John Robinson: Recovering the social contract; Government and public together

Take back control of the narrative

A revolution in accepted, established thinking in government, media and amongst officials has taken New Zealand deep into racism (described as ‘Jim Crow racism’ in the first of these three articles).  Many see the damage and want to re-establish key principles, central for a counter-revolution.  That revival of community values, the re-capture of ‘hearts and minds’ (feelings, beliefs, knowledge and understanding), emphasising facts over myths, has been described as the return to an egalitarian ‘social contract’ in the second of these articles. 

John Robinson: Takeover of New Zealand; the power of apartheid

The social contract: how people feel

The decisions and actions of government and officials provide part of an unwritten social contract, a way of life that we are subject to and which we collectively construct – our national culture, the consensus within which a diversity of religious and group cultures may flourish. This, the message that society sends to us, defines accepted social habits, to make those who conform feel comfortable, secure, at ease, and part of the nation.  That is so when all is well – otherwise, with a power grab by an authoritarian group, the insistence may be on conformity to a narrow and divisive ideology.  The resulting censorship will then provide the very opposite for independent thinkers, who come under attack, sidelined, and inferior.

John Robinson: Jim Crow racism in New Zealand

Here I consider the introduction of racism into New Zealand, the similarities with The Jim Crow laws, which were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, and the influences that brought that era to an end – suggesting probable features of the New Zealand effort to return to equality, above all, the continuation of racism and the consistent effort required to assert equality.

This is the first of a set of three articles.  The second will describe the extent of the forces (which I have labelled the “Treaty Industry”) and the divisive world view that has been created, which must be overcome.  The third will suggest some ways in which the current government can help us, members of the general public, to overcome the belief in indigenous supremacy, and establish an egalitarian world view. 

John Robinson: The Crown should once again withdraw from negotiations with disruptive and extremist Ngapuhi

Northern tribes, Ngapuhi, have been so divided and arguing among themselves that there has been no agreement yet on a Treaty settlement.  Christopher Finlayson tried for several years to find agreement before finally withdrawing from negotiations in 2017.  The following Labour government left the problem to the current National-led coalition which is again facing problems.

Now Ngapuhi have come up with an outrageous claim for “an $8.43 billion redress for generations of losses” – almost double the total of around $4.3 billion for all settlements to all other tribes.

Why is any payment due?

Mountainside FM: NZ a broken nation

Those British who had just put an end to slavery laid down the foundations of New Zealand.

They would never have written, or agreed with, a Treaty that divided the country into two unequal races, having asserted the very opposite: that all New Zealanders were equal British subjects.

This was a precious legacy for the new nation, to be safeguarded and never taken for granted.

New Zealand has paid the price of ignorance and inactivity, allowing a determined minority to build a tribal, ‘indigenous’ and race-based division, which destroys the claim to equality and liberty of all others....


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John Robinson: Call Key out

The deceit of John Key

Former National Party leader Sir John Key has called on people to “take the temperature down a wee bit” in the debate around race issues.  What chutzpa! [1]  He knows no shame.  He has conveniently forgotten his own actions, in an effort to present himself, falsely, as a worthy elder statesman.

John Robinson: New Zealand nonsense (four). Weaponizing the Treaty of Waitangi

New Zealand is all a-muddle, ruled by false, newly-invented stories of the past.  This appears at first to be ridiculous, nonsensical.  But it is not, there is a purpose in it all; the confusion is a cover for a systematic takeover by a race-based minority. 

New Zealand nonsense (four).  Weaponizing the Treaty of Waitangi

New Zealand is dominated by a myth of an original ‘race’ (the indigenous people) who are so important that they must be given priority and special treatment.  The basic concept of equality has been destroyed to the extent that those who dare to argue for equality and labelled racist and denied a voice (I am just one of many who have experienced that). 

John Robinson: New Zealand nonsense (three). How Maori rebels broke the Treaty.

I had a chat recently where a friend said: “I have never heard anyone say that Maori broke the Treaty before.”  Of course they did, and people should be told so.

New Zealand nonsense (three).  How Maori rebels broke the Treaty.

There is much questionable, indeed nonsensical, in today’s New Zealand.  A country which once opposed racism has a belief in race written into law[1], with measures of that Maori race increased to justify two extra Maori seats[2], and many actions asserting the special position of supposedly-indigenous Maori.

John Robinson: New Zealand nonsense (two). Voting by race - Unequal Maori seats

I am a scientist, a mathematician. It always seemed obvious that the aim was to work with numbers to uncover the truth. That was impossibly naïve; now I know that mathematics is a way to confuse the layman and hide some very shady goings on, to ‘dazzle them with numbers’ – all in the service of some demanded dogma, all OK so long as the boss and paymaster is kept happy. Nowhere do we find integrity in New Zealand.

John Robinson: New Zealand Nonsense (one) - the Maori race

Once when Maori called me racist, I would say “No, I am not.”  Then I thought a bit about what racism is, and I realised that they were the racists.  I had entered dangerous grounds, for it did not take long to see that my country is deeply racist.  I do not belong here.

Andy Oakley: Book Review - Who Really Broke The Treaty?

In his latest book, prolific author John Robinson once again presents straightforward arguments supported by well-referenced facts about New Zealand’s history. As you read, you begin to understand the need to rethink our national identity and question the actions of successive governments, particularly their implementation of ill-conceived and racially divisive policies.

John Robinson: A positive future - to get the job done free from racial division

Division by race, along with co-governance, partnership and an insistence to follow a vague Maori way of organisation (tikanga, based on pre-1840 squabbling tribalism) is creating a confusion of sinecures, jobs for the boys, well-paid positions for relatives, for the folk of the whanau (whanaungatanga) – a great deal of empty effort that ensures that nothing gets done and problems continue to fester.  This time-wasting process is seen across the country, on the national level (such as with the failure of the dual health system) and locally.  One such example is a ‘new’ Maori way of managing the Wanganui River.[1]

There, “Iwi of the Whanganui River expect a new strategy will reform resource management in the catchment. … Te Heke Ngahuru ki Te Awa Tupua, which was unveiled on Friday, was released for consultation by Te Kopuka na Te Awa Tupua, a 17-member strategy group made up of iwi, central government, mayors and council leadership, and industry and sector interests. …

John Robinson: A statement that negates itself - the meaningless and contradictory UNDRIP

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (a “non-binding, aspirational declaration of the General Assembly of the United Nations”)[1] has been proclaimed as a basis for providing legitimacy for the further separation of New Zealand into two peoples, two races.[2] 

This has formed a key part of the framework for a complete transformation of our system of government.  Following the He Puapua report to Government, in July 2021 the Minister for Maori Development in the Jacinda Ardern Labour government, Willie Jackson, announced “the next steps in developing a national plan to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”.   The process followed was based on a separation, with overarching rights to Maori.  “Government will consult with Maori over the next few months before engaging with the wider public on indigenous rights, in the wake of He Puapua controversy.”[3]  The discussion was not to ask whether we want separation by race – that was set down as a basic requirement for the future, and the process was organised to provide greater rights to Maori.

Peter Hemmingson: Waitangi Tribunal

Waitangi Tribunal Reports are widely believed to issue only after rigorous historical investigation of Treaty claims.

In other words, you can take them to the bank.

The Tribunal’s findings then reach the wider public via media reports, make their way onto Government websites, and percolate throughout our education system as authoritative, objective accounts of the events to which they refer.

What if Tribunal Reports were in fact one-eyed rewrites of New Zealand history and not worth the paper they are printed on?

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.

John Robinson: The principle of the Treaty

The Waitangi Tribunal, and the 1975 Act which set it up, insists that we must be guided by – and follow – the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

As there are no principles stated in the Treaty, such principles must be derived from the text.  

This proves to be simple, and easy.  

The Treaty is clear that sovereignty goes to Great Britain, and that all New Zealanders are British subjects – all equal, not divided in any way into different classes of citizen.  Here is the principle of equality.

John Robinson: The Treaty of Waitangi, 1840 and 2023

The signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on 1840 marked the beginning of the formation of the modern nation of New Zealand.  Prior to that, these islands were home to Polynesians, now known as Maori, living in many separated tribes with a primitive culture.

In Maori society loyalty was to the tribe, and, in the absence of any central overall authority, conflict resolution was by armed might, by fighting – with widespread killing, cannibalism and slavery.  The coming of muskets, and the growing familiarity with other parts of the country (due to travel on British vessels and in long-distance war-parties) resulted in an explosion of war, and the Maori population declined by close to one-half in the first forty years of the nineteenth century.

John Robinson: Another step towards Maori government

A rebel government has set up a separate and independent court to sit in judgement on New Zealand and New Zealanders.  This Maori court will follow their own set of laws, overturning the whole justice system.[1] 

“A Sovereign Independent Court of Justice – ‘Kooti Wakanga’ has been established under Tikanga and He Wakaputanga Law.”  This, claimed to be “the first sovereign independent Grand Jury Court of justice, Te Wakaminenga Kooti Wakanga nui of Nu Tireni – New Zealand, ...  will deal with civil and criminal claims for all Sovereign Nationals of Nu Tireni NZ who register with the Wakaminenga Maori Government under the jurisdiction of Tikanga and He Wakaputanga.”

John Robinson: Hipkins is wrong when he claims discrimination by medical workers

When supporting priority to Maori for a range of health care services, including directions to surgeons to take ethnicity into account when deciding major operations, the Prime Minister gave the reason as the need to overcome supposed racial discrimination.

“There is clear evidence that Maori, Pacifica and rural and low-income people have been discriminated against in the health system.”[1] 

His call was for active discrimination, pushing such as Maori to the front of the queue, before others who fail the ethnicity test.

The claim that some people “have been discriminated against in the health system” implies that there is active and widespread discrimination amongst health workers.  This is a lie, an unjustified slur against the many health care workers who do their very best to provide good care to us all.

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.