This is the most racist government New Zealand has seen in years stated the Aotearoa Independent Monitoring Mechanism in
their report to the United Nations. The Monitoring Mechanism was established in 2015 to monitor governments’
implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
“They are even worse than the Helen Clark government that passed laws to steal the foreshore and seabed from us,” said
spokesperson Professor Margaret Mutu.
“They are trampling all over the Tiriti and human rights of Māori as well as having no regard for Papatūānuku. Rather
than respecting us as the tangata whenua, they treat as just one of many minority groups. They choose to disregard the
fact that it was through Te Tiriti o Waitangi that our ancestors gave them permission to live amongst us according to
our laws whilst establishing governance mechanisms to control their own,” Professor Mutu said. “Instead, their
legislation and policy programme aim to unilaterally redefine what Te Tiriti means, undermines our right of
self-determination and basic human rights such as health, housing, employment and justice. Where our politicians in the
past provided for the progressive realisation of Te Tiriti and indigenous rights, this government trumpets its
regressive programmes as being fair and good for all New Zealanders. They are wrong.”
“We feel as if we are dealing with three governments as the minority coalition parties carry out their destructive
programmes without any fetters applied by the majority party and the Prime Minister.”
“They commit these breaches because we do not have a properly recognised constitution that would normally protect the
rights of the people,” she said.
“How can one party to Te Tiriti make changes to the agreement that was made in 1840 without the other party being at the
table to discuss possibilities? That is right wing extremist behaviour based on the colonising that happened in the 19th
and 20th centuries. Surely we are mature enough to now have proper Tiriti conversations as we prepare for 2040, the
200th anniversary of Te Tiriti.”
“Our whanau are hurting, and our leaders are angry. There has been more protest and litigation in the last 6 months than
in the three-year term of any previous government. But they are not listening.”
“Our report calls on the United Nations to help us become a State that has a constitution that gives value to both
Rangatiratanga and Kāwanatanga as Te Tiriti promised,” Professor Mutu concluded.
Professor Margaret Mutu