Towards the end of 2022 Democracy Action commissioned Professor James Allan, of the University of Queensland, to produce an analysis of the He Puapua Report  - a report that calls for highly controversial constitutional change. Specifically, we sought Professor Allan’s opinion on the implications for New Zealand’s liberal democracy in adopting recommendations made in He Puapua, and what this would mean for the future of New Zealand.

Photo: Andrew Little, Nanaia Mahuta, Jacinda Ardern, Kelvin Davis and David Parker at the 2018 National Iwi Chairs Forum.

Alarm bells are ringing after Māori leaders expressed monumental ambitions during initial discussions with the Government about how to recognise the highly controversial United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The Minister for Māori Development, Willie Jackson, says those discussions will shape the Government’s Declaration plan. 

The next step in the process to develop a plan for New Zealand to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was kicked off last month with a targeted engagement strategy aimed at ensuring as many Māori voices as possible get to share their views on what should be included in a Declaration plan.

An associate professor at the University of Auckland Law School, Dr Claire Charters, is currently working on articles on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the relationship between tikanga Māori and the state legal system, tensions between human rights and indigenous peoples' rights and on the legitimacy of indigenous peoples' rights under international law, which will be published as a book by Cambridge University Press. 

The Ministry of Maori Development, is developing a plan to progress the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Given the serious implications of this declaration, and the adoption of an engagement process with iwi, hapū and whānau, but not the wider community, the government needs to hear from us.

Margaret Mutu, current leader of the Iwi Chairs Forum, is pushing for the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, (UNDRIP), claiming the Minister for Maori Development, Nanaia Mahuta, is supportive. See media release ‘Iwi Pleased with Government Decision to Develop a Plan of Action for Indigenous Rights’ and listen to a Waatea News interview with MUTU by clicking HERE