Please see further items posted on the Democracy Action Facebook page.
GOVERNMENT COMMITTED TO A PARTNERSHIP WITH MĀORI - MINISTER FOR MĀORI DEVELOPMENT TAMA POTAKA.
Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka denies his government is not interested in a partnership with Māori, saying it would in fact be even more committed to working alongside Māori but would be looking to do it in a way that was not in the form of a centralised bureaucracy. “It was untrue the National-led government would strip away the concept of partnership”, he said.
DECOLONISATION AND INDIGENISATION ARE DIVIDING OUR COUNTRY
Peter Schwerdtfeger, David Lillis, and John Raine examine decolonisation, the need for open and constructive academic debate, and the imperative to protect democracy in New Zealand.
“Unfortunately, in New Zealand we have lost a degree of freedom of speech and our universities have lost independence from political and social action. It is critical for the future of our country, and indeed our civilisation, that we fight to regain these ideals without delay”.
READ MORE AT BASSETT, BRASH & HIDE
SEYMOUR DOESN'T SEE TREATY PRINCIPLES BILL AS DIVISIVE
Seymour doubled down in his defence of the Treaty Principles Bill as he delivered his State of the Nation address at Auckland's Westhaven Marina on Sunday, 28 January. He said in recent decades, New Zealand has been told to become a "Tiriti-centric" country where there are two types of people in partnership – tangata whenua and tangata tiriti – who "each have different political and legal rights. “This is not only untrue, it is incompatible with the fundamental democratic value that all citizens are equal under the law," he said.
SEYMOUR URGES KIWIS TO KEEP OPEN MINDS ABOUT TREATY OF WAITANGI PRINCIPLES BILL
ACT Party leader David Seymour urges Kiwis to see the Bill "drafted... debated, let the public submit and then make up our mind before we get too far ahead of ourselves".
"My view is this is a debate we need to have; those principles need to be democratically discussed and debated, and our starting point is that they're universal rights for all people to be equal."
ACT's Bill, based on a draft, would propose three new principles based on the articles of the Treaty of Waitangi:
- The New Zealand government has the right to govern all New Zealanders;
- Honour all New Zealanders in the chieftainship of their land and property; and
- All New Zealanders are equal under the law with the same rights and duties.