural Ferris wheel powered by taxpayer astonishment.
Meanwhile, if you ask for measurable outcomes — genuine improvement in lives, communities lifted, social issues solved — you will be told, politely, that the question itself is colonial. The programme was never designed to succeed; it was designed to continue. Revolution as subscription model.
So yes — Te Pāti Māori’s sprint to the High Court was illuminating. But the spotlight doesn’t end there.
The great anti-colonial (anti-white) project turns out to rest securely on colonial courts, colonial pay packets, and colonial pension schemes. It is resistance with a direct-debit form.
The truth? These institutions work. That’s why they’re used. Even by the people who say they want to replace them.
And that’s the real national conversation:
Not about race, or justice, or history — but about performance.
Some protest the system.
Some govern through it.
And some publish journal articles about dismantling it — on university email, during office hours, retrievable under the Official Information Act.
—PB
I love Seymour. I think I might be in love with Seymour. Is that ok in 2025? For a man to love a weasel?
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