Post by Kiwi Frontline on May 2, 2019 8:20:37 GMT 12
UNDERMINING DEMOCRACY IN NEW ZEALAND
Indeed, the growth in race based representation in local and central government – through appointment rather than election – is creating increasing levels of public concern. The on-going drive by iwi leaders to institutionalise 50:50 co-governance is a growing threat to our democracy.
What’s worse, is that their demands for power are fraudulent. They claim the Treaty of Waitangi established a 50:50 partnershipbetween Maori and the Crown iwi so they should have half the say in all official decision-making in New Zealand. They are ignoring the reality that the Treaty was not a partnership, but an agreement that endorsed the Queen as our sovereign, protected property rights, and established the rule of law.
However, truth is no obstacle to the supporters of the Maori sovereignty movement.
The fact is that Treaty partnership rights do not exist in law. They are a political construct invented by the iwi elite to pressure politicians and persuade the population at large, that the Treaty confers special sovereign rights that justify tribal groups being elevated to a position of power above everyone else.
In light of the inexorable growth of race-based governance in New Zealand, let’s use the EIU criteria to see what effect it is having on our democracy......
...............Furthermore in an extremely disturbing trend, radical Maori sovereignty supporters are now calling anyone objecting to race-based rule ‘white supremacists’ pushing ‘racial hatred’. They are clearly attempting to pave the way for the government to introduce hate speech laws, which would severely undermine free speech and democracy in New Zealand.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, communications consultant Fiona Mackenzie, outlines how co-governance is enabling tribal groups in Auckland to gain control of the Hauraki Gulf, a large coastal area covering 1.2 million hectares that encompasses Auckland, the Hauraki Plains and the Coromandel Peninsula, and includes the Ports of Auckland, shipping routes, marinas, fisheries, marine farms, and other commercial and recreational facilities.
Fiona explains: “Increasingly, local bodies and successive governments have been transferring responsibilities for control of resources that we all use and cherish to unelected, unaccountable representatives of tribal groups. The Hauraki Gulf is a prime example of where it’s happening. It is a treasure to all but has been managed under a statutory but rather dysfunctional co-governing body (the Hauraki Gulf Forum) since 2000. The Forum is comprised of government departmental members, elected Council representatives and iwi appointees. Witnesses have reported bullying and inflammatory comments promoting tribal control of the Gulf.”
Fiona explains that the Forum has been trying to come up with a spatial plan since 2013. As a result, a ‘Stakeholder Working Group’ of iwi and other interested parties took the project over coming up with 181 recommendations for the Gulf.
“The recommendations support tribal elite having controlling rights in aquaculture, recreational and commercial fishing, harbour and catchment management plans. Governing committees could prohibit recreational and commercial fishing in ‘their’ zone for any or all fish species based on ‘cultural values’ – with no need for scientific evidence. So the Plan could result in effective tribal control of the entire Hauraki Gulf and associated lands.”
So there we have it – control of the Hauraki Gulf is being taken by iwi groups for their own self-interest, right under the noses of the public. This erosion of the democratic process has only been possible through the appointment of large numbers of iwi representatives with a vested interest in the process. Surely that should have ruled them out of the decision-making process from the start.
Worse, as Fiona also points out, all of these iwi groups have lodged claims under the Marine and Coastal Area Act for the coastline and the Hauraki Gulf itself, which is another reason why their involvement in the project is tainted with conflicts of interest and is illegitimate.
Whichever way you look at it, race-based representation is an anathema to representative democracy. Whenever government power is shared with private bodies, democracy is compromised. If the problem was limited to one or two instances, it would not be such a grave concern. But this threat to democracy in New Zealand is widespread and growing and if it continues on its current path will lead us down a path towards NZ being an authoritarian nation.
Read Dr Muriel Newman’s full alarming NZCPR newsletter here > www.nzcpr.com/undermining-democracy-in-new-zealand/#more-29152
Indeed, the growth in race based representation in local and central government – through appointment rather than election – is creating increasing levels of public concern. The on-going drive by iwi leaders to institutionalise 50:50 co-governance is a growing threat to our democracy.
What’s worse, is that their demands for power are fraudulent. They claim the Treaty of Waitangi established a 50:50 partnershipbetween Maori and the Crown iwi so they should have half the say in all official decision-making in New Zealand. They are ignoring the reality that the Treaty was not a partnership, but an agreement that endorsed the Queen as our sovereign, protected property rights, and established the rule of law.
However, truth is no obstacle to the supporters of the Maori sovereignty movement.
The fact is that Treaty partnership rights do not exist in law. They are a political construct invented by the iwi elite to pressure politicians and persuade the population at large, that the Treaty confers special sovereign rights that justify tribal groups being elevated to a position of power above everyone else.
In light of the inexorable growth of race-based governance in New Zealand, let’s use the EIU criteria to see what effect it is having on our democracy......
...............Furthermore in an extremely disturbing trend, radical Maori sovereignty supporters are now calling anyone objecting to race-based rule ‘white supremacists’ pushing ‘racial hatred’. They are clearly attempting to pave the way for the government to introduce hate speech laws, which would severely undermine free speech and democracy in New Zealand.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, communications consultant Fiona Mackenzie, outlines how co-governance is enabling tribal groups in Auckland to gain control of the Hauraki Gulf, a large coastal area covering 1.2 million hectares that encompasses Auckland, the Hauraki Plains and the Coromandel Peninsula, and includes the Ports of Auckland, shipping routes, marinas, fisheries, marine farms, and other commercial and recreational facilities.
Fiona explains: “Increasingly, local bodies and successive governments have been transferring responsibilities for control of resources that we all use and cherish to unelected, unaccountable representatives of tribal groups. The Hauraki Gulf is a prime example of where it’s happening. It is a treasure to all but has been managed under a statutory but rather dysfunctional co-governing body (the Hauraki Gulf Forum) since 2000. The Forum is comprised of government departmental members, elected Council representatives and iwi appointees. Witnesses have reported bullying and inflammatory comments promoting tribal control of the Gulf.”
Fiona explains that the Forum has been trying to come up with a spatial plan since 2013. As a result, a ‘Stakeholder Working Group’ of iwi and other interested parties took the project over coming up with 181 recommendations for the Gulf.
“The recommendations support tribal elite having controlling rights in aquaculture, recreational and commercial fishing, harbour and catchment management plans. Governing committees could prohibit recreational and commercial fishing in ‘their’ zone for any or all fish species based on ‘cultural values’ – with no need for scientific evidence. So the Plan could result in effective tribal control of the entire Hauraki Gulf and associated lands.”
So there we have it – control of the Hauraki Gulf is being taken by iwi groups for their own self-interest, right under the noses of the public. This erosion of the democratic process has only been possible through the appointment of large numbers of iwi representatives with a vested interest in the process. Surely that should have ruled them out of the decision-making process from the start.
Worse, as Fiona also points out, all of these iwi groups have lodged claims under the Marine and Coastal Area Act for the coastline and the Hauraki Gulf itself, which is another reason why their involvement in the project is tainted with conflicts of interest and is illegitimate.
Whichever way you look at it, race-based representation is an anathema to representative democracy. Whenever government power is shared with private bodies, democracy is compromised. If the problem was limited to one or two instances, it would not be such a grave concern. But this threat to democracy in New Zealand is widespread and growing and if it continues on its current path will lead us down a path towards NZ being an authoritarian nation.
Read Dr Muriel Newman’s full alarming NZCPR newsletter here > www.nzcpr.com/undermining-democracy-in-new-zealand/#more-29152