A.E. Thompson: Racist Control of New Zealand Psychologists

I draw your attention to public documents from the New Zealand Psychological Society, the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists and the New Zealand Psychologists Board.

The New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists (NZCCP) is currently pushing workshops called 'Te Tiriti O Waitangi Informed Psychology in Aotearoa' (see https://nzps.gecco.co.nz/event-manager/ViewEvent/220).

Professor Brian Boyd: Place—or Race?—in Education

Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland has enshrined “place” in education in a top-down and almost entirely unargued-for way. “Place” appears to be a cover for race: an attempt at social justice and possibly an attempt to lift Māori performance in the university and society. The roots of this shift go back to 2022, when a broad curriculum “transformation” was proposed. The elements dealing with “place” were initially given great prominence. They promoted idealized, romanticized, and essentialized Māori ways of thinking and attempted to instil a narrow and fixed interpretation of te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Judy Gill: How does Diocesan School for Girls give effect to the Te Tiriti o Waitangi?

Observations from an Open Day visit to one of New Zealand’s highest-performing schools

A visit to the Open Day at Diocesan School for Girls in Epsom — widely regarded as the top-performing girls’ school in New Zealand.

I attended the Open Day at Diocesan School for Girls in Epsom.

Graham Adams: Compulsory Treaty courses tip of the iceberg

Last week, David Seymour enthusiastically welcomed the recommendation by Auckland University’s Senate to make the compulsory first-year courses on the Treaty and te ao Māori voluntary after Act had publicly campaigned on the issue.

He described the Senate’s “two to one” vote in favour of voluntary enrolment as a “massive victory for people… to make up their own mind”.

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.

Dr Bryce Wilkinson: A response to sincerely held concerns about the Regulatory Standards Bill

This week, Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee is hearing oral submissions on the government’s Regulatory Standards Bill. I support the Bill, most submitters oppose it. So, I have been listening carefully to their reasons.

Most opponents are passionate and sincere. They genuinely believe that the Bill will make it harder for governments to act collectively in the public interest.

Professor John Raine: Concerned Citizens, Not Haters and Liars

Public voices have been loud and but not entirely clear over particular sections in the Education and Training Act Amendment Bill (No.2). Apart from submissions to the Select Committee, Minister of Education, Erica Stanford, has received many personal messages.

The pressure on our Cabinet Ministers is understandable, but on Mike Hosking Breakfast 27th June, Erica Stanford referred to those who had sent her emails as, “whipped up with hatred, frothing at the mouth and spouting complete and utter garbage, lies” - extreme words that fell back on lazy social media slurs. Misinformed or intemperate remarks would have been a small proportion of the messages sent to the Minister. The large majority would have been stating real concerns that the Bill as it stands appears to leave the door open for undue Treaty dominance and continued decolonisation activism in our education system.

Matua Kahurangi: Erica Stanford sneaks race-based policy back into schools

Just when you thought National put an end to race-based policies and co-governance in public services, Erica Stanford’s new Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 2) makes you wonder if National has completely lost sight of those promises. It reads more like something from the Labour government than the party Kiwis voted in to restore some common sense.

The bill would require school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi by:

Zoran Rakovic: Te Tiriti Obligations Quietly Shifted Into the Backyards of Private Citizens

Opinion on why New Zealand’s Crown cannot legally transfer its Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations to private landowners under section 6 of the RMA.

Section 6 of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) purports to set out “matters of national importance” to which all persons exercising functions and powers under the Act must “recognise and provide for.” Among these are matters such as the preservation of the natural character of the coastal environment, the protection of outstanding natural features and landscapes, and the relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands, water, sites, wāhi tapu, and other taonga. Specifically, section 6(e) elevates Māori interests into a planning context that places regulatory burdens on private landowners through local council decisions made under the RMA. At first glance, this framework may appear as a principled reconciliation between land use regulation and the Crown’s Treaty obligations. 

Peter Williams: Trust in the Media is still dropping

Would ownership or management changes make a difference?

Only five short years ago over half of us said we trusted the media. That was 2020 in what was the first of the now annual AUT Journalism, Media and Democracy Centre surveys.

The baseline number that year was 53 percent, hardly a glowing endorsement of the country’s news industry.

Professor Jerry Coyne: Identity-based hiring goes wild in New Zealand

Just to show you how, in the hiring process, New Zealand gives much more weight to identity than to merit, I enclose part of the job description for the position of Chief Operating Officer of Wellington Water, the water utility for the Greater Wellington region (Wellington, a lovely city, is the capital of New Zealand). The document was sent to me by a Kiwi who, of course, wishes to remain anonymous (you are not allowed to point out things like this for fear of losing your job or being demoted).

Tim Wikiriwhi: Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill - submission

Public Submission.
To the committee.

Hello.

My name is Tim Wikiriwhi.
I am a father, grandfather, a Christian Libertarian, and a Kiwi of both Maori and Pakeha descent.
Te Arawa is my Iwi.

John Raine and David Lillis: Giselle Byrnes’ Opinion Piece, “Why Te Tiriti and not Gaza?” – a Counter View

Why Te Tiriti and not Gaza?

In an opinion piece, published in Massey News of 12th July 2024, Professor Giselle Byrnes, Provost of Massey University, emphasises the importance of universities remaining neutral on political matters and, appropriately in our view, not taking a partisan stance on the Israel-Hamas war. Professor Byrnes points out correctly that to take a political position would place the University at odds with the Education and Training Act 2020. She quotes the 1967 Chicago University Kalven Report, as we have done in previous pieces; for example, Reference 1.

Jack Vowles: The idea of ‘sovereignty’ is central to the Treaty debate......

.....why is it so hard to define?

The coalition government’s approach to Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) will inevitably set the scene for Waitangi Day next week, with the ACT Party’s Treaty Principles Bill already generating protest and ill will.

But ACT’s initiative, even if ill-conceived, could still open up a widened debate that is long overdue.

Peter Williams: What kind of School Principal do we want?

Eligibility Criteria seriously skewed

If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is making moves to reduce or eliminate te reo in correspondence because the MFAT bosses believe the new government want that, the same attitudes have not infiltrated the Ministry of Education.

In fact, judging by the recently published “Aotearoa New Zealand Principal Eligibility Criteria” this numerically bulging but educationally failing ministry is doubling down.

Peter Winsley: The legality of New Zealand’s government, and what should we do about the Doctrine of Discovery?

Claire Charters makes some remarkable assertions in her 14 July Opinion piece Matariki is a mark of how far we have come and how far we have to travel.

Charters is a law professor at Auckland University. She chaired the He Puapua working group and is the indigenous rights governance partner at the Human Rights Commission. She has ancestral links to Ngāti Whakaue, Tūwharetoa, Ngā Puhi and Tainui. She also has extensive European ancestry.

In her 14 July Opinion piece Professor Charters argues that “before we can claim to be a nation founded on the rule of law, we must address the fundamental illegality of the state.” To add to the sins of the illegal New Zealand state, Charters also opines that “Aotearoa still refuses to repudiate the doctrine of discovery – the racist rule that permitted European powers to take land from “natives” because they didn’t qualify as human.”

Graham Adams: “Co-governance for your deck!”

An effective campaign against the RMA reforms will be a nightmare for Hipkins.

After a Budget that failed to excite voters and a lacklustre party conference where his senior colleagues faintly praised him for his proletarian taste in food, the very last thing Chris Hipkins needs is a light shone on the vexed topic of co-governance.

An aficionado apparently not only of sausage rolls but also of spaghetti on toast (according to Kelvin Davis and Grant Robertson respectively), the Prime Minister is no doubt still hoping he can steer the election debate almost entirely towards “bread-and-butter” issues. Unfortunately for him, raising awareness of the co-governance provisions in the new RMA replacement legislation going through Parliament is central to the Taxpayers’ Union’s latest national campaign. With the title “Hands Off Our Homes!”, the roadshow will take in 30 towns and cities over three weeks, after beginning with a meeting last Monday in Christchurch.