New Zealand to Remove Treaty/Ancestry-Based Policies

In general, I think government should stay out of people’s lives as much as possible. Big government results in big problems. But when it comes to government making polices based on people’s ancestry or heritage, they should stay the hell out completely. Giving people of certain ancestry more benefits than those who are not of that ancestry is just plain morally wrong. But of late, governments like to tell us that it’s a good thing to do this “in order to correct inter-generational trauma caused by the harmful effects of colonisation”, or some other BS.

The Sixth Labour Government of New Zealand under the leadership of Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins, introduced rules the were very much ancestry-based. Now the Sixth National Government, a coalition comprising the National Party, ACT Party and New Zealand First, under the leadership of PM Christopher Luxon, are set to reverse many of these ancestry-based policies, and I think that’s a good thing. The former government pushing ahead dividing New Zealanders by their ancestry was going to destroy New Zealand.

Smoking. I suppose it comes as little surprise to many of you that the politics of smoking in New Zealand became a racial issue. Associate Professor of Public Health Andrew Waa, who identifies as Māori, has long spoken about the health inequity facing Māori people, which he says is rooted in New Zealand’s colonial history. 9% of New Zealand’s adult population are daily smokers, whereas more than double that, 22% of Māori are daily smokers (it’s even higher among Māori women). In a research report on tobacco usage, along with others, Professor Waa stated, “Colonisation is an underlying driver of ethnic inequalities in smoking behaviour.”

Māori language. The new PM has stated that his government are planning to dial back the use of Māori language in government organisations. Fair enough. I mean, only about 16.5% of New Zealanders identify as Māori, and only about 4% of the population can speak Māori, so it doesn’t make sense to allow Māori language in the government if the vast majority of people can’t understand it. Sure, people can study Māori if they want to, but it shouldn’t be forced upon people. As with any language, forcing the Maori language on people causes them to resent it,

Treaty of Waitangi, the country’s 180-year-old founding document. The new government have said they will review the Treaty and allow parliament to debate whether the nation should hold a referendum on co-governance with Māori, which in practice would give Māori a permanent seat in government, regardless of the norms of democracy. Privately, many New Zealanders see this as a Māori takeover, and without knowing too much about New Zealand politics, I think the results of the referendum would be a big fat NO. As we saw in Australia with the Indigenous Voice referendum, people don’t want others getting political advantage based purely on their ancestry.

And the last one, Māori Health Authority. The new government has already announced it plans to close the Māori Health Authority, Te Aka Whai Ora, set up during Jacinda Ardern’s Labour government in order to improve Māori health outcomes. Some commentators have claimed that this has simply created a two-tier system based on patients’ ancestry. It actually had real ramifications, as I mentioned in previous videos. This is from June 2023 from the Guardian, “New Zealand starts giving priority to Māori and Pacific elective surgery patients”. Basically, a new algorithm was implemented in some hospitals which meant Māori and Pacific patients were pushed higher on surgery waiting lists than those of other ethnicities. It was racist. It was discriminatory. It goes against all traditional triage principles, but yet it was allowed under a Labour Government.

David Seymour, leader of coalition partner ACT New Zealand, a libertarian party, and future Deputy Prime Minister, was asked about these changes. He simply said, “Where will New Zealand be in 50 years’ time if the current path continues, where Kiwis are offered different rights based on their ancestry?”. It’s a good rhetorical question, one which I answered it at the start of this video. Pushing ahead dividing New Zealanders by their ancestry is going to destroy New Zealand. I don’t think that’s an exaggeration. With regards to the Treaty of Waitangi, Mr Seymour said, “I acknowledge the Treaty of Waitangi is a national ‘taonga’ (Māori for treasure), but its principles are vague, free-floating ideas for activist judges and officials to divine.”

Anyway, the new New Zealand Government are planning to do away with all these ancestry-based policies, and I think that’s probably the best thing not only for equality, but also for social cohesion. Putting others ahead of others because they happen to have the right bloodline is a recipe for disaster.

MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn