The relationship between democracy, the Treaty of Waitangi, co-governance and constitutional reform remains one of New Zealand's most contested public debates. In this opinion piece, Andy Loader argues that New Zealand should reaffirm the principle of equal citizenship under one system of democratic government, challenges contemporary interpretations of the Treaty of Waitangi and co-governance, and calls on the Coalition Government to fulfil its election commitments on race-based policy.
It is just over forty years (1980 to be exact) when New Zealand stood almost on the brink of civil war regards the effects from the opposition to the South African, (Springbok) Rugby team’s tour of New Zealand.
South Africa at that time was a country ruled by the white minority population under a system of Apartheid which gave the ruling white citizens all of the power and control of the nation whilst restricting any persons of colour to a life of not much more than slavery.
At the time that the tour was announced an organisation with the name of H.A.R.T. (Halt All Racist Tours) was formed to protest and try to stop the tour as a signal to the country and the world of our opposition to the system of Apartheid, and it has been said many times by a lot of different people since then that this had a huge part to play in the demise of Apartheid in South Africa.
The social unrest that developed within NZ as a result of the protests saw almost rioting in the streets with one of the tour games being cancelled at the last minute due to a pitch invasion by a large number of protestors.
On Aug. 28, 1963, American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. addressed the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech in which he said those oft repeated words:
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
He was speaking about the coloured people of America’s segregation based on race and he also said:
“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men — yes, Black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’
Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.”
New Zealand has had a democratic system of government that is the oldest in the world, going back to the emancipation of women under the suffragette movement when they were granted the inalienable right to vote regardless of colour or gender in 1893.
On 19 September 1893, Governor Lord Glasgow signed a new Electoral Act into law, and New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world to enshrine in law the right for women to vote in parliamentary elections.
Yet here we are in New Zealand, 2026, with the Maori Party (which claims falsely, to represent the Maori population of NZ) and the self-appointed so-called tribal elite of Iwi trying to go back and reinstate a system of race based governance as seen in the He Puapua document.
The 2019 He Puapua report to Government (based on a report to the Iwi Chairs Forum, Matike Mai) became known to the public in 2021. The “Vision 2040” described there sets out the intention of two separate, racially defined, government structures; New Zealand is broken apart, with no pretence of inclusivity or equality.
Dr John Robinson a research scientist with broad experience including in the social statistics of Maori wrote in an article for the New Zealand Centre for Political Research, the following:
The foundations of New Zealand were laid down by those British who had just put an end to slavery. They would never have written, or agreed with, a Treaty that divided the country into two unequal races, having asserted the very opposite, that all New Zealanders were equal British subjects. This was a precious legacy for the new nation, to be safeguarded and never taken for granted.
“The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.” *
John Philpot Curran 1750-1817, Irish judge*
New Zealand has paid the price of ignorance and inactivity, allowing a determined minority to build a tribal, ‘indigenous’, race-based division which destroys the claim to equality and liberty of all others.
At last, in 2023, two of the political parties (ACT and New Zealand First) in the newly-elected tripartite Government moved to reassert three basic principles: that this is a sovereign country with one government that we are all equal, that ownership of land is assured. Those Principles are universal and hardly controversial – and certainly were held by the British founders of New Zealand. But none hold now in New Zealand.
In fact, New Zealand is a racist country, with belief in race and classification by race (“A Maori is a member of the Maori race”). There is separation in government (with race-based Maori seats and a race-based Maori Party), special rights by race in law (the Supreme Court gave sovereignty to Maori tribes, with a special place for Maori ideology: “Tikanga Maori [to be defined by the Maori party] will be functioning and applicable across Aotearoa under Maori [national, iwi, hapu, whanau] authority”), and in many organisations (the Waitangi Tribunal deals only with possible breeches of the Treaty by the Crown against Maori).
This proposal to respect these three principles, ideals that are widely accepted across the world, was followed by a loud and angry outcry, with many inflammatory calls to resist this ‘pakeha’ government (equality being now ‘anti-Maori and racist’) from Maori spokesmen. The call for separation and special rights to Maori, coupled with a denial of equality, has become widespread, a national ideology.
That belief in racial division is based on a belief in wrongs committed against Maori by the Crown – no other wrong from the past is admitted. Based on that false belief, Maori are angry, demanding recompense; non-Maori must feel guilt. New Zealanders are not one people, but divided into indigenous people and the others – second-rate citizens who must pay for fake claims of past wrong-doing by their ancestors.
Based on detailed instructions from the British Government, and after several days of debate, the final copy of the Treaty of Waitangi was decided upon, and written down by James Busby, on February 4, 1840. This was translated into Maori by Reverend Henry Williams and his son, Edward, before being handed back to the Governor, Captain William Hobson. This initial text was missing for some years before it was found in 1989; it is often referred to as the “Littlewood Treaty”.
It is the same as many back-translation from the Maori in the years following 1840, and is in accord with the Maori understanding of the Treaty as was made clear in the words of the chiefs during many meetings and, most significantly, with the forthright discussion in 1922 by the great Maori leader and statesman, Apirana Ngata, a prominent scholar, Government Minister and champion for Maori culture, in his booklet, “The Treaty of Waitangi, an explanation”, which was written in Maori, for Maori, and then translated into English.
No standing should be given to the many, and often conflicting, versions and interpretations built up during the last 49 years as an alternative Treaty is put forward to destroy the true intention by contradicting the initial call by Hobson to the chiefs: “Now we are one people.”
There are three Articles in the Treaty: sovereignty is ceded to Britain; the possession of their lands, dwellings and all their property is guaranteed to the chiefs and tribes and to all the people of New Zealand; and the rights and privileges of British subjects are granted to all the people of New Zealand.
We have over the last fifty some years developed into a racist nation and that has occurred mostly at the urging of those same people from the so-called tribal elite and the Maori Party, ably supported by the Waitangi Tribunal.
Insistence on a separate Maori government has built up over the decades since the formation of the Waitangi Tribunal in 1975. The Tribunal has over time constructed and publicised a complete rewriting of history – the “retrospective recrimination” and “counterfactual history” of the Tribunal, quoting the words of historian Bill Oliver. This fundamental reversal of the message and meaning of the Treaty has been aided by a captive media and the crippling of free speech.
Prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi the rule of tikanga was followed and loyalty was for those in the hapu or iwi; all others were of no importance and could be robbed of land, killed, and eaten. War bred war, as frequently a group would escape a stronger tribe and move to attack another. Fighting was strengthened by the demand for revenge, utu, and the call to defend the mana of relations and ancestors.
The calls for a system of “Race Based Co-governance”; is a terrible mistake, promising disruption and the potential of race war. New Zealand has never been so divided. The challenge of the 21st century is to oppose any talk of race based governance; support that “now we are one” and to move from division to unity with all persons being equal under the democratic system of one person one vote irrespective of colour creed or gender.
It is time this current government under Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, grew a pair and decided to “Fully” implement their campaign promises to do away with all race based legislation and stop all talk of co-governance at any level.
Race based governance has never succeeded anywhere and it would not be any different here in New Zealand if it was implemented.
We can have co-governance without democracy.
We can have democracy without co-governance.
But we cannot have democracy and co-governance.
Democracy will only prevail if we oppose any moves towards legislated race based co-governance policies. We need to oppose co-governance for Democracy to prevail.
The Treaty is a simple document signed in simple times which if the explanation given by that revered elder Maori statesman, Sir Apirana Ngata- M.A. LLB. LIT.D, is to be considered true, made us all one people with equal rights as citizens of New Zealand.
In his book, the "Treaty of Waitangi” Sir Apirana Ngata prepared an English translation of the Treaty in 1922 that argued that the Chiefs had “cede (d) absolutely to the Queen of England for ever the Government of all their lands”.
He concluded with the words:
"The Treaty made the one law for the Maori and Pakeha. If you think these things are wrong and bad then blame our ancestors who gave away their rights in the days when they were powerful".
Prior to the signing of the Treaty, New Zealand suffered greatly from a different type of racism which rather than being based on race was in fact based on Tribalism.
Prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi the rule of tikanga was followed and loyalty was for those in the hapu or iwi; all others were of no importance and could be robbed of land, killed, and eaten. War bred war, as frequently a group would escape a stronger tribe and move to attack another. Fighting was strengthened by the demand for revenge, utu, and the call to defend the mana of relations and ancestors.
Prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the average life expectancy for Maori was mid-thirties; the tribes were constantly at war with one another and the Maori practised slavery and cannibalism as a common effect of their warlike practices.
In 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, an agreement between the British Crown and Maori which established British law in New Zealand.
One of the main drivers behind the signing of the Treaty was to protect the Maori population from inter-tribal warfare, the threat of invasion by other nations and to bring an end to the musket wars.
The Musket Wars were a series of as many as 3,000 battles and raids fought throughout New Zealand among Maori between 1807 and 1837, after Maori first obtained muskets and then engaged in an intertribal arms race in order to gain territory or seek revenge for past defeats.
It is believed that as many as 20,000 Maori may have died as a result of the musket wars. Tribal boundaries were also changed by the musket wars.
The Waitangi Tribunal was set up in 1975 to hear claims related to issues around the Treaty of Waitangi and also the actions of the early European settlers to NZ but has now ended up as a vehicle which is used to try to claim as much financial reward as possible and to give absolute power to a very small section of our population.
What began as a well-meaning effort to settle all such claims and offer an apology to those affected has since that time developed into nothing more than an industry that is focussed on claimants’ getting every last cent they are able to extract from the Crown (read taxpayers of NZ) for any and everything they can possibly dream up to make a claim in relation to.
It has become a tool used to side-line democracy and to force the total population to accept that there is some unchallengeable right for Maori through their use of “Te Reo & Tikanga”, to have a right of veto (or power) over all other races which call NZ home.
Insistence on a separate Maori government has built up over the decades since the formation of the Waitangi Tribunal in 1975. The Tribunal has over time constructed and publicised a complete rewriting of history – the “retrospective recrimination” and “counterfactual history” of the Tribunal, quoting the words of historian Bill Oliver. This fundamental reversal of the message and meaning of the Treaty has been aided by a captive media and the crippling of free speech.
We now have what is a very small number of self-appointed so-called elite Iwi who are trying by any and every means at their disposal, to assert some sort of moral superiority over the rest of the NZ population and to try to gain power of control.
We are constantly being told that the Treaty of Waitangi created a partnership between the Crown and Maori and to fulfil this we need to adopt a system of Co-Governance with Maori.
These claims around the so-called Partnership & Co-Governance were given a huge boost by the Labour government lead by Jacinda Ardern with the preparation of the “He Pua Pua” report.
This whole idea of Co-Governance is nothing more than a racist attempt to gain control based on an erroneous interpretation of the Treaty.
Co-governance is not about the Treaty it is solely about control and getting the monetary benefits that go with having control. It’s about a small percentage of the population (approximately 17%) getting fifty percent of control based on their ethnicity and the others (approximately 83%) getting the rest.
We are told repeatedly by the so-called elite from Iwi that this is the only way forward to honour the Treaty. But in fact this is nothing more than moving from the democratic system of government we have had since the signing of the Treaty to a system of racial discrimination where equality in government has no place as it will be replaced by a person’s ethnicity.
Over decades since the setting up of the Waitangi Tribunal, the so called Maori elite have gained positions of power and influence through division and deceit. The Waitangi Tribunal has morphed into an almost permanent commission of inquiry into contemporary breaches of the Treaty with jurisdiction extended to include already-settled historic claims and anything else that can be quantified, giving rise to what has become a multi-billion dollar Treaty gravy train.
It was also during this period of time that the claim that Maori are a Treaty ‘partner’ with the Crown gained traction, with special Maori consultation rights and privileges included in the new Resource Management Act; Although there was no mention anywhere in the Treaty that related to partnership.
What we have now is a system of ideological indoctrination which is cloaked in cultural empathy, enforced by social shame, and hidden behind a virtue signalling sea of Maori culture with many of our public servants scrambling to prove their cultural credentials and enforcing a cultural ideology across every aspect of national life rather than concentrating on delivering basic services.
The so-called elite have used Maori culture and Te Ao Maori (the Maori world view) to assert their claims, under the Treaty of Waitangi, to be given the right of co-governance when in actual fact there is no basis in truth for this assertion.
You’re not allowed to question it. You’re not allowed to ask for clarity. If you do, you’re dismissed as backward, racist, colonial; a problem to be fixed or, preferably, ignored.
And since there was no such thing as a properly functioning democracy either in England or in New Zealand in 1840, the question of “political rights” wasn’t an issue at the time.
We’ve now got “Maori seats,” “Maori wards,” “iwi consultation panels,” etc. and in many areas you can’t take any actions until they have been checked and signed off by the local Iwi to ensure it will not offend some spiritual value that they may hold.
We also have many local bodies signing off on co-governance agreements as if they are making some magical step towards implementing Treaty requirements when in actual fact all they are really achieving is to introduce a race based bureaucracy which is nothing more than turning democracy into Apartheid under the name of Co-Governance.
Attempts to racialise New Zealand through implementation of co-governance, has provoked significant public complaint. Government has a duty to uphold the Rule of Law and protect the democratic rights of all New Zealanders.
And yet, here we are: using race-based politics and reinvented Treaty theology to alter the democratic systems which we have always stood on. It’s not a brave attempt to implement some erroneous interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi, it’s just stupid.
The Treaty of Waitangi, whatever your view on it, was never intended to be a constitutional framework for 21st-century co-governance. It was a political compromise scribbled down to stop people from shooting each other.
But somewhere between the Waitangi Tribunal, the Supreme Court, and an endless supply of cultural consultants, we’ve managed to turn that Treaty into a magical entitlement factory—churning out “rights” that are rapidly making us the banana republic of the pacific.
New Zealand is fast becoming a textbook case in how to get it wrong; how to destroy a democratic system of government and eliminate any semblance of equality for all citizens.
New Zealanders have only recently become increasingly aware that a tribal takeover is underway.
The Maori Party are the worst enemy of our democracy with their daily activities promoting treason, rebellion, division, separatism and lying hate-filled propaganda and indoctrination.
They claim to be the indigenous people of NZ but Maori are NOT indigenous to New Zealand they arrived by boat like everyone else;
Stopping the tribal takeover is what National, ACT and New Zealand First promised to do when they agreed to prioritise “Ending race-based policies” in their Coalition Agreement.
There can be no mature discussion about our future as a country until everybody accepts that the Treaty provided for the government to have final authority, with all citizens - no matter their ancestry - having equal rights.
We must stop being afraid to say it. This is not just wrong. It is corrosive. A separatist political model based on racial ancestry belongs in 19th-century Apartheid South Africa, not 21st-century New Zealand.
When we look at where we are today we see a country which had a proud record as the first true democracy in the world giving all citizens a vote regardless of race or gender, to the situation now where we have Maori claiming to have the right of co-governance based on their own selective interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi, which if given credence will institute a system of Apartheid into our country.
Maori make up approximately 18% of the population of New Zealand and yet the so-called elite who are agitating for co-governance seem to think that they deserve a greater right of control than the other 82% of the population. This is far from a democratic position where all citizens have an equal right on the basis of one person one vote with all votes being equal.
We see Maori politicians and others claiming that their ancestor’s property had been STOLEN from them and should be given back. It is quite possible that members of tribal groups did invade and take over territories that others occupied before the introduction of the British system of government.
In the case of transfers of ownership which occurred after 1840 the reality is that many Maori sold their land and instead of demanding unequal privileges they are not entitled to at the expense of the rest of the people, they need to get over it.
The problem is that they have become indoctrinated with a fantasy which has resulted from "viewing" events of the past through the "lens of the present" which distorts the view.
It is always easy to look with 20/20 hindsight and see that people have sold things for less than they bring today but that in itself does not justify demanding their return.
Based on this fantasy view many of the so-called elite Maori are seeking to extort money from the public by using their versions of Treaty obligations.
We see Maori representatives looking to gain representation on local and central government controlled organisations with most of this representation providing a good source of income, channelling money from the public purse.
There has been some debate over the years about what, exactly; Maori believed they were signing in 1840 and did Maori cede sovereignty to the British Crown when they signed the Treaty of Waitangi or, as is now contended by some, did they not?
Sir Apirana Ngata prepared an English translation of the Treaty in 1922 that argued that the Chiefs had “cede(d) absolutely to the Queen of England for ever the Government of all their lands”.
The standard translation used by the Waitangi tribunal in the early 1990’s had been made by Professor Sir Hugh Kawharu. Here is his full translation of the Treaty:
“The first: The chiefs of the Confederation and all the Chiefs who have not joined that Confederation give absolutely to the Queen of England for ever the complete government over their land.
“The second: The Queen of England agrees to protect the Chiefs, the Subtribes and all the people of New Zealand in the unqualified exercise of their chieftainship over their lands, villages and all their treasures. But on the other hand the Chiefs of the Confederation and all the Chiefs will sell land to the Queen at a price agreed by the person owning it and by the person buying it (the latter being) appointed by the Queen as her purchase agent.
“The third: For this agreed arrangement therefore concerning the Government of the Queen, the Queen of England will protect all the ordinary people of New Zealand (i.e. the Maori) and will give them the same rights and duties of citizenship as the people of England.”
Sir Hugh and the Tribunal in this time were in no doubt that the chiefs had ceded sovereignty to the Queen.
The so-called elite Maori have recently tried to dispute this, but after 170 plus years of acceptance this would seem to be a futile attempt to change history, or even deliberate trouble-making, in trying after all these years to upset what has been accepted by both Maori and others for so long.
If ever there was a declaration that we are one people and that Maori have the same rights and duties of citizenship, surely it is Sir Hugh’s translation of the Treaty’s third clause?
Sir Hugh’s translation of Article 3 surely rules out any special relationship/privilege for Maori or for their modern descendants over non-Maori.
There most certainly was no implication of special rights, “political” or otherwise for Maori. Their land was protected, but so was the right of Maori to sell that land on agreed terms. And Maori had the same “rights and duties of citizenship” as non-Maori.
Racial harmony is currently one of the biggest issues for all New Zealanders and with approximately 200 different ethnicities, is it conducive to social harmony to accord special political status to those with a Maori ancestor? The short answer being NO!
Our system of governance is based on EQUALITY of all citizens regardless of race colour or creed yet if we take the example set by the current Prime Minister you would argue that Maori have more rights than all other races in New Zealand.
The National Party and its coalition government partners made many promises (both before and after the election) that they would make every effort to eliminate racial preferences from government decision making, in a commitment to equal citizenship under New Zealand’s democratic system of government.
But in fact they have failed to take any significant actions in this regard since taking office in 2023.
The He Puapua report commissioned in secret by the previous Labour government required that by 2040 Maori be returned to their “rightful place” as the de facto sovereign authority in many crucial areas of public necessity such as land and water use and “must be able to participate in Crown governance.” The agenda is therefore clear, and it involves the removal of the ability for Parliament to legislate over all spheres of public interest affecting all New Zealanders. In short, the death of democracy and, as some commentators have observed, an Apartheid nightmare.
To the dismay of voters, the 2023 election and change in Government has not stopped these separatists’ from attempting to transform New Zealand into a race based society under the name of “Aotearoa”.
Furthermore, discriminating against people on the basis of race, gender and sexuality, dangerously undermines New Zealanders’ right to equality before the law.
But instead of stepping up and dealing with these growing concerns, the PM and his coalition government continue to turn a blind eye to these policies.
The country voted out Labour in 2023; they voted for change hoping to see the new government remove the race based policies of the previous Labour government.
The Coalition government, which we elected to protect us from the dangerous propaganda and extremist agenda that was put in place by Jacinda Ardern and her Labour government, forcing’ private sector organisations to become agents of radical indoctrination – pushing the race-based lies that Maori did not cede sovereignty, that New Zealanders are racist, and that tribal leaders are in partnership with the Crown; is standing by and doing nothing.
Is it any wonder Kiwi voters are feeling disillusioned?
So what is the answer?
Honesty & Respect!
We need to show honesty and respect for all ethnicities and go back to the situation where every citizen of NZ is considered to be equal before the law.
New Zealand has gone from a democratic system of governance where all citizens were equal regardless of Race, Colour or Creed to where we are now accepting that Cultural Beliefs must be followed due to some crazy interpretations of the Treaty of Waitangi which was signed in 1840.
We have got to the stage where we expect our professionals and trades people to exhibit knowledge of cultural beliefs before they are able to be certified as competent in their selected occupations.
There have been so many cases where licencing authorities have demanded that candidates pass a cultural awareness course before they will issue any certifications that it has almost become just an accepted situation and nobody can protest because the minute they do they are branded as racists and denied the issue of any required certification.
The only requirement for certifications should be the required competency of the person applying for any particular certification. Once the person is judged to be competent and able to be certificated as competent, any requirements in relation to cultural awareness should be covered by that person being required to show a true level of respect in their dealings and the ability for any disrespect to be challenged before the certifying body.
It should be one of the coalition government’s most important objectives to legislate against discrimination on the basis of race, gender or sexuality.
To the dismay of voters, the 2023 election and change in Government have not stopped these separatists’ from attempting to transform New Zealand into a race based society under the name of “Aotearoa”.
Furthermore, by discriminating against people on the basis of race, gender and sexuality, it dangerously undermines New Zealanders’ right to equality before the law.
But instead of stepping up and dealing with these growing concerns, the PM and his coalition government continue to turn a blind eye to these policies.
We also see that there is now an insidious push to insert Tikanga Maori into the Justice system but Tikanga Maori isn’t law; it’s race based spiritual belief, and as such has no place in our legal system.
If people want to believe in ancestral spirits that should be their prerogative which we should respect, but it should never be included into legislation.
Tikanga is a spiritual worldview. It’s not universal, not measurable, and not objective. It's about feelings, vibes, and inherited mythology — the legal equivalent of consulting a ouija board. You can't debate it, you can't question it, and you can't even define it half the time, and if you try you are immediately branded a racist.
Luxon and the Coalition Government should look closely at the example of the Inauguration of Donald J Trump as the 47th President of the United States.
President Trump acknowledged at his Inauguration which was held on Martin Luther King Day: “In his honour, we will strive together to make his dream a reality” and he pledged: “We will forge a society that is colour blind and merit based.”
That is essentially what our Coalition promised when they were elected. But they have a long way to go to achieve that goal.
With National’s current pro-Maori ideology they have let New Zealand down, they were voted in to restore one law for all and racial equality, which they seem to think, is not one of the priorities for New Zealand today.
The economy will fluctuate with or without help, but unless the Coalition leadership decides to make good on their pre-election promises to take race out of all legislation, abolish separatist Maori representation (both local and central) they are destined to become a one term government.
As the leader of the Labour Party the late David Lange said in 2000; his government could not acknowledge the existence of a dual sovereignty.
In a speech given by David Lange in the year 2000 he highlighted the danger to democracy of proceeding down the path of dual sovereignty. Mr Lange said that in a democracy what we cannot do is acknowledge the existence of a separate sovereignty. As soon as we do that, it isn’t a democracy. We can have a democratic form of government or we can have indigenous sovereignty. They can’t co-exist and we can’t have them both. He went on to say that the court of appeal once, absurdly, described the treaty as a partnership between races, but it obviously is not.
Any claims of dual sovereignty are not only wrong in fact, but also promote racial separation of our country and creates a serious threat to our democratic system of governance.
“The Treaty itself contains no principles which can usefully guide government or courts. It is a bald agreement, anchored in its time and place”.
Iwi should have an equal right to representation and respect for their beliefs along with the other 200 odd ethnic groups within NZ society, but this right in no way should ever give them a greater level of representation than any other ethnic group. To do so would be akin to implementing a system of apartheid, a system of government that NZ’s have fought against for many years.