BIG NEWS

Thursday, May 05, 2011

Rights and privileges of British subjects

The English translation of Article III of the Maori version of the Treaty of Waitangi says this:
For this agreed arrangement therefore concerning the Government of the Queen, the Queen of England will protect all the ordinary people of New Zealand and will give them the same rights and duties of citizenship as the people of England
.The Maori version states:
Hei wakaritenga mai hoki tenei mo te wakaaetanga ki te Kawanatanga o te Kuini-Ka tiakina e te Kuini o Ingarani nga tangata Maori; katoa o Nu Tirani ka tukua ki a ratou nga tikanga katoa rite tahi ki ana mea ki nga tangata o Ingarani.
Act leader Don Brash, commenting on Article III of the Treaty of Waitangi has said that it is “totally unclear from the Treaty whether Maori have different rights from others."

This year he told the ACT party conference that “Article III of the same Treaty makes it crystal clear that all New Zealanders should have equal rights under the law, with no special privileges… for any race.

So, just to recap, does Brash think Article III is “crystal clear”, or “totally unclear” with regard to Maori privileges and rights under the Treaty of Waitangi?

Also, does Brash believe that having to consider any tikanga apart from Pakeha tikanga is according that group a special privilege?

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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Maori disagree over Maori flag

updated
Pita Sharples and John Key have announced that the tino rangitiratanga flag will fly over the Auckland Harbour bridge on Waitangi Day next year, at Parliament and at Premier House. But the chairman of the Waitangi Trust Board, Pita Paraone is not so sure that the decision is a good one and doesn't appear to want to fly it at Waitangi on Waitangi Day. Apparently the flag is linked with the Maori Party too much and Paraone (and Shane Jones and a few others) would like to see the United Tribes flag flown,I guess.

I find it ironic that Paraone is the chairman of the Waitangi Trust Board. This trust offers Treaty of Waitangi workshops. This includes workshops on the relevance of the principles of the Treaty, their practical applications, and how they can be applied today.

Yet Paraone, a former NZ First MP, was a key figure behind NZ First's unsuccessful attempt to delete the principles of the Treaty from all legislation - including the Treaty of Waitangi Act, in 2006. In fact the party, in its 2005 confidence and supply agreement with Labour, had a clause that forced Labour to vote for the first reading of the bill and send it to select committee -and Pita Paraone, as a board member of the Waitangi Trust Board at the time, supported taking out all references to the principles of the Treaty in legislation, while Trust conducted seminars on the practical relevance of leaving these principles in legislation - and nobody in the House bothered to point that out at the time.

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