Maori Affairs Does it Again .
Racial Maori Affairs Select Committee Does it Again. Maori today are New Zealand Citizens. No more – No less.
On Wednesday the 15 December 2010, Ross Baker presented the One New Zealand Foundation’s submission into the Marine and Coastal Area Bill at Parliament.
At the end of the ONZF presentation (See below), the Chairman of the Maori Affairs Select Committee, Hon Tau Henare showed he was annoyed by our final comment, “We also ask that the Chairman of this Maori Affairs Select Committee does not mislead Parliament as he did with our submission into the Te Roroa Claims Settlement Bill”.
He then asked his committee for questions. The Hon Kelvin Davis took exception to part of our submission stating, as far as he was concerned he and his father and other members of his family were Maori. While we respect his claim to being Maori, he is not the maori that signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.
Our submission stated, “Maori today are no longer the distinct race of people that signed the Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840. There is far too much foreign blood in all Maori today for the Waitangi Tribunal or Government to attempt to compensate one group of New Zealand Citizen at the expense of the others. Through intermarriage of their own free will, Maori today have more of the ancestry of the people they are claiming against than that of their maori ancestors that signed the Tiriti o Waitangi”.
While we respect today’s part maori, they are not the “Distinct race of people that signed the Treaty in 1840″ and therefore should not be treated as such. There is far too much foreign blood in all Maori today for the Waitangi Tribunal or Government to attempt to compensate or give special privilege such as Customary Title etc to one group of New Zealand Citizen at the expense of the others. Through intermarriage of their own free will, Maori today have more of the ancestry of the people they are claiming against than that of their Maori ancestors that signed the Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840. It’s a fact, this race of people have long gone. Article Three of the Tiriti o Waitangi gave the same rights to all the people of New Zealand, irrespective of race, colour or creed, continuing events made us all New Zealand Citizens under one sovereignty and one law.
As Mr Baker was about to reply, the Chairman became very angry and refused to allow him to respond to Mr Davis, which incurred some heated debate.
The Hon John Boscawen then asked Mr Baker to elaborate on this part of our submission. Again the Chairman refused to allow Mr Baker to reply, again causing some heated debate. Mr Baker was refused to reply to two fair and legitimate questions from members of the Maori Affairs Select Committee, the Chairman then stating, our submission hearing was over!
While Mr Baker was refused to answer questions from the Committee by its Chairman, the Maori groups that followed were given extra time to present their submissions, time to fully explain and discuss questions from the Committee and one Maori lady, extra time to air her views at the end of question time. There is no denying; Mr Baker and the Hon John Boscawen were both unfairly treated by the Chairman. Natural Justice was denied!
This is the second time the Hon Tau Henare has tampered with our submissions. While Mr Baker presented the One New Zealand Foundation’s submission opposing the Te Roroa Claims Settlement Bill to the Maori Affairs Select Committee in 2007, Tau Henare misled Parliament at the Bill’s second reading, stating our submission was not heard. Our submission presented Crown documents showing the Te Roroa claim was only an alleged claim, a fact that had been proven by two previous inquiries. This claim was rejected by Parliament on both previous occasions.
This Maori Affairs Select Committee; as with the Te Roroa Claims Settlement Bill consisted of a majority of part maori. We have found, people making submissions that cannot claim a minute trace of maori ancestry are given unfair treatment by this pro/part-maori Committee.
For the Maori Affairs Select Committee to tamper with submissions, shows the reports to Parliament into Bills by the Maori Affairs Select Committee are a sham. It is obvious, Tau Henare did not want the fact discussed or reported, that today’s part maori are not the distinct race of people that signed the Treaty in 1840. Maori today are New Zealand Citizens, No more – No less!
We have since emailed Suze Jones, Office of Select Committee, House of Representatives asking were we can make a complaint for an unfair hearing and received the following, “Select committees are the only ones responsible for their own conduct. (For example, neither the Speaker nor the Prime Minister are responsible for the conduct of select committees). The only process available to you is to write to the committee expressing your concerns”. And very conveniently, “Your hearing was not transcribed, so no one can send you a transcript”.
The Maori Affairs Select Committee is a racially based Committee prepared to deny Natural Justice and misled Parliament to advance today’s part maori. Maori today are New Zealand Citizens under one sovereignty and one law. No more – No less!
Research Department, One New Zealand Foundation Inc.
PRESENTATION TO THE MAORI AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITEE
My name is Ross Baker and I present this Submission on behalf of the One New Zealand Foundation Inc.
The One New Zealand Foundation has based its submission on five points, which I would like to briefly explain. Hopefully you have all read our submission and I will answer any questions at the end of my presentation.
The first: The Crown does not own the foreshore or seabed.
Since 1840 the Crown has held the foreshore and seabed in ‘trust’ for all the people of New Zealand. This was English law based on the Law of Nature and the Magna Carta, which was inherited by “all the people of New Zealand” when New Zealand became a British Colony under English law in 1840. “Public uses of water resources were to be protected by the state, which, as a trustee, could not grant exclusive rights to any single individual or entity. Giving ownership or rights to an individual would infringe on the public’s right to access and use the resources”. This Law of Nature has been confirmed by the American Courts and is mentioned and provided for in many of our Acts of Parliament. See attachments to our submission.
The second: There are no Principles or Partnership in the Tiriti o Waitangi.
At the introduction of this Bill, the Hon Turiana Turia stated, “The Crown had seriously breached the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi by failing to respect the tino rangatiriatanga and good faith obligation of partnership”, but there is no mention of a Partnership between Maori and the Crown in the Tiriti o Waitangi and it only has one Principle, “He iwi tahi tatou – We are now one people”. This was repeated by Governor Hobson and accepted by the chiefs when they shook hands and gave three hearty cheers after they had signed the Tiriti on the 6 February 1840. This was endorsed by the Kohimarama Conference 20 years later.
The Principles for Crown Action on the Treaty of Waitangi; were based on the unsubstantiated opinions of a few within the Fourth Labour Government without the knowledge or consent of the people. “It is true the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 and all the other statutes, which give explicit recognition to the Treaty are not entrenched. They can be swept away by a simple majority in Parliament”, Constitutional Lawyer, Sir Geoffrey Palmer.
The 1987 Court of Appeal between the New Zealand Maori Council and the Attorney General (CA 54/87) stated, “The Treaty of Waitangi has been primary interpreted in the New Zealand Courts and this Appeal was significant in establishing the modern views on the Principles of the Treaty”, but this Court failed to use an ‘official’ Treaty text attached to the 1975 Treaty of Waitangi Act. This Court used an “Attempt at a reconstruction of the literal translation of the Maori text” supplied by the applicants, therefore its findings must be ruled out of order.
The third: There is only one Tiriti o Waitangi
There is only one Tiriti o Waitangi and that was in the Maori language and was signed at Waitangi on the 6 February 1840. This instrument I consider to be de facto the treaty, and all signatures that are subsequently obtained are merely testimonials of adherence to the terms of that original document”. Governor William Hobson. Over 500 chiefs were read, discussed and signed this “original document”.
The English text of the Treaty used today and attached to the 1975 Treaty of Waitangi Act, giving exclusive fishing rights to Maori, is not the final draft Rev Henry Williams translated into the Tiriti o Waitangi and had nothing to do with the document Hobson authorised to be signed by the chief’s at Waitangi on the 6 February 1840 and there after. James Freeman, Hobson’s secretary was authorised to compile a “Royal Style” copy for overseas dispatch and made several of these English versions, which differed from each other but none of which had any legal standing as he had compiled them from Busby’s earlier rejected notes and not Hobson’s final draft or the Tiriti o Waitangi. The final draft was found in 1989 and is displayed in the Constitution Room at Archives New Zealand. The Tiriti o Waitangi and the final draft are virtually word for word, but makes no mention of “fisheries, forests or a partnership”.
The Fourth: Are Maori the Indigenous People of New Zealand?
While this is a very touchy subject, it is one that should have been defined scientifically and forensically long ago. From the many legends told by various tribes and the many archeology sites found around New Zealand, most restricted to the public, Maori may not have been the first inhabitants of New Zealand. The United Nations and our Government has no definition of the Indigenous People of New Zealand. Before it is accepted as fact, independent research must be carried out to determine if the people that signed the Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840 were in fact, “the indigenous people of New Zealand”.
Maori are no longer the distinct race of people that signed the Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840. There is far too much foreign blood in all Maori today for the Waitangi Tribunal or Government to attempt to compensate one group of New Zealand Citizen at the expense of the others. Through intermarriage of their own free will, Maori today have more of the ancestry they are claiming against than that of their Maori ancestors that signed the Tiriti o Waitangi.
The fifth: We are all New Zealand Citizens
Since the signing of the Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840, continuing constitutional events have made all the people of New Zealand, New Zealand Citizens under; one sovereignty and one law.
New Zealand Coat of Arms
A traditional expression of national identity, the New Zealand Coat of Arms proclaims the sovereignty of New Zealand, the citizenship of it people and the authority of the Government. The Coat of Arms can be seen on a variety of documents and papers of constitutional and national significance, ranging from Acts of Parliament, Proclamations, Passports and the “logo” on Ministers’ letters etc. including the Maori Party. It also features on Her Majesty’s personal flag for New Zealand, the Queens Service Medal and the badge of the Order of New Zealand.
He iwi tahi tatou – We are now one people – New Zealanders
Conclusion
We oppose the Marine and Coastal Area Bill. The Crown must retain the Foreshore and Seabed in ‘trust’ for all the people of New Zealand to enjoy but any area that a group of New Zealand Citizens can prove to be of significant wahi tapu or sacred value must be respected by the public and protected by the Crown.
We provide additional information in our publication, “New Zealand in Crisis”, which clarifies many of the points above and our reason for opposing this Bill.
We also ask that the Chairman of this Maori Affairs Select Committee does not mislead Parliament as he did with our submission into the Te Roroa Claims Settlement Bill.
Thank you.