10,000 kilometres of open ocean spreads out from Cape Rēinga.
New Zealand at its best offers all people an equal hope for a better future. Each of us is entitled to one five millionth of that opportunity. The reason is in our country’s origin story.
Our ancestors (or ourselves) all made the same effort to be here. Every single one of us is a settler, and a pioneer at heart.
If you get the chance, just once in your life stand at Cape Rēinga. When you stare out at 10,000 kilometres of open ocean, you’ll see how brave the journey here was and still is.
It’s a story with the potential to unite us as adventurous, pioneering, entrepreneurial people. That is the true Kiwi spirit, and we need a uniting, positive story right now.
The Treaty, signed 186 years ago, reflected this spirit. It said, if the Treaty affords rights, it affords the same rights and duties to all. That is what the third article says, Nga tikanga katoa, rite tahi.
So when did governments get fixated on dividing us by when our ancestors arrived? How did everything from council seats to surgeons’ operating lists get partitioned by race?
Some say division is needed because of inequality. We went down the track of racial discrimination in every aspect of Government policy, thinking it would right the wrongs of the past.
The outcomes have not improved lives for any New Zealanders, if anything the gaps have got worse since the Clark Government said it would close them.
There is a better way: equal rights. Each person deserves the right to live life as they choose so long as they are not harming others. In the second article of the Treaty it is called tino rangatiratanga, or self-determination.
This is in keeping with the pioneering spirit that brought Māori, and every other wave of settlers to our shores.
I’m proud to lead the party putting equal opportunity back into Government policy. Not every policy, no one gets everything they want, but our supporters and fellow travellers have seen huge progress in the past two years.
School boards will no longer be required to uphold te Tiriti. Instead, the Education and Training Act now requires them to reflect and respect all cultures equally.
At the same time, the first iwi-led charter schools will give choice to those who want it.
As the Minister for Pharmac, I’ve removed Treaty obligations, while getting all patients more medicines. I’ve overseen funding or expanded access to 41 cancer medicines, and we’re only getting started.
The biggest cause of poverty is access to housing, and Māori have the worst end of those statistics, too. The answer to a shortage of housing is building more homes.
That’s why we’re cutting red tape around building consents and fixing the Resource Management Act.
Our justice policy backs the victims of crime, who are disproportionately Māori. The return of Three Strikes is at the forefront of this effort to put victims first.
Oranga Tamariki now puts a child’s wellbeing first, and adults’ ideas about culture second. I could go on.
In short, we are promoting practical tino rangatiratanga. We are making it possible to determine how your life turns out, no matter when your ancestors got here. That is how successful countries keep their young and attract more talent to our shores. It is rooted in deep principle, and the story of how we all got here.
David Seymour is the Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Act Party.