Geoff Parker: Wai 1040 Isn’t History - It’s Politics Backdated

The Waitangi Tribunal’s Wai 1040 inquiry is presented as a long-overdue correction to New Zealand’s constitutional history. Its central claim is stark: that Māori never ceded sovereignty in 1840, and that the Crown has governed without legitimate authority ever since.

That claim may be influential in contemporary politics, but it does not withstand historical scrutiny.

John Robertson: Psychology Under Siege - The Co-Governance Takeover of Mental Health

They started with the classrooms, infiltrated the healthcare system, and now they’ve set their sights on psychology. What began as an ideological push for co-governance is now a full-fledged attempt to hijack mental health practice in New Zealand.

Psychologists in this country are now being told that their professional competence isn’t just about understanding the mind. No, it’s about understanding The Treaty of Waitangi—whether they like it or not. And if you think it’s about cultural competency, think again. It’s about ideological compliance.

Peter Williams: UPDATE: A Book of Waitangi

My copy of Understanding Te Tiriti: a handbook of basic facts about Te Tiriti o Waitangi arrived by post today. This is the booklet, written by lawyer Roimata Smail, which has been distributed to every secondary school in the country.

My initial response was that if this is the level of textbook and reference source that high school students are provided with these days then heaven help our future. It is barely 30 pages, is comprised of simplistic language and unsupported claims and is the kind of pamphlet that might be appropriate for children at the oldest in years 7 and 8, the intermediate school level.

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.

Chris Trotter: Willie Jackson's Problem.

Willie Jackson has a problem – a big problem. Since 2017, he has led the charge to secure more resources for Māori and, by winning them, has assumed a pivotal political role in the quest for Tino Rangatiratanga. With Jackson’s successes, however, have come heightened expectations of more. Just how high Māori hopes have grown is manifested in the contents of the Draft Plan for implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) So alarming are the recommendations contained in this document, that the Māori Development Minister is refusing to present it to Cabinet.

Jackson’s refusal is highly significant. If the plan has a promoter of Māori economic and social development as stalwart as Jackson shaking his head, then the Draft Plan must be effectively indistinguishable from the He Puapua Report.

Therein lies Jackson’s problem. The moment the He Puapua Report entered the public arena it was too late to order it shredded. It had become a ticking political time-bomb that could only be defused with the co-operation of all sides of the Māori sovereignty debate. It’s only saving grace was that it was not – yet – an official government document. This was a godsend for Jackson and the Labour Government. They had been given a few crucial months to do whatever was needed to prevent a potentially fatal political explosion.

Bruce Moon: What is “tino rangatiratanga”?

A Stuff article on 6th February 2022 by two Victoria University of Wellington academics, Maria Bargh and Luke Fitzmaurice is one of many to appear within a few days around 6th February (our  “Waitangi Day”) which talks about They possibly hold the record by mentioning “tino rangatiratanga” no less than sixteen times – by my count anyway.

Now who are these people and what is this “tino rangatiratanga’ that they and so many like them keep talking about so repeatedly?

Mike Butler: More separatist flags flying

Wellington mayor Celia Wade-Brown is the latest naïve white politician to be duped by Maori sovereignty campaigners into flying the tino rangatiratanga flag on Waitangi Day this year. Announcing the decision to fly the flag from Wellington's Town Hall for the first time together with the New Zealand national flag, she said "Waitangi Day is all about the spirit of mutual respect and nationhood so we will fly the two flags together. This symbolises and enhances the relationship between the Crown and Maori."

Yes, the flag is a symbol, but the starry eyed Wellington mayor may not be aware that the group that promoted the separatist flag, Te Ata Tino Toa, says the flag symbolises the struggle for Maori self-determination: Spokesperson Tia Taurere said:

The Tino Rangatiratanga flag symbolises the long tradition of struggle and resistance by Maori against colonisation and the Crown sponsored theft of Maori land and resources. It is a symbol used by Maori who continue to resist the pressures of colonisation and cultural and economic genocide. Such a concept embraces the spiritual link Maori have with 'Papatuanuku' (Earthmother) and is a part of the international drive by indigenous peoples for self determination.