Labour Spins Another Yarn
Dr Pita Sharples; Co-leader, Maori Party
Tuesday 12 September 2006
The Minister of Education, Steve Maharey, today confirmed that New Zealand students will not be able to respect and
understand Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the basis of our modern democracy, given it is no longer a key feature of the school
curriculum.
The Treaty of Education was removed from the key principles of the New Zealand Curriculum Framework (1993) in the latest
national curriculum statement.
Although there is a vague mention of the Treaty, at level five of the Social Studies Curriculum (which states that “the
Treaty of Waitangi is responded to differently by people in different times and places”); the Maori Party has
consistently called for the Treaty to be accorded significance, by reinstating it as a key principle of the curriculum.
“I was fascinated to hear Mr Maharey confirm in the House today, that if the Treaty is not discussed as a key feature of
the school curriculum, students can’t respect it as the foundation of our system of democracy” said Dr Sharples,
Co-leader of the Maori Party.
“When I questioned him later, he confirmed that the Treaty was not in the curriculum - but might be referred to later,
in Maori guidelines” said Dr Sharples.
“The key point is, that the Treaty of Waitangi provides a significant foundation for all New Zealanders, indeed it is
the very basis of our nationhood”.
“While tangata whenua and many, many other New Zealanders have always valued the Treaty as central to the relationships
we have in this land; it must not be marginalised or sidelined as worthy only of ‘Maori guidelines’, stripping the right
of all other New Zealanders to understand its significance ’” said Dr Sharples.
“This Government must honour the memory of the late Lord Cooke of Thorndon, one of New Zealand’s finest legal minds, who
described Te Tiriti o Waitangi consistently to the effect that “the treaty signified a partnership between races” ended
Dr Sharples. “It must not be relegated to the ‘too-hard’ basket”.
ENDS