GS11: Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Charles Waldegrave

A detailed analysis by Charles Waldegrave of the risks to Te tiriti posed by the coalition government and linked to Luke 4.18.

Today is the closest Sunday to Waitangi Day this year. A new Coalition government has won a fair election, but it is about to roll back substantial Treaty-based developments, which they claim will strengthen the principles of liberal democracy, equal citizenship, and parliamentary sovereignty. This is highly controversial and is already the primary focus of debate at
Waitangi.

To ensure we are dealing with the facts, I refer to the two Coalition Agreements. These are quotations that relate directly to the implementation of the Treaty of Waitangi in policy and law.
Coalition Agreement New Zealand National Party & New Zealand First (signed by the Prime Minister and Rt. Hon. Winston Peters – extracts)

• Abolish the Māori Health Authority.
• Legislate to make English an official language of New Zealand.
• Ensure all public service departments have their primary name in English, except for those specifically related to Maori.
• Require the public service departments and Crown Entities to communicate primarily in English except those entities specifically related to Maori.
• The Coalition Government will reverse measures taken in recent years which have eroded the principle of equal citizenship, specifically we will:
  • Remove co-governance from the delivery of public services.
  • As a matter of urgency, issue a Cabinet Office circular to all central
  • government organisations that it is the Government’s expectation that public services should be prioritised on the basis of need, not race.
  • Conduct a comprehensive review of all legislation ….. that includes ‘The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi’ and replace all such references with specific words relating to the relevance and application of the Treaty, or repeal the references.

New Zealand National Party & ACT New Zealand (signed by the Prime Minister and Hon. David Seymour – extracts)

• The Coalition Government’s priorities for this term include ending race -based policies.
• Disestablish the Māori Health Authority.

Strengthening Democracy
To uphold the principles of liberal democracy, including equal citizenship and parliamentary sovereignty, the Parties will:

• Remove co-governance from the delivery of public services.
• Issue a Cabinet Office circular to all central government organisations that it is the Government’s expectation that public services should be prioritised on the basis of need, not race, within the first six months of Government.
• Restore the right to local referendum on the establishment or ongoing use of Māori wards, including requiring a referendum on any wards established without referendum at the next local body elections.
• Introduce a Treaty Principles Bill based on existing ACT policy and support it to a Select Committee as soon as practicable

This is a historic time in Aotearoa. To put this in perspective, I want to highlight four matters that I think there is a general agreement about in New Zealand. These are:

• Firstly, that the British colonised New Zealand primarily to extend their empire and take advantage of the resources of the land, sea, and forests.
• Secondly, in doing so, Māori were largely dispossessed of their land and other resources, frequently through dishonourable processes, including land confiscations, and unjustifiable land purchases that were deemed legal by the governments and courts of the day.
• Thirdly, Māori have consistently sought justice through Te Tiriti o Waitangi, signed by the Crown and the majority of Māori chiefs in 1840, by identifying the widespread injustices they have experienced in both law and practice since the colonisation of New Zealand, and pointed to the resulting negative outcomes in terms of health status, education, and economic resources, they experience.
• And fourthly, Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the founding document of the modern nation of Aotearoa New Zealand, and its increasing influence to help us redress (at least in part) some of the wrongs of the past and place us on a fairer path to share our future together, is a valuable and important development.

Well, that valuable and important development is being challenged, not by a bunch of protesters, but by our government, the highest lawmakers in this land. They have a majority in our Parliament and they have already signed up to those agreements I read earlier. They have agreed to interfere with the treaty-inspired momentum and reverse it, at least in part.

This has occurred without consultation with Māori who have worked for nearly 125 years to achieve the momentum for their own justice, as the critical gatherings at Ngāruawāhia, Rātana, and Waitangi have, and are, continuing to show.

Our gospel today says:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” (Luke 4.18)

This is not a minor saying in Luke’s Gospel. This is the announcement by our Lord to his people of his ministry. It is his statement of what his anointing by the Holy Spirit is about. So, it is important for us to understand what this means for us in our lives at this time in this country. I would like to put before you four questions concerning the partnership agreement of the Treaty of Waitangi that I think are relevant to this passage:

1. He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. Which of Māori and tauiwi (not Māori) experience the most poverty, and who is poor in relation to the other?
2. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners. Who are the most arrested, most charged, and most incarcerated of those two groups, Māori and tauiwi?
3. Recovery of sight for the blind. Who has the worst health outcomes of those two groups?
4. To set the oppressed free. Which group has fewer choices, fewer resources, and greater restrictions on their lives?

Now, if your answer to the four questions is ‘Māori’, then the good news of freedom, Jesus speaks of, is for processes and momentum that work for them to ensure they move out of poverty, experience lower incarceration rates, better health status, and gain a fairer share of New Zealand’s resources.

And if you further accept that the increasing influence of Te Tiriti o Waitangi helps us redress (at least in part) some of the wrongs of the past, and places us on a fairer path to share our future together, then that momentum may well be part of the work of the Holy Spirit in the world that brings good news and freedom.

Further still, if you see these recent political developments as potentially threatening that good news and freedom, then the important question to ask is, ‘what can I do as a Christian and a citizen in this democracy to help stop the reversal of this momentum?’

From an applied theological perspective, what is going on in the law and policy-making process in our parliament at the moment is relevant to us as contemporary Christians. We need to consider what we can do as individuals, with groups and as a church to support that which will enable an honouring of the Treaty, by addressing the wrongs of the past and ensuring that the health, housing, educational, and income outcomes will be at least as good for Māori as for all other groups in our society.

We have heard read today part of the great story of Wiremu Tāmihana Tarapīpipi Te Waharoa. He worked tirelessly to see the Treaty honoured through having a major role in the development of the King Movement, advocating for his people with military and political leaders, and writing and petitioning frequently. He knew it would be a long battle. As we heard, his last words in 1866 were, ‘My children, I die, but let my words remain. Obey the laws of God and man.”

As with so many Māori, he saw the Treaty as Covenant, Te Kawenata. It is often referred to as ‘Te Kawenata’ in Māoridom. I was going to speak of the Treaty as Covenant for this sermon, and I will one day, but on this occasion it has taken a different shape. I only have time to finish by noting that ‘kawenata’ refers to the covenant between God and Israel in the Old Testament. It also refers to the Old Testament as ‘Kawenata tawhito’ when translated into Māori, and the New Testament as ‘Kawenata hou’. It carries a sense of tapu or sacredness that is often missing in English descriptions.

There is a lot at stake with Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This is definitely a time when we should all think long and hard about it. There will be differing views, but I suspect many will not want to see the Treaty momentum diluted or reversed even in part. Thinking long and hard goes beyond intellectual reflection. Consider whether you want to join with others to act on your reflections. It is, after all, your democratic right.

Charles Waldegrave