Latest news with #TeTiritioWaitangi
Scoop
4 hours ago
- 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.
1News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- 1News
Luxon responds after Bishop's music awards comments
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has responded after comments made by senior minister Chris Bishop at the Aotearoa Music Awards last week prompted criticism. And today Bishop said he was "frustrated and annoyed by the overt politicking" around a performance, but reiterated earlier comments that he should have kept his views to himself. Video footage from the awards evening on Thursday in Auckland showed Bishop responding during a performance by Stan Walker, which featured a large Toitū Te Tiriti banner on stage. Bishop admitted afterwards that he said something about performative acclaim and said, what a lot of crap. He said his comments referred to what he called the overtly political branding on display. Christopher Luxon ADVERTISEMENT According to its website, Toitū Te Tiriti's "intent is to demonstrate the beginning of a unified Aotearoa response to the Government's assault on tangata whenua and Te Tiriti o Waitangi". Luxon responded to the comments when asked on Breakfast today, saying Bishop had since said that he "should have kept his opinions to himself". "People have lots of different ranges and different reactions to music, and what they like and don't like. I like a lot of country music and people don't, sometimes, I find," he said. "Look, he said he should have kept his thoughts to himself, I'm comfortable with that." Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has responded after comments made by Chris Bishop at the Aotearoa Music Award prompted criticism. (Source: Breakfast) Asked whether he would speak to Bishop about the issue, Luxon confirmed he already had. "I spoke to him on the weekend just to get his side of the story, but he came out before I'd even got a chance to talk to him to say he should have kept his thoughts to himself, that's pretty good." ADVERTISEMENT Luxon said musicians had "taken shots at politicians for centuries and politicians will respond for centuries," saying everybody had different musical tastes. 'It wasn't the right time or place' - Bishop Speaking to media at parliament, Bishop reiterated he "should have kept my views to myself at the time". Chris Bishop speaks to media at parliament. (Source: 1News) "But it is what it is," he added. Bishop said he would not apologise to Stan Walker. "It's not clear what I would be apologising for. My views are my views, and as I said I should have kept these to myself at the time, but we live in a democracy." ADVERTISEMENT He said he didn't have an issue with Walker as an artist, citing his frustration with the "politicisation" of the segment as the reason for his comments. "I was frustrated and annoyed by the overt politicking around it. It's not about Stan Walker, I actually quite like Stan Walker and quite liked his performance. Bishop said he was frustrated by the Toitū Te Tiriti banners that were on display during the performance, but admitted that it "wasn't the right time or place to express those views". "It's not about Stan Walker, or singing in te reo, or singing a waiata." Bishop confirmed he was holding a Heineken beer in his hand in the video, but emphatically denied having had too much to drink. Kiwi musician Don McGlashan was also seen on the video confronting Bishop about the "enormous amount of ranting". McGlashan told RNZ that at first he didn't realise who it was. "After a while I turned to him and said 'ah shut up you dickhead' and I looked at him and I thought, oh I know that face. Then he said 'what did you say to me?'". ADVERTISEMENT McGlashan said that he again told Bishop to "shut up you dickhead and he said 'I could say the same to you', and I said, well I wasn't talking and you were. And then I realised I was talking to the leader of the House". When asked about the confrontation with McGlashen, Bishop said the interaction was "ironic" given he was a huge fan of his work as a solo artist and with his band The Mutton Birds. "His political views are quite well-known, so it is what it is, he's entitled to his views the same way I'm entitled to mine," Bishop said.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke on Her Viral Haka, New Zealand's Treaty Bill, and Fighting for Maori Rights
Photo by Apela Bell Stay up-to-date with the politics team. Sign up for the Teen Vogue Take A spark flashed across the internet last November. Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, a member of Te Pāti Māori, or the Māori Party, broke out into a powerful haka on the floor of New Zealand's Parliament, disrupting a vote on a controversial piece of legislation known as the Treaty Principles Bill. Another lawmaker was supposed to tear the bill in half and start the haka, a traditional Māori dance, but 22-year-old Maipi-Clarke was incidentally handed the paper instead. The lawmakers' protest went viral, lighting up social media and making global headlines. On April 10, the legislation, which critics believe would have rolled back the rights of Indigenous New Zealanders, was defeated. In Maipi-Clarke's speech preceding the bill's rejection, she said, 'The real problem is that this institution, this House, has only ever recognized one partner, one culture, one language.' Maipi-Clarke tells Teen Vogue, 'It's basically the cat out of the bag; the attitude of that bill is represented across so much legislation.' The bill sought to redefine New Zealand's founding document, the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi), which established the rights of Māori and non-Māori people. Though the principles of the treaty are referenced in law, it is not integrated into the country's legal structure. In creating a rigid reading of the treaty, the bill would have supplanted the treaty itself. It was promoted by the right-wing libertarian ACT Party, which argued that Māori have special legal rights and privileges due to the treaty's interpretation, as the BBC reported. Māori politicians and activists saw the legislation as yet another example of the current conservative-coalition government's efforts to erode Māori rights. The Māori Health Authority was established by the outgoing Labour government in 2022 to address historical inequities, only to be dissolved by the current National government in 2024; officials have also rolled back the use of Māori language in public services — moves that a Guardian analysis found could 'deepen existing inequalities in the country.' 'The rules of Parliament don't really see or fit Māori people,' Maipi-Clarke says. 'There's a lot more resistance and advocation that we're doing because, basically, our rights are being stripped left, right, and center. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we shouldn't be going through, but we have to find coping mechanisms to defend it.' Days after the bill's first reading — and Maipi-Clarke's viral haka — people took part in a nine-day march from the north of New Zealand to the capital, Wellington, culminating in a protest that was attended by more than 40,000. It is believed to be one of the biggest protests in the country's history. Additionally, more than 300,000 written public submissions flooded in, with an estimated 90% opposing the bill, according to the parliamentary justice committee, which recommended the legislation be stalled. When it was finally voted down at its second reading last month, cheers and waiata, or song, rang through the chamber. But now Maipi-Clarke faces censure from her own colleagues. A committee found her and two other lawmakers behind the haka protest in contempt of Parliament, alleging they intimidated their opponents, and recommended unprecedented unpaid suspensions. According to the Associated Press, these would be the harshest penalties ever assigned to New Zealand parliamentarians. Parliament's debate on the censure is delayed until early June. As the story continues to unfold, Maipi-Clarke has emerged as the young lawmaker who catapulted this story of Indigenous strength, of Māori mana, or spiritual power, into international news. The Treaty Principles Bill is dead, but her work is not done. Inside Maipi-Clarke's parliamentary office in Wellington in early April, a week before the treaty bill was killed, she cut a stately figure. Elected at age 21 in 2023, she became the youngest member of Parliament in 170 years. Politics was never part of her plan when she was growing up ('At 21, you just want to be 21 and… do 21-year-old things'), but activism was all around her. Even now, signs of activism cover the walls, wrapping Maipi-Clarke in mementos of her purpose: The phrase 'Tupuna Fed, Mokopuna Led' (to be nurtured by the ancestors and shepherded by the next generation) shines in neon orange; the Street Fighter logo, altered to read 'Tiriti Fighter' ('Treaty Fighter'); and records that fueled her on the campaign trail, including All Eyez on Me by Tupac Shakur and DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar. (Maipi-Clarke calls hip-hop and Black American culture 'an inspiration of movements.') 'Ka ora tōnu mātou, ake ake ake,' Maipi-Clarke's words, are scrawled across a hanging jacket and written in red on her framed, torn copy of the bill. 'We shall live forever and ever,' she translates, before adding: 'Yes, we can fight. We know how to fight easily. But I think the biggest message is for us to survive.' For Maipi-Clarke, her activism — that deep need to stand up for what's right — seems almost genealogical. When her mother, who is from the geothermal lands in the country's north, was pregnant with her, she was advocating against building a prison on what they consider to be sacred land. And in the 1970s, Maipi-Clarke's grandfather was a member of Ngā Tamatoa, a Māori activist group that was heavily involved in treaty activism and sought to have Māori language taught in schools. So it's no surprise that she's in Parliament today. Maipi-Clarke's whānau, her family, are with her every step of the way; her mom and dad are even part of her parliamentary team. It's the Te Pāti Māori way: 'It may be a conflict of interest for some, but the biggest thing that will keep us safe is whānau,' Maipi-Clarke says. 'When you come into this place, it's very unique, and if we're driving kaupapa Māori, we're coming with three generations.' There's a refreshing lack of territoriality when Maipi-Clarke opens up about her role in Te Pāti Māori. 'We are just the messenger stick for the bigger kaupapa,' she explains, using the Māori term for core principles and beliefs that are passed through generations of Indigenous New Zealanders. At the end of the day, she continues, the constituents of her district — Hauraki-Waikato, one of seven Māori electorates for which voters of Māori descent can opt in to vote — are represented by only one seat. 'There's gonna be other MPs that fill this seat, and it just happens to be us for the day.' Maipi-Clarke grew up in Auckland with her mother and grandmother, and traveled about 60 miles to spend weekends with her dad in the town of Huntly. Having been waitlisted for Māori-immersion education programs, she attended mainstream school until age 11, when she relocated to Huntly to attend a Māori school, known as wharekura. That experience informed her campaign ethos, 'Kōhanga Reo Generation,' a reference to young Māori who attended immersion schools and are deeply connected to their language and culture. It was met with 'a little bit of backlash' from people who felt she was excluding those who attended mainstream schools from the conversation, but she says it was 'more about children who had grown up with their grandparents.' Maipi-Clarke's grandparents didn't have their language, but they had their knowledge of customs, of working by the maramataka — the Māori lunar calendar — and she learned by their hand. 'Kōhanga Reo Generation' was a clear statement to Parliament: 'This place once wanted us to literally go extinct, and we have come back stronger by being one million strong who know their reo (language), their whakapapa (genealogy). That was the biggest weapon we could ever bring to them, is surviving. But actually, we're on that level thriving for our kids.' In February 2021, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi refused to wear a tie in Parliament, instead wearing an Aotea stone necklace. It sparked conversation about what was considered appropriate business attire, with Waititi himself asking, 'Why are Pākehā (a term for European New Zealanders) making Māori dress like they want us to dress?" This inspired Maipi-Clarke from afar. 'It wasn't a law that he changed on paper, but it was changing the minds and society,' she says. 'All the time now, you will see taonga Māori, or prized possessions, represented across the board and in corporate spaces.' Maipi-Clarke got her first real taste of the politics realm when her grandfather gave a submission regarding the creation of 'Māori wards' with their local government in 2021. She explains, 'Māori wards is when you have one representative who is Māori from that place to advocate on council.' At the time, Maipi-Clarke stood up to give her Pop's submission on his behalf, and she questioned the lack of Māori representation in front of her. ''You have Māori doing your cups of tea and your karakia, or prayer, but you don't have Māori at the decision table,'" she recalls. 'I said it at that point, 'I've never experienced racism like that,' and oh my God, I came here [to Parliament] — now I know all about it." When the proposal was voted down by the council, Maipi-Clarke and others blasted it across social media. She thinks the public scrutiny and pressure is what ultimately solidified the unanimous vote in favor of creating Māori wards in Hamilton. But the future of Māori wards is again in jeopardy, due to a law introduced by the coalition government; another breach of Te Tiriti, she adds. 'That's all the conversation we're trying to have — there's nothing bad about us being at the decision table. It's actually a good thing, but people think it's a threat and [are] intimidated by it.' Despite becoming the worldwide face and voice of a major moment of Indigenous resistance, Maipi-Clarke isn't aggrieved by the burden of legacy. Instead, she's looking to the future: 'There are so many of our people out there who feel disconnected, and the way we want to articulate ourselves in here is feeling you're a part of it. What is a typical, stereotypical Māori? What even is that? …We just want to empower people to feel that they're enough.' For rangatahi, the youth, she says, the issues critical to them are mental health, the cost-of-living crisis, and affording groceries. 'And then, obviously, our rights,' she adds with a laugh — the kind of chuckle that rises from outrage and shock because of the plain fact that rights are actually on the line. It's painful, but it's reality. 'Indigenous people around the world are fighting the same struggle,' Maipi-Clarke says. 'When I think of Kanaky (New Caledonia), when I think of Palestine, when I think of… our whānau (family) from Te Whenua Moemoeā (Australia), when I think of Native Americans and what they're going through with [an] extreme right-wing government — we all kind of face the same struggles, right?' On May 20, 2025, she unveiled her first proposed bill. It would place a statutory obligation on members of Parliament to uphold and learn about Te Tiriti, and require Parliament to develop a Māori strategy. Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke remains grounded and steadfast in her fight. 'We're Indigenous through and through,' she says. 'We're not left or right, because left or right is still part of the system.' Te Pāti Māori is willing to work on either side of the aisle, but they'll always push for Māori rights. Maipi-Clarke's reminder to her community and opponents in Parliament is simple: 'We're the treaty. You're the partner.' Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue More great activism coverage from Teen Vogue: 'Young Activist' Label Can Be a Burden for Youth Organizers Economic Disobedience: What Is It and How Does It Work? The Jewish Teens Who Fought Back Against Hitler The 13 Best Protest Songs Of All Time
Scoop
25-05-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Crown Withdraws Only Witness & Evidence Ahead Of Urgent Waitangi Tribunal Hearing Into Māori Health Reforms
Māori health claimants Lady Tureiti Moxon and Janice Kuka are sounding the alarm over what they describe as the Crown's systematic dismantling of Māori-led health reform. They warn that the calculated repeal of Te Aka Whai Ora — the Māori Health Authority — has triggered widespread confusion, inefficiencies, and the quiet erosion of kaupapa Māori structures ultimately impacting whānau. Back in 2023 they tried to bring the matter urgently before the Tribunal before the Government's repeal deadline, procedural delays meant the Tribunal lost jurisdiction to intervene in time. Now the priority Waitangi Tribunal hearing is scheduled from Monday 26 May to Friday 30 May 2025. 'The disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora has removed the one structure that responded to those historical breaches. It has brought back the same patterns I described twenty years ago. This isn't a system failing by accident — it is a conscious decision to return to Crown control and institutional racism,' said Lady Tureiti Moxon, Managing Director of Te Kōhao Health. But in a last-minute development late this afternoon, the Crown formally withdrew its only witness and the brief of evidence of Mr John Whaanga — who had been scheduled for cross-examination — from the upcoming urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing starting on Monday. The Crown also indicated that the Minister of Health is currently reviewing system settings within the public health sector, particularly the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022. Crown Law advised that the details of this work programme remain confidential, with Cabinet yet to make any final decisions. Advertisement - scroll to continue reading The Crown said in a Memorandum: 'This means that the Crown's participation in this part of the priority inquiry is now constrained as Crown officials are not authorised to talk about how present settings might be changed.' The Waitangi Tribunal replied immediately confirming that the hearing will go ahead next week, allowed the Crown to remove the evidence from their only planned witness, John Whaanga, and advised new evidence can be filed by the Crown by 9am on Monday. The hearing will start by discussing this last-minute change and then decide how the rest of the week will run. The priority hearing is due to investigate: What are the Crown's alternative plans to address Māori health in lieu of a Māori Health Authority, and what steps were taken in developing such plans? Was the Crown's process in developing those plans consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles? Are the Crown's alternative plans themselves consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles? The onus is on the Crown to demonstrate the existence, integrity, and Treaty compliance of these alternative plans. 'The Crown must prove what their alternative plans are — and that those plans are genuine, Treaty-compliant, and effective,' said Lady Tureiti. In their evidence submitted to the Tribunal, the claimants — both pivotal figures in the original WAI 2575 Inquiry that led to the landmark 2019 Hauora Report recommending a Māori Health Authority — described a dramatic sector-wide shift since the disestablishment. They cite a return to rigid bureaucracy, heightened auditing and surveillance, and the marginalisation of Māori voice and leadership. 'Right now, we see a system forcing us to translate whakapapa-based, whānau-centred work into endless tick-box reports that change every few weeks. It's exhausting and undermines real outcomes,' said Janice Kuka, Managing Director of Ngā Mataapuna Oranga. Health New Zealand Chair Rob Campbell, former Health New Zealand Chair is one of the expert witnesses in support of the claim. The claimants evidence highlights how kaupapa Māori providers have lost the visibility and prioritisation they once held under Te Aka Whai Ora. 'When Te Aka Whai Ora existed, we were seen. We were contacted. We were valued as Māori providers,' Kuka said. 'Now, it's back to open-market tendering on GETS. The result? Contracts are being lost to large, non-Māori organisations with Māori-sounding names or enrolment numbers — not whakapapa connections to our people.' Lady Tureiti also submitted where providers like her organisation, Te Kōhao has exceeded its contractual targets — such as in maternity and early childhood through the Kahu Taurima programme — it's still being asked to re-report, re-code, and defend its success. The claimants assert that the Crown's current approach represents a return to the very inequities and systemic discrimination Te Aka Whai Ora Māori Health Authority was created to address. 'Te Aka Whai Ora Māori Health Authority gave us the tools to commission services by Māori, for Māori — free from the racism and excessive scrutiny we faced under the old regime,' said Lady Tureiti. When the Government announced its plan to repeal Te Aka Whai Ora in November 2023 — less than 18 months after the Authority was formally established under the Pae Ora Act — it marked a significant reversal of progress. The Waitangi Tribunal had previously found the Crown in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi for failing to design a health system that addressed Māori health inequities or upholds tino rangatiratanga. Establishing a Māori Health Authority was one of its core recommendations. 'We warned that the Crown was deliberately rushing through this repeal of Te Aka Whai Ora Maori Health Authority to avoid scrutiny. This isn't just administrative change — it's a calculated rollback of Māori rights and progress,' said Janice Kuka. 'We will continue to hold the Crown to account for its obligations under Te Tiriti. Māori deserve a health system that works — not one that works against us.
Scoop
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
David Seymour's Bill Harms Our People And Environment
Press Release – New Zealand Labour Party Just like the Treaty Principles Bill, its another concession by Christopher Luxon to David Seymour soon to be Deputy Prime Minister thats out of touch with what Kiwis want and just takes New Zealand backwards. David Seymour's Regulatory Standards Bill would take New Zealand backwards by making it harder to protect our people and the environment. 'This Bill favours corporate interests ahead of our communities, environmental protections, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi,' Labour regulation spokesperson Duncan Webb said. 'Just like the Treaty Principles Bill, it's another concession by Christopher Luxon to David Seymour – soon to be Deputy Prime Minister – that's out of touch with what Kiwis want and just takes New Zealand backwards. 'Laws that keep people healthy and safe, like requiring landlords to heat homes, would be at the whims of whether David Seymour thinks they're a good idea or not. It would make it harder to keep our air and rivers clean and reduce climate emissions. 'It's ironic that the man who thinks that women's pay is wasteful spending also thinks that we should be spending $18 million a year administering his new scheme for evaluating regulations. 'But it's no surprise, given that the whole show would be overseen by a board appointed by, and answerable to, David Seymour, giving him sign-off power over every minister and department. 'This Bill is a dangerous power grab that is not in the interests of the majority of New Zealanders,' Duncan Webb said.
