Hobson’s Pledge is very disappointed to see a small number of church leaders misrepresent the proposed ‘Treaty Principles Bill’ and seek to guide their followers inaccurately on a matter of democratic importance to all New Zealanders.

That their open letter begins with a very novel re-interpretation of Psalm 15 is not a great start, yet it is illustrative of the very dynamics about the Treaty of Waitangi that Hobson’s Pledge is concerned about – reinterpreting historical texts to suit certain agendas.

While church leaders are welcome to hold and speak their views, their open letter seeks to shut down debate, discussion, and dialogue. Their call to ignore democratic parliamentary processes should be of deep concern to all New Zealanders. Using the same language of others who seek to cancel and deplatform, they talk of social cohesion and potential harm from people talking about ideas. These church leaders appear to have little faith in New Zealanders ability to think, discuss, and debate issues of importance to them.

“This small group of church leaders appears to be elevating the Treaty of Waitangi with sacred covenants between God and man in the Old Testament. This is quite a bold position including that the name ‘Treaty’ is the first hint that we are not dealing with a sacred covenant," Hobson’s Pledge spokesperson Elliot Ikilei says.

Hobson’s Pledge rejects the many inaccuracies within the church leaders’ statement including their referencing a proposed law that has not even been released or made public yet.

“That church leaders are commenting on a text that has not even been seen yet, pushes believing in the unseen to new levels,” Elliot Ikilei says.

Among many aspects of concern in the church leaders’ open letter:

• The Treaty Principles Bill is not yet public, nor been cited, so how anyone can comment on it is beyond understanding;
• The Waitangi Tribunal held an inquiry, beyond its mandate, again on a proposed law that doesn’t’ even exist yet;
• The open letter references iwi, yet nowhere in the Treaty are iwi mentioned
• The letter is also keen to discuss ‘collective rights’, rather than the individual rights that the Treaty presented.

“Hobson’s Pledge suggests to church leaders to not bear false witness when writing such open letters, but instead keep to historical and literal truth,” Elliot Ikilei says.

Hobson’s Pledge, as a large broad collection of New Zealanders – larger than most churches – is open to discussing all and every aspect of the Treaty, as is appropriate in a democracy.

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