Post by Kiwi Frontline on Feb 12, 2024 4:44:25 GMT 12
WAITANGI 2024
In a recent interview with the Herald, as part of their Waitangi Day coverage, Auckland University’s Professor Elizabeth Rata, a leading expert on the Treaty, reminded us that the Treaty of Waitangi was a crucial stepping stone on New Zealand’s journey to democracy.
It was only because Maori chiefs had ceded sovereignty to the Queen of England when they signed the Treaty that the British Parliament was able to pass the New Zealand Constitution Act in 1852 to establish our first New Zealand Parliament and introduce democracy.
While sovereignty now rests with Parliament to govern on behalf of all New Zealanders, it is voters who have the democratic power to decide who should rule the country: government of the people, by the people, for the people. And every three years we exercise that power at the ballot box, when we decide whether the old Government should carry on – or be replaced.
As Professor Rata reiterates, the Treaty, which played such a crucial role in our development as a nation, enabling the brutality to end and democracy to begin, has now fulfilled its purpose. That’s not to say it’s no longer relevant, especially as some tribal groups still have not concluded their Treaty settlements, but it is not part of our constitutional arrangements and that’s the way it must stay if we are to remain a democracy.
Unsurprisingly, Iwi leaders and their supporters do not agree. They want the Treaty enshrined in law in a new constitution, so it controls what we do. That’s what all the argy-bargy at Waitangi was about.
Their ultimate aim is to re-tribalise New Zealand – to strip away the legal and political rights that democracy guarantees to each and every one of us, so they can impose their own totalitarian rules and regulations.
The question is, do Kiwis want to give up democracy? Do we want the tribal aristocracy – those who attempted to bully and intimidate our democratically elected leaders into submission at Waitangi – to have the power to control our lives?…..
Read the full article here > www.nzcpr.com/waitangi-2024/
In a recent interview with the Herald, as part of their Waitangi Day coverage, Auckland University’s Professor Elizabeth Rata, a leading expert on the Treaty, reminded us that the Treaty of Waitangi was a crucial stepping stone on New Zealand’s journey to democracy.
It was only because Maori chiefs had ceded sovereignty to the Queen of England when they signed the Treaty that the British Parliament was able to pass the New Zealand Constitution Act in 1852 to establish our first New Zealand Parliament and introduce democracy.
While sovereignty now rests with Parliament to govern on behalf of all New Zealanders, it is voters who have the democratic power to decide who should rule the country: government of the people, by the people, for the people. And every three years we exercise that power at the ballot box, when we decide whether the old Government should carry on – or be replaced.
As Professor Rata reiterates, the Treaty, which played such a crucial role in our development as a nation, enabling the brutality to end and democracy to begin, has now fulfilled its purpose. That’s not to say it’s no longer relevant, especially as some tribal groups still have not concluded their Treaty settlements, but it is not part of our constitutional arrangements and that’s the way it must stay if we are to remain a democracy.
Unsurprisingly, Iwi leaders and their supporters do not agree. They want the Treaty enshrined in law in a new constitution, so it controls what we do. That’s what all the argy-bargy at Waitangi was about.
Their ultimate aim is to re-tribalise New Zealand – to strip away the legal and political rights that democracy guarantees to each and every one of us, so they can impose their own totalitarian rules and regulations.
The question is, do Kiwis want to give up democracy? Do we want the tribal aristocracy – those who attempted to bully and intimidate our democratically elected leaders into submission at Waitangi – to have the power to control our lives?…..
Read the full article here > www.nzcpr.com/waitangi-2024/