- The Guardian
- Issue #2126
Aotearoa and Australia
Across Aotearoa New Zealand Māori, Pākehā, and New Zealanders from all backgrounds who support justice are protesting and raising their voices against a bill dismantling Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi).
The bill, advocated for by ACT New Zealand party, a partner in the right-wing government coalition, seeks to hack away at Treaty principles such as co-governance and self-determination, claiming Te Tiriti o Waitangi does little more than protect property rights.
This is typical for ACT New Zealand. One of its founders, former Labour MP Roger Douglas, was the architect of modern New Zealand neoliberalism through the mass deregulation, corporatisation, and free market mania of ‘Rogernomics.’ ACT itself has a history of climate denial, tough-on-crime fanaticism, and opposition to Māori-specific services such as the recently abolished Te Aka Whai Ora (the Māori Health Authority).
The sort of rhetoric coming from ACT New Zealand, such as its leader David Seymour’s insistence that it is actually the opposition to his anti-Treaty bill which is stirring up fear and division, should be familiar to Australian onlookers.
The increasingly ridiculous conspiracy theories and disinformation spread by Peter Dutton and the Coalition, Pauline Hanson and One Nation, and Craig Kelly and the United Australia Party as part of their anti-Voice campaigns come to mind.
How many times have these right-wing goons claimed they are only advocating for ‘equality’? How many times have they stoked fear by spreading lies that First Nations justice, representation, or self-determination would somehow steal your backyard, or give the UN dictatorial control over Australia?
The thousands who have joined the hikoi (march) on Wellington, the MPs and members of the public who protested the bill with a Haka in parliament, and the speeches of the MPs, leaders, and community members who have spoken out against racism and the denial of the history and ongoing processes of colonialism should be an inspiration to those of us in Australia who stand for First Nations justice.
C Bartholomew
