John Porter: National and Co-Governance

How many of us, on the evening of Saturday, 14 October 2023, exuberantly thought that co-governance was, if not quite dead and buried, was definitely being readied for a trip to the graveyard?

It hasn’t turned out that way, has it?

Reynold Macpherson: Why Rotorua district does not have 50-50 co-governance

Between 2013 and 2023, Rotorua Lakes Council was prevented by Parliament and law from adopting a 50/50 co-governance model. In my view this outcome aligns with local preferences and broader trends in New Zealand and other democracies, such as the United States and Canada, where debates over governance models and minority and majority rights continue to evolve. 

This article outlines three key reasons for Rotorua’s reversion to pluralistic majoritarianism and situates them within the wider national and international context.

David Lillis: The Tertiary Education Union and Political Activism

About the Tertiary Education Union

According to its own website, the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) was established in 2009 through amalgamation of the Association of University Staff (AUS) and the Association of Staff in Tertiary Education (ASTE). The TEU is a registered trade union, in accordance with the Employment Relations Act 2000. Its national office is located in Wellington and its other offices are based in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Christchurch and Dunedin. These offices are intended to provide assistance and advice to members (TEU, 2024).

NZCPR Newsletter: Moratorium on Coastal Claims

It is now 100 days since Christopher Luxon’s new Government was formed. Significant progress has been made in fulfilling Coalition pledges to wind back co-governance and race-based privilege.

Bruce Moon: Charlie Martin and the Bigger Issues

“Oh, what a tangled web we  weave when first we practice to deceive” - Sir Walter Scott

As I read between the lines ….

Charlie Martin, published in “The Press” 10 September 2023, tells us a story about Julian Batchelor, a man he describes as having romped over New Zealand with the spirit of a doomsday preacher warning about the apocalypse.  Well?  In brief, Martin’s style is florid, personal to the man and tone deaf to the message delivered.

Henry Armstrong: New Zealand is in a Democratic Shambles – but who is listening?

The Cambridge Dictionary defines democracy as “The belief in freedom and equality between people or a system of government based on this belief in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves”.

Most New Zealanders view democracy within this definition as meaning one person, one vote, majority rule. They also believe that in a democratic society, freedom of speech and expression and the right to be consulted on important political and constitutional issues is fundamental, along with a non-partisan media and apolitical universities, inter alia.  But this simplistic view of democracy is actually quite incorrect, even dangerous, in New Zealand in 2023.

John Robinson: A message to demonstrators

For many years a proposal to divide New Zealand into two people, in direct opposition to the early call that “Now we are one people”, has been built up.  Supporters of racial division have threatened those who stand up for equality, becoming ever more active with many efforts to prevent or close down any debate of the current government policy of co-governance, in a series of determined attacks on free speech.[1] 

There has been no willingness to listen to any alternative point of view by this Government and its supporters, and thus no dialogue.  Many of the public remain unaware of what the policy means and how it is being put into action.

Once again, we challenge these zealots to explain their ideas and meet with other New Zealanders in an open forum.

Barrie Davis: The Doctrine of Discovery Essay

In recent years, a previously little-known principle called the Doctrine of Discovery from the Age of Discovery has been added to Maori grievances. 

It is said the Doctrine originated in 15^th century papal bulls, that it is present in New Zealand law and that it must be removed. 

In particular, the recent Maranga Mai! report claims New Zealand was colonized under the authority of the Doctrine, that the Doctrine was a factor to the impact of colonization on Maoris, and that rejecting the constitutional application of the Doctrine is central to establishing co-governance.

John Robinson: A call for freedom of speech

To the leaders of the National, ACT and New Zealand First Parties

In 1940, as World War Two was raging, W H Auden voiced his despair and powerlessness: “While those whom we love are dying or in terrible danger, the overwhelming desire to do something this minute to stop it makes it hard to sit still and think.” 

This echoes my feelings (and yours surely) with the destruction of equality, democracy, and freedom of speech here in New Zealand:

While our freedoms that we love are in terrible danger, the overwhelming desire to do something this minute to stop it makes it hard to sit still and think.

Mary-Louise Kearney: Co-governance - "It’s the veto issue, stupid”

(With apologies to James Carville, 1992 Democratic Campaign)

Have you noticed how rarely any co-governance discussion mentions or analyses the veto element of this issue?

Certainly, recent articles have focused attention on the co-governance model advanced by the Labour Party, the Maori Caucus and their numerous Critical Race Theory-trained supporters. The common agenda of this group is to replace New Zealand’s democracy by a system of governance based on equity and ethnicity. 

NZCPR Newsletter: A Test of Strength

New Zealand’s new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has had a dream start. Uncontested for the leadership, he was then thrust into centre stage by the dreadful weather events that caused havoc and a tragic loss of life in Auckland.

While Labour MPs will be encouraged by their subsequent jump in the polls, the real test of strength for new PM will be whether he stands up to his Maori Caucus and puts a hold on their co-governance reforms - especially Three Waters.

Gerry Eckhoff: Colonisation

The history of the world is one of conquest and colonisation, usually by force of arms.  From the time of the Egyptian and Persian empires to the Roman and Greek conquests of the known world, slavery and cultural change through conquest became part and parcel of both ancient and recent history.

One more recent example is the Hapsburg Austrian Hungarian empire which spread through much of Europe before their end after WW1.  The German Czech assimilation in an area known as Budweis (beer drinkers will recognize the name) is a case in point. The German/Austrian influence in Budweis became accepted and all lived in relative harmony for centuries. The Hapsburg influence soon became the dominant culture and remained so for around 200 years. The country became bi-lingual and intermarriage was common place.  That remained the case until a small bunch of academics wanted to right the wrongs of a couple of centuries ago. (Auckland University had not been invented at that time so cannot be blamed) The academics' ideas received some oxygen so street names were changed. Even music received ethnic quotas. One assumes that even Beethoven’s music was replaced by more ‘talented’ local musicians.

All of which I hope is starting to sound familiar as our country’s name of New Zealand is slowly but surely being replaced by a North Island word which I refuse to use.

John Robinson: Escape the guilt trap - who really broke the Treaty?

Three Waters and separate government: the elephant in the room

Many councils have spoken out against the Three Waters proposal, with most focussing on the high cost and the taking of ownership and control by a new national organisation. The public organisation Democracy Action has spoken against the proposal, “since the undemocratic co-governance provisions will bring more complexity, more bureaucracy, more costs – and a whole lot less democratic accountability”. The Taxpayers’ Union has pointed to “the lies about ‘ownership’, the unsuccessful buy off of the local government sector, and the parliamentary skullduggery”.

There was considerable publicity when a group of law academics (professors and PhDs), publicised their opinion that the development of Three Waters raised constitutional concerns, because an entrenched privatisation provision (which was dropped following widespread condemnation) “creates a dangerous precedent”. That provision was a last-minute amendment that the Green Party had insisted on, in order to block possible future privatisation.

The claim that the Greens are opposed to privatisation is smoke and mirrors, a diversion and a con designed to misdirect public attention, away from what is going on. The Three Waters legislation takes all those resources out of public control and gives effective control, that key feature of ownership, to an undefined Maori organisation. That is privatisation in all but name.

David Lillis: Another Comment on the Media, Education and Co-Governance

Another Characteristic Media Piece

Recently I was motivated to write a piece on the media and co-governance (Lillis, 2022). I expressed the opinion that New Zealand is on a dangerous path that advantages a small minority on the basis of genetics or self-reported ethnicity. I expressed the view that our media presents co-governance almost exclusively as the desirable pathway to our future, and seldom publishes alternative opinions.

 

I discussed an article from a former mayor of Kapiti Coast (Gurunathan, 2022a) and stated my perspective that it was well-meaning and positive in intent. I did note that he appeared to cast disagreement with co-governance as bias, or even racism, and to discount the possibility that dissenters articulate genuinely-held views, also advanced with positive intent.

Since then, the same author has published another piece in Stuff (Gurunathan, 2022b). I believe that this piece is well-intended, as was his previous, and we can understand his position. Nevertheless, it is notable that he presents a particular line that seems to cast any individual or body standing up to a minority as committing wrong and possibly engaging in racism. The title is already provocative: Councils should think twice before insulting their Treaty partners.

NZCPR Newsletter: Who is Actually Running the Country?

The escalating controversy over Three Waters – and an increasing realisation that the Prime Minister and senior members of Cabinet do not really know what’s going on – is leading New Zealanders to question who is actually running the country?

David Lillis: The Media and Co-Governance

A Characteristic Media Piece

New Zealand is on a difficult path - one of advantaging a small minority on the basis of genetics or self-reported ethnicity. As we proceed along this path our media present co-governance as the desirable pathway to our future almost exclusively, and present dissenting opinions very rarely.

 

An article from a former mayor of Kapiti Coast is characteristic of what gets published in online and print media (Gurunathan, K, 2022). The author is undoubtedly a very decent human being who has contributed much to his community and who has the courage of his beliefs and, as a person of color, may well have experienced bias and racism and observed these things imposed on others. He favours re-defining New Zealand as a bicultural nation and evidently is comfortable with the reality that Māori constitute less than 17% of the total population and that very few are full Māori. However, like others, he appears to cast disagreement with co-governance as racism and appears to discount the possibility that dissenters articulate genuinely-held views.

NZCPR Newsletter: The Revolution Within

“The liberty of a democracy is not safe if private power becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism: ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.”

― President Franklin D. Roosevelt

In April last year, Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced a review of local government: “They are now facing a wave of reforms that will significantly affect their traditional roles and functions… This offers an important opportunity to embody the Treaty partnership through the role and representation of iwi/Maori in local government.”

She was referring to Labour’s planned removal of two core roles and sources of funding from councils, namely the provision of water services and Resource Management Act consenting.

NZCPR Newsletter: The Danger of Co-Governance

In 2006, the former US President Barack Obama, then a Senator, used a speech at the University of Nairobi to rail against tribalism:

“Ethnic-based tribal politics has to stop. It is rooted in the bankrupt idea that the goal of politics or business is to funnel as much of the pie as possible to one’s family, tribe, or circle with little regard for the public good. It stifles innovation and fractures the fabric of the society. Instead of opening businesses and engaging in commerce, people come to rely on patronage and payback as a means of advancing. Instead of unifying the country to move forward on solving problems, it divides neighbour from neighbour.”

With on-going stories of corrupt tribal leaders living in palaces with taps of gold while ‘their people’ suffer in slums epitomising the excesses of tribalism, New Zealanders from all sides of the political spectrum have been horrified to find Jacinda Ardern – under the guise of implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – is forcing tribal rule onto our country.

NZCPR Newsletter: The Toxic Co-Governance Agenda

The Rotorua District Council (Representation Arrangements) Bill is dead – and long may it stay that way. The Bill attempted to introduce co-governance with the effect that it advantaged voters on the Maori Roll over all others.

The final blow was the ruling by the Attorney General that by breaching the constitutional principle of equal representation for everyone – a cornerstone of our representative democracy – the Bill was discriminatory.

This fact that co-governance has now been found to be discriminatory must surely signal an end to this whole toxic agenda.

Graeme Reeves: Cooke on Partnership Treaty of Waitangi

Co–Governance is predicated on the assumption that the Treaty of Waitangi created an equal Partnership between Maori and the Crown.

Is that assumption correct?

The term Partnership was first used in the context of the Treaty in the Court of Appeal case (New Zealand Maori Council v Attorney-General [1987] 1 NZLR 641) in what is referred to as the Lands Case in 1987. In particular the obiter dicta (not the ratio decidendi) in the judgment of Justice Robin Cooke who was the President of the Court of Appeal at that time.

Since the publication of the He Puapua report and its eventual public release, a great deal of debate about the report’s expressed goal of the division of New Zealand into two separate sovereign states has ensued.