John McLean: Key indicators

Inconvenient truths about the former New Zealand Prime Minister

Aotearoa is a strange and changeable lady. In her youth, she didn’t take herself too seriously. New Zealand satirists A. K. Grant and Tom Scott, in their superb early 80s mock history of New Zealand The Paua and the Glory: the story of New Zealand's rise to international insignificance, amusingly speculated on the origin of “Aotearoa” …without being cancelled. (Their thesis was that, on arrival of the first Polynesian canoe on New Zealand shores, one of the Tānes instructed one of the Wāhines, “Out eh Aroha”.)

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.

John Raine: A Country Too Easily Swayed by Minorities?

I started writing this with the Doors singing Strange Days. It seemed apt.

We now live in a surreal world where the post-modernists and critical social justice warriors are determined to give equal standing to traditional knowledge and vitalist belief systems against modern world science [see Raine, Lillis, and Schwerdtfeger [1]). Calls to preserve democracy by ensuring equal rights for all ethnicities in our country are now labelled extreme right-wing and racist. In our new world, climate science has been politically weaponised, and biological women can be censured for objecting to a transwoman who is still a biological man being able to use the same changing room.

Muriel Newman: 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.

Roger Childs: The Matariki Musings of Claire Charters

Matariki reflects the value that we now place on Maori culture and traditions after 180 years of colonisation. Claire Charters

A New Zealander of mixed ancestry

Claire Charters is a New Zealander who has done very well academically and politically. She is a law professor at the University of Auckland and has a Ph D from Cambridge. Her University profile states: Claire is from Ngati Whakaue, Tuwharetoa, Nga Puhi and Tainui. 

Cam Slater: The Curious Coincidence of Continued ACT Attacks on NZ First

On Friday in Howick, Winston Peters delivered his state of the nation speech to a packed and overflowing audience. Not long after, Newshub, the go-to media outlet for ACT Party attack pieces, was telling us that apparently Winston Peters was a liar regarding He Puapua.

Some commenters on Friday night were even running the same shabby lines without even bothering to understand the complexities of how Parliament committees operate, but they ran the lines anyway. This is the second time ACT has attacked NZ First after a key note speech.

Chris Trotter: Jackson's Trap.

Willie Jackson is caught in a trap of his own making. Three groups, tasked in April with developing a detailed plan for implementing the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) have steadfastly refused to play the bureaucratic game the Minister for Māori Development has forced upon them. In essence, they have delivered Jackson an offer neither he, nor the Cabinet, can accept. Their “Declaration Plan”, clearly politically unacceptable, has been kept under wraps for months.

Non-plussed, Jackson asked the plan’s authors: unidentified representatives of Te Puni Kokiri, Pou Tikanga (Iwi Leaders Group) and the Human Rights Commission; to present a revised document for Cabinet’s consideration by July. With November fast approaching, the document’s authors have yet to respond. It is difficult to interpret this tardiness as anything other than a deliberate effort to run down the clock on Jackson. The Declaration Plan’s authors appear confident that their failure to adhere to the Minister’s consultative timetable will make it virtually impossible to organise an effective public response prior to the 2023 General Election.

Henry Armstrong: The UNDRIP Declaration Plan

The Ardern government is currently working on a plan, in conjunction with The Ministry of Maori Development (Te Puni Kokiri), the Iwi Chairs Forum, and the (discredited, politicised, and biased) Human Rights Commission, to give effect to the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – UNDRIP- in New Zealand. 

The general New Zealand public will not be allowed to know about the content of this Declaration Plan until it has been finalised by, and only for, Maori, who claim to be indigenous to New Zealand, having migrated here, periodically, and variously, from Eastern Polynesia, around 1300 AD. 

In a pre-Anzac weekend document release, Maori Development Minister Jackson provided a very brief statement on how the Declaration Plan is to be worked through - but only with Maori and the discredited Human Rights Commission - with absolutely no general public input whatsoever. 

Ardern has promised “consultation” sometime after the Plan is released in June.

Tony Sayers: He Puapua - the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Introduction:

The document ‘He Puapua’ is apparently, the roadmap for the implementation of ‘The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’ (UNDRIP) into New Zealand Law by the Year 2040.

This implies that He Puapua should reflect the principles of UNDRIP. However, as I read both documents, it becomes apparent that this is not entirely the case. He Puapua, is using UNDRIP as a disguise, it is obviously a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Brian Giesbrecht: UNDRIP won’t help marginalized aboriginals

Bill C-262, the proposed legislation requiring Canadian laws to meet an undefined measure of compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Aboriginal Peoples (UNDRIP) is being held up by Conservative senators.

Tax paying Canadians should be thankful.

Advocates of the Bill say that the legislation will create no additional legal impediments for Canada, but it will significantly improve the lives of poor and marginalized Indigenous people.

NZCPR Weekly: Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we outline the controversial background to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and explain the implications of the Government’s decision to implement it, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Brian Giesbrecht explains why Canada’s decision to adopt UNDRIP as law will be such a disaster, and our poll asks whether you agree with the Government that UNDRIP should be ‘implemented’.

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