Latest news with #RightsAotearoa
Scoop
3 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Rights Aotearoa: Minister's Ban On Te Reo Māori In Year-1 Readers Breaches New Zealand's Human Rights Obligations
Rights Aotearoa condemns the Education Minister Erica Stanford's decision to exclude Māori words from new Ready to Read Phonics Plus books for five-year-olds (except for character names). This directive, confirmed in Ministry documents and ministerial comments, represents a retrogressive step that undermines children's cultural rights and New Zealand's international and domestic legal commitments. On a prima facie view, the policy conflicts with at least five UN instruments New Zealand has ratified. First, ICCPR Article 27 protects linguistic minorities' right to use their own language and, per the Human Rights Committee's General Comment No. 23, requires positive measures by the State to safeguard that right. A blanket removal of te reo Māori from foundational readers sits squarely at odds with that obligation. Second, ICESCR Articles 13 and 15, read with the Committee's General Comment No. 21, require States to make cultural life accessible and to refrain from measures that restrict participation—especially for minorities and indigenous peoples. Stripping Māori vocabulary from early-years materials narrows access to culture in the very context where language attitudes are formed. Third, the Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges that education foster respect for a child's own cultural identity, language, and values (Article 29(1)(c)) and protects indigenous and minority children's right to use their language (Article 30). The directive is difficult to reconcile with those aims. Fourth, CERD (and General Recommendation No. 23) calls for active measures to preserve and promote indigenous languages. A rule that singles out Māori words for exclusion from standard resources risks indirect discrimination and runs counter to that guidance. Fifth, the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education prohibits distinctions based on language that impair equality of treatment in education and recognises minorities' right to use and teach their own language. Domestically, the directive cuts against NZBORA s 20 (rights of linguistic minorities) and the Māori Language Act 2016, which affirms te reo Māori as a taonga and an official language and requires a Crown strategy (Maihi Karauna) to revitalise and normalise its use across public life. Schools are also required to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi under the Education and Training Act 2020. Paul Thistoll, Chief Executive of Rights Aotearoa, said: 'Language visibility in a child's first readers is not a matter of taste; it is a matter of rights. Removing te reo Māori from Year-1 books is a legally retrogressive measure that marginalises indigenous language in mainstream schooling and undermines New Zealand's binding commitments at home and abroad. The minister is engaging in cultural suppression.' Rights Aotearoa calls for the following immediate actions: 1. Rescind the directive and confirm that Māori words will continue to appear in all new early-literacy readers as appropriate to context and pedagogy; 2. Release the relevant Ministry papers in full and consult with Māori education stakeholders, literacy experts, and the Māori Language Commission; 3. Align early-literacy resources with obligations under ICCPR, ICESCR, CRC, CERD, the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education, NZBORA, the Māori Language Act, and the Education and Training Act.
Scoop
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Rights Aotearoa: Seymour Weaponise Office To Harass Academics, Luxon Must Act
In a letter sent to the Prime Minister today, Rights Aotearoa condemns Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour for weaponising his office to launch a vicious online harassment campaign against academics. This is not free speech; it is a state-sanctioned pile-on designed to silence dissent and intimidate experts, representing a dangerous breach of the Cabinet Manual's code of conduct. Prime Minister Luxon must stop making excuses for his ministers, enforce his own government's rules, and immediately sanction his deputy to prove that no one is above accountability.
Scoop
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Rights Aotearoa Applauds Human Rights Commission's Powerful Stand Against Regulatory Standards Bill
Rights Aotearoa warmly welcomes the impressive and authoritative submission from Te Kāhui Tika Tangata | Human Rights Commission on the Regulatory Standards Bill. The Commission's return to formidable analytical strength is a significant and encouraging development for the entire human rights sector in Aotearoa. Its submission masterfully deconstructs the Bill's profound threats to our constitutional framework, perfectly articulating the core concern that the Bill attempts to create a false and dangerous hierarchy of human rights. This aligns precisely with Rights Aotearoa's analysis that the Bill selectively elevates narrow economic and property-based principles over fundamental social, cultural, and environmental rights that protect the well-being of all New Zealanders. We commend the Commission for reinforcing the fundamental truth that there is no hierarchy of human rights, and that all human rights are indivisible. The Commission's detailed critique—covering the Bill's constitutional overreach, its complete disregard for Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and its flawed, undemocratic process—provides an unassailable case for its complete rejection. This submission is a testament that even though the Chief Human Rights Commissioner does not meet the statutory requirements for the job, the Commission's legal team, led by their extremely capable Chief Legal Officer, are highly talented. The commission's work provides a powerful, unifying voice for all who are dedicated to defending a fair, just, and democratic Aotearoa, and we are proud to stand alongside them in calling for this dangerous Bill to be withdrawn. The Human Rights Commission must be protected at all costs against voices—like those of ACT MP Todd Stephenson—who call for its dissolution. Rights Aotearoa's submission can be found here:
Scoop
04-06-2025
- General
- Scoop
Rights Aotearoa Demands Urgent Re-evaluation Of Regulatory Standards Bill's Human Rights Impact
Press Release – Rights Aotearoa Leading Human Rights NGO Calls Ministry of Justice Assessment 'Dangerously Superficial' and 'Constitutionally Incoherent' WELLINGTON, 4 June 2025 – Rights Aotearoa, New Zealand's leading NGO devoted to promoting and defending universal human rights, today called on Attorney-General Judith Collins KC to urgently instruct the Ministry of Justice to comprehensively re-evaluate its advice on the Regulatory Standards Bill's consistency with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. The Ministry's advice concluded that the Bill 'appears to be consistent with the rights and freedoms affirmed in the Bill of Rights Act.' Rights Aotearoa has delivered a detailed letter to the Attorney-General demonstrating that this conclusion represents a grave failure of constitutional analysis that ignores the Bill's fundamental threat to human rights, democracy, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 'The Ministry of Justice has failed in its constitutional duty to assess this Bill's impact on human rights properly,' said Paul Thistoll, CEO of Rights Aotearoa. 'Their analysis acknowledges that the Bill departs from how rights and freedoms are expressed in the Bill of Rights Act, yet inexplicably concludes it has no impact on those rights. This is constitutionally incoherent.' Rights Aotearoa's analysis identifies multiple critical failures in the Ministry's assessment. The Ministry examined only one right superficially—freedom of expression—while ignoring clear conflicts with electoral rights, freedom from discrimination, minority rights, and the right to life. The advice fails entirely to consider how the Bill's mechanisms will create 'regulatory chill,' deterring future governments from enacting essential protections. Of particular concern is the Ministry's failure to analyse the Bill's complete exclusion of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, despite the Waitangi Tribunal's findings that the Crown breached Treaty principles through inadequate consultation with Māori and its recommendation for an 'immediate halt' to the Bill's progress. The organisation highlighted how the Bill's emphasis on property rights and narrow economic efficiency will systematically undermine anti-discrimination protections. Essential measures like disability accommodations, pay equity legislation, and protections against discrimination could be challenged as 'impairing' property rights. 'This Bill creates a competing quasi-constitutional framework that elevates property rights above all other human rights,' the letter states. 'It attempts to lock in a narrow ideological worldview that will bind future Parliaments.' Rights Aotearoa has committed to filing an action in the High Court, should the Bill pass in its current form, seeking a declaration that it is inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act. The organisation calls on the Attorney-General to instruct the Ministry of Justice to conduct a comprehensive re-evaluation that accurately analyses the Bill's downstream effects on all rights, considers its practical operation, examines the constitutional implications of creating a parallel rights framework, evaluates the exclusion of Te Tiriti, and assesses the impacts on anti-discrimination protections. 'At this critical constitutional moment, New Zealanders deserve rigorous, honest analysis of how this Bill will affect their fundamental rights,' said Thistoll. 'The current advice is not merely inadequate—it's dangerously misleading.' About Rights Aotearoa Rights Aotearoa is Aotearoa New Zealand's leading non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting and defending universal human rights. Although we have a focus on transgender, non-binary and intersex rights, we work to ensure that all people in New Zealand enjoy the full range of human rights and fundamental freedoms recognised in domestic and international law.
Scoop
03-06-2025
- General
- Scoop
Rights Aotearoa Demands Urgent Re-evaluation Of Regulatory Standards Bill's Human Rights Impact
WELLINGTON, 4 June 2025 – Rights Aotearoa, New Zealand's leading NGO devoted to promoting and defending universal human rights, today called on Attorney-General Judith Collins KC to urgently instruct the Ministry of Justice to comprehensively re-evaluate its advice on the Regulatory Standards Bill's consistency with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. The Ministry's advice concluded that the Bill "appears to be consistent with the rights and freedoms affirmed in the Bill of Rights Act." Rights Aotearoa has delivered a detailed letter to the Attorney-General demonstrating that this conclusion represents a grave failure of constitutional analysis that ignores the Bill's fundamental threat to human rights, democracy, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. "The Ministry of Justice has failed in its constitutional duty to assess this Bill's impact on human rights properly," said Paul Thistoll, CEO of Rights Aotearoa. "Their analysis acknowledges that the Bill departs from how rights and freedoms are expressed in the Bill of Rights Act, yet inexplicably concludes it has no impact on those rights. This is constitutionally incoherent." Rights Aotearoa's analysis identifies multiple critical failures in the Ministry's assessment. The Ministry examined only one right superficially—freedom of expression—while ignoring clear conflicts with electoral rights, freedom from discrimination, minority rights, and the right to life. The advice fails entirely to consider how the Bill's mechanisms will create "regulatory chill," deterring future governments from enacting essential protections. Advertisement - scroll to continue reading Of particular concern is the Ministry's failure to analyse the Bill's complete exclusion of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, despite the Waitangi Tribunal's findings that the Crown breached Treaty principles through inadequate consultation with Māori and its recommendation for an "immediate halt" to the Bill's progress. The organisation highlighted how the Bill's emphasis on property rights and narrow economic efficiency will systematically undermine anti-discrimination protections. Essential measures like disability accommodations, pay equity legislation, and protections against discrimination could be challenged as "impairing" property rights. "This Bill creates a competing quasi-constitutional framework that elevates property rights above all other human rights," the letter states. "It attempts to lock in a narrow ideological worldview that will bind future Parliaments." Rights Aotearoa has committed to filing an action in the High Court, should the Bill pass in its current form, seeking a declaration that it is inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act. The organisation calls on the Attorney-General to instruct the Ministry of Justice to conduct a comprehensive re-evaluation that accurately analyses the Bill's downstream effects on all rights, considers its practical operation, examines the constitutional implications of creating a parallel rights framework, evaluates the exclusion of Te Tiriti, and assesses the impacts on anti-discrimination protections. "At this critical constitutional moment, New Zealanders deserve rigorous, honest analysis of how this Bill will affect their fundamental rights," said Thistoll. "The current advice is not merely inadequate—it's dangerously misleading." About Rights Aotearoa Rights Aotearoa is Aotearoa New Zealand's leading non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting and defending universal human rights. Although we have a focus on transgender, non-binary and intersex rights, we work to ensure that all people in New Zealand enjoy the full range of human rights and fundamental freedoms recognised in domestic and international law.
