One New Zealand Foundation Inc.

On 13 September 2007, Rosemary Banks, New Zealand’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations explained to the United Nations the reason why New Zealand could not sign the Declaration of the Rights of the Indigenous People stating, “It was fundamentally incompatible with New Zealand’s constitutional and legal arrangements”, but this was completely ignored by the United Nations when the Hon Pita Sharples signed the Declaration on the 19 April 2010. WHY? 

In 2007, Maori asked Prime Minster, Hon Helen Clark to sign the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous People, but New Zealand does not have a definition of the Indigenous People of New Zealand as well as, “Four provisions of the Declaration were fundamentally incompatible with New Zealand’s constitutional and legal arrangement”, therefore, she refused to sign it. 

In 2010, Prime Minister Hon John Key sent the Minister of Maori Affairs, the Hon Pita Sharples to New York on 19 April to sign the United Nation’s Declaration of the Rights of the Indigenous People in secret! 

Hon John Key must have known why Hon Helen Clark had not signed the Declaration in 2007 and that New Zealand did not have a definition of the Indigenous people of New Zealand, but he went ahead and signed it in secret without a mandate from Parliament or the people of New Zealand. This was solely for John Key to gain the Maori vote to stay in power as Prime Minister.

You will see from the OIA letter from Hon Pita Sharples below dated 2 April 2012, before he signed the Declaration, he told the United Nations, “Maori hold a distinct and special status as the indigenous people, or tanga whenua of New Zealand”. It is obvious Hon Pita Sharple’s knew, “Maori are NOT the indigenous people, or tangata whenua of New Zealand”, otherwise he would have stated, “Maori are the indigenous people, or tangata whenua of New Zealand”, but the United Nation’s accepted it. 

On 21 October 2021 in an OIA letter to the Crown Law Office, 2.4, we asked, “What law states, Maori have a distinct and special status as the tanga whenua or indigenous people of New Zealand”. The Crown Law Office replied, “You have been previously advised (by Hon Pita Sharples in 2012 and by Hon Christopher Finlayson prior to that), there is no statuary definition of indigenous people. This part of your request is refused under section 18(e) of the Act as the document alleged to contain the information requested does not exit”.  See copy of letters below.

As there is no statuary definition of the indigenous people of New Zealand and the document alleged to contain this information requested does not exit, then the United Nations accepted Maori as the Indigenous People, or tangata whenua of New Zealand, when New Zealand does not have a definition that Maori are in fact, “The indigenous people of New Zealand”. 

The Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous People has given Maori special rights over all other New Zealand Citizens, allowing Maori, “A Partnership with the Crown” and possibly, “Co-Governance with the Crown”, based on the United Nations allowing Hon Pita Sharples to sign the Declaration without a definition of the indigenous people of New Zealand and completely ignoring New Zealand’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Rosemary Bank’s explanation in 2007. 

The Government has no other option now, than to inform the United Nations, New Zealand does not have a statutory definition of, “The Indigenous people or tangata whenua of New Zealand” and they were informed in 2007, “It was fundamentally incompatible with New Zealand’s constitutional and legal arrangements”, which has completely destroyed New Zealand’s democracy as agreed by the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 and Queen Victoria’s Royal Charter/Letters Patent enacted on 3 May 1841, New Zealand true Founding Document.   

This article was written from documents held in the New Zealand, Australian and American Archives, plus the British Parliamentary Papers and the Official Information Act letters received by the ONZF.  

For further information: www.onenzfoundation.co.nz         Email: ONZF@bigpond.com.au