Today we release an important document that we've been working on for some time. Our paper, titled Atawhai: Generosity for some, shows how, in just six years, Auckland Council spent at least $129 million on iwi consultation and targeted Māori spending. Continue reading

Democracy Action strongly opposes the decisions of District Health Boards to prioritise Māori and Pasifika patients on elective surgery waiting lists. We believe priority should be based on clinical urgency and the time a patient has waited, not race. When someone is bumped up the list, someone else must be moved down. Continue reading

We are asking for your help to fight against legislation currently being drafted by the Government which clearly discriminates in favour of iwi, while the rest of us would effectively be marginalized. The issue is urgent - the Government plans to push this legislation through by late June - under urgency and with minimal public input under the pretext of COVID-19. Continue reading

The Waikato Regional Council is planning to outsource the monitoring of the waters in and around Lake Taupo and its tributaries to the Tūwharetoa Maori Trust Board. This is despite the Council having identified the risk that it may be expected to undertake similar agreements with other iwi authorities or local authorities that may result in not being able to deliver on expectations due to competing priorities.   Continue reading

Two Labour Members of Parliament have confirmed the claim by Democracy Action that the Government and Police condoned the illegal iwi roadblocks on public roads. Tamati Coffey (Labour - Waiariki) and Kiri Allan (Labour – List MP living in the East Coast) have stated that these roadblocks were “well supported” by the Government and that police “helped with the checkpoints”. Continue reading

Meng Foon and Paul Hunt of the Human Rights Commission use the illegal roadblocks as an admirable illustration of the Treaty of Waitangi 'partnership' principle. It is a model they would like to see replicated. “The two treaty partners collaborated – with kāwanatanga, or governorship, represented through local councils, Civil Defence and the Police, and rangatiratanga, the authority of chiefs, upheld by hapū and iwi”.  “This relationship between rangatiratanga and kāwanatanga is ready to be used across all aspects of government during the recovery programme. The time has come,” they write. Continue reading

Democracy Action fully supports recent calls for a Royal Commission into the COVID-19 response, and strongly suggests its remit includes an expert examination of the legality, or more likely illegality, of iwi roadblocks. Euphemistically called ‘community checkpoints’, these roadblocks purported to protect isolated communities from the pandemic but were inconsistent with legal instructions to the general public. Continue reading

The partnership interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi is manifesting in a myriad of ways. The recent unlawful closure of the road to the North Cape by Ngati Kuri, with the collaboration of government agencies including the Department of Conservation, the NZ Police and the NZ Transport Agency, is but another example. Continue reading

Please see below a letter to Meng Foon, Race Relations Commissioner, about Capital and Coast and the Hutt Valley District Health Boards' decisions to move Maori and Pacific patients to the front of their elective surgery waiting list. Since the letter was sent reports have emerged that eight other DHBs have introduced or are looking to introduce this clearly discriminatory policy. Three more refused to rule it out. This is a deeply concerning trend and needs to be stopped. Continue reading

“It's my customary rights and I’m prepared to knock you out if you pass that gate,” a person blocking access says in a video filmed by Northland MP Matt King. Continue reading