Post by Kiwi Frontline on Nov 7, 2022 6:01:37 GMT 12
DEMOCRACY ACTION – November 2022 newsletter
While Rebecca Kitteridge, the head of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, is exhorting the public to look for extremists under the bed, an indulgent eye is turned away from those who make no bones about their campaign to overturn our democracy, our government, our way of life. Dr Claire Charters, an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Auckland, specialising in Indigenous Peoples’ rights, urges a radical change to the nature of government and society in her recently released commentary 'The myth of sovereignty'. Charters says constitutional reform “requires more than a tweaking of the Westminster legal system, more than a Treaty claims settlement process, more than a Waitangi Tribunal, and more than incremental judicial incorporation of tikanga Māori — because all of these structures are premised on the mythical legal claim by the Crown to sovereignty”.
Dr Charters is a lead organiser of an upcoming conference proposing the transformation of New Zealand’s constitution, to be held at Auckland University from the 21 -23 November 2022. Organisers claim there is momentum for constitutional 'transformation’ and will be discussing how to enact it. Delegates will be coming from overseas as well as from around New Zealand.
You can register to attend here: 2022 Constitutional Kōrero. (If anyone is planning to go – please let me know at enquiries@democracyaction.org.nz)
A ‘silent witness’ protest on the first day of the conference is being planned. If anyone would like to join, please register here. We plan to meet at 8 AM on 21 November outside the Owen Glenn Building, 12 Grafton Road, Auckland Central. Placards will be made available to all who register by 13 November.
The Government’s Review into the Future for Local Government draft report has landed in our inboxes with an almighty thud – squashing any hopes that the principles of democracy and equality of citizenship would be upheld in local government. What is notably different about this report compared to the others authored by the Labour Government’s hand-picked 'independent' working groups is they have not bothered to disguise their recommended full-frontal assault on democracy. You can read more about this in ‘A recipe for differentiated citizenship’ below. Your chance to provide feedback on the draft report is open until 28 February 2023.
Another issue examined this month is the suspicion that Local Government NZ has been hijacked. It appears LGNZ no longer advocates and lobbies for local government and local communities, but has become a propaganda arm for central government. See ‘LGNZ has lost the plot!'......
www.democracyaction.org.nz/november_2022
MARINE PROTECTION SECONDARY TO ‘CUSTOMARY RIGHTS’
www.democracyaction.org.nz/marine_protection_secondary_to_customary_rights
LGNZ HAS LOST THE PLOT!
www.democracyaction.org.nz/lgnz_has_to_go
A RECIPE FOR ‘DIFFERENTIATED CITIZENSHIP’
www.democracyaction.org.nz/a_recipe_for_differentiated_citizenship
PROPOSED CHANGES TO OUR ELECTORAL SYSTEM
www.democracyaction.org.nz/proposed_changes_to_our_electoral_system
While Rebecca Kitteridge, the head of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, is exhorting the public to look for extremists under the bed, an indulgent eye is turned away from those who make no bones about their campaign to overturn our democracy, our government, our way of life. Dr Claire Charters, an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Auckland, specialising in Indigenous Peoples’ rights, urges a radical change to the nature of government and society in her recently released commentary 'The myth of sovereignty'. Charters says constitutional reform “requires more than a tweaking of the Westminster legal system, more than a Treaty claims settlement process, more than a Waitangi Tribunal, and more than incremental judicial incorporation of tikanga Māori — because all of these structures are premised on the mythical legal claim by the Crown to sovereignty”.
Dr Charters is a lead organiser of an upcoming conference proposing the transformation of New Zealand’s constitution, to be held at Auckland University from the 21 -23 November 2022. Organisers claim there is momentum for constitutional 'transformation’ and will be discussing how to enact it. Delegates will be coming from overseas as well as from around New Zealand.
You can register to attend here: 2022 Constitutional Kōrero. (If anyone is planning to go – please let me know at enquiries@democracyaction.org.nz)
A ‘silent witness’ protest on the first day of the conference is being planned. If anyone would like to join, please register here. We plan to meet at 8 AM on 21 November outside the Owen Glenn Building, 12 Grafton Road, Auckland Central. Placards will be made available to all who register by 13 November.
The Government’s Review into the Future for Local Government draft report has landed in our inboxes with an almighty thud – squashing any hopes that the principles of democracy and equality of citizenship would be upheld in local government. What is notably different about this report compared to the others authored by the Labour Government’s hand-picked 'independent' working groups is they have not bothered to disguise their recommended full-frontal assault on democracy. You can read more about this in ‘A recipe for differentiated citizenship’ below. Your chance to provide feedback on the draft report is open until 28 February 2023.
Another issue examined this month is the suspicion that Local Government NZ has been hijacked. It appears LGNZ no longer advocates and lobbies for local government and local communities, but has become a propaganda arm for central government. See ‘LGNZ has lost the plot!'......
www.democracyaction.org.nz/november_2022
MARINE PROTECTION SECONDARY TO ‘CUSTOMARY RIGHTS’
www.democracyaction.org.nz/marine_protection_secondary_to_customary_rights
LGNZ HAS LOST THE PLOT!
www.democracyaction.org.nz/lgnz_has_to_go
A RECIPE FOR ‘DIFFERENTIATED CITIZENSHIP’
www.democracyaction.org.nz/a_recipe_for_differentiated_citizenship
PROPOSED CHANGES TO OUR ELECTORAL SYSTEM
www.democracyaction.org.nz/proposed_changes_to_our_electoral_system