ACE Campbell

New Zealand, we are a long way short of being a country of “wise considerations” and unless we take the time to talk/korero, we will become a hate-filled wee island in the Pacific, regurgitating the past.

I am from a big family of mixed New Zealand ethnicity, and we were always of the opinion that The Waitangi Tribunal would serve only the Māori elite, and so it has come to pass. Richard Prebble has bought the inside workings of the tribunal out into the public arena.

Mr Prebble said his recent resignation from this court was triggered when a Strategic Plan that could only be interpreted as a socialist manifesto, was circulated amongst tribunal members.

He said it became apparent that the tribunal, far from deciding that it was solving grievances, was predicting a whole host of new claims and it would need extra funding and probably more members.

There are those who say The Treaty is past its used by date, I disagree, it is something to be proud of, three clauses with a preamble, a document to bring two peoples together, however, as Mr Prebble says, what it isn’t, is a socialist manifesto and that the tribunal should be refocused on its original purpose.

Then we have the elephant in the room, David Seymour’s Treaty Principal’s Bill. Mr Seymour has identified that the bill needs a set of principals that brings its workings out of the Waitangi Tribunal and back to Parliament. He says he doesn’t want to abolish the Treaty. He asks New Zealand if our future lies with a set of rights based on ancestry, or a modern, multi-ethnic liberal democracy where every New Zealander has the same rights.

I have debated this issue with your mother Mr Toi Iti, (Talking peace, pragmatism, and smart-arse politicians, Beacon opinions, April 11) because I, like a great number of Kiwis have been gaslit fake information on the true reasoning behind Mr Seymour’s bill. (A very slanted one-sided media appears to have let us down)

I have learnt that the evolution of the principals of The Treaty have happened by accident, not by design, in other words, Parliament has stayed out of the fight. It has made references and statutes around the principals of The Treaty but has never had the kahunas to define them. Instead, (now this is important) the courts have filled that vacuum via the Waitangi Tribunal and the Tikanga led Supreme Court. (Evident in SMITH vs FONTERRA case. Mr Smith, cut down the tree on One Tree Hill and has taken Fonterra and others to court contending that tikanga and his mana required that their (Fonterra and corporate others) actions must be held to higher standard than that required by government policy.) Parliament is the supreme legislative authority, the courts cannot and should not legislate from the bench.

With reference to comments about your mother, she is a valued friend and a woman who I found out, at my peril, doesn’t suffer fools lightly. At 62 years old she graduated with a master’s degree with honours. Now in her mid-70s, she is parenting a 14-year-old Māori grandson, a champion boy, a sporting and academic achiever, all due to her belief in values.

Her deep love of archeology is driven by her Aboriginal ancestry that traces back over 40,000 years on the Australian continent, she is honest in her truth and always asks the hard questions, I would suggest that she chases the unanswered.