Please see more posted on the Democracy Action Facebook page

Please see more items posted on the Democracy Action Facebook page

UNCIVIL WAR - Unholy constitutional conflagration rages on in Aotearoa New Zealand

John McLean comments on the attacks on New Zealand democracy and Parliamentary supremacy. “The conflict is hot and will only get hotter. Figurative flames, ballistics and scalding hot air are blasting from multiple flues, in every direction. In all the hullabaloo, woo-woo, boo-hoo and utu, few have a clue about this attempted coup”.

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Please see more items posted on the Democracy Action Facebook page

DON BRASH: HIPKINS' DANGEROUS STATEMENT ON MĀORI NOT CEDING SOVEREIGNTY

Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins stirred controversy by asserting that “Māori did not cede sovereignty” when signing the Treaty of Waitangi. Don Brash comments “New Zealand has operated as a unified nation under the Crown's sovereignty for more than 180 years. Hipkins’ claim that Māori did not cede sovereignty threatens our national unity and could undermine our legal and political system, creating divisions based on heritage where there should be none”.

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Please see more items posted on the Democracy Action Facebook page

Please see further items posted on the Democracy Action Facebook page

Please see further items posted on the Democracy Action Facebook page.

Please see more posted on the Democracy Action Facebook page.

ELIZABETH RATA: TWO TREATIES OF WAITANGI: THE ARTICLES TREATY AND THE PRINCIPLES TREATY

Elizabeth Rata, a professor of education at the University of Auckland explains how parliament’s failure to define the principles of the Treaty has led to claims of co-governance rights.

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MARY-LOUISE KEARNEY: CO-GOVERNANCE - "IT’S THE VETO ISSUE, STUPID”

Dr Mary Louise Kearney writes that very few people know about the veto aspect of co-governance or its significance because this is rarely mentioned by the media and politicians. “Whether negligent or deliberate, this helps fan the apathy of New Zealanders and their dangerous ignorance about co-governance (and similar major policy issues) overall”.

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ETHNO-NATIONALISM OR DEMOCRATIC-NATIONALISM: WHICH WAY AHEAD FOR NEW ZEALAND?

PROFESSOR ELIZABETH RATA - Faculty of Education, University of Auckland (30 June 2021)

“We will have to decide whether we want our future to be that of an ethno-nationalist state or a democratic-nationalist one. Ethno-nationalism has political categories based on racial classification – the belief that our fundamental identity (personal, social and political) is fixed in our ancestry. Here the past determines the future. Identity, too, is fixed in that past. In contrast, democratic-nationalism has one political category – that of citizenship – justified by the shared belief in a universal human identity”.

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Please see below a short bibliography, (spanning 50 years), demonstrating that comprehensive literature exists which challenges the current political/cultural/academic “orthodoxy” of the history of New Zealand and its evolution. Professor Martin Devlin, author of the bibliography, explains "This orthodoxy is mainly based on presentist interpretations of the Treaty of Waitangi, continuously relayed in the New Zealand media, which, in turn, consistently fails to present alternative views. Much of this orthodoxy comprises personal opinions, myths and revised histories. This bibliography allows students to see that alternative views exist which challenge the 'orthodoxy'.”