OPINION
Moana Jackson once said: “If there is proof of the ongoing presence of colonisation, it is the constant Crown reinterpretation and redefinition of what the Treaty promised”.
This is an apt summary, not just of our current Government’s agenda, but of many past governments. What separates this coalition from the last, however, is that they are not just seeking to preserve colonialism - they are trying to advance it.
The Act Party’s Treaty Principles Bill is the most obvious example that comes to mind. But while this policy proposes, literally, to rewrite Te Tiriti o Waitangi, it is more of a distraction than a real threat to our rights as both Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti.
Although I take any promise made by the Prime Minister at face value, he committed, when questioned by Te Pāti Māori, to shoot the Treaty Principles Bill down at second reading. If anything, the bill will be little more than an opportunity for Christopher Luxon to both appease his coalition partner while appearing more reasonable to the public when his party votes against it.
What makes David Seymour’s bill insidious, however, is the philosophy behind it. It is the same philosophy that justifies the rest of the Government’s policy platform, and it is an easy philosophy to sell.
It is the idea that everyone has the same rights and duties. That everyone is the same and should be treated the same.
On the surface, this might seem like a harmless or even noble point of view to have. But while the coalition will fail in its attempt to redefine the principles of Te Tiriti, they have already succeeded in redefining the meaning of equality.
Because they have convinced the public that sameness and equality are the same thing.
Having the same opportunity is not the same as having an equal opportunity.
This is the mindset that bred the now-demoted minister Penny Simmonds’ contempt for the disabled community, and it is the mindset that led Luxon to appoint someone so inexperienced into such an important role.
It is the same mindset that can justify cutting the school lunches programme while giving a $3 billion handout to landlords. Because, according to this Government, we all have the same opportunity to become landlords. We will all be treated the same. Whether you are rich or poor, you will be treated as though you are rich.
Holding everybody to the same standard regardless of whakapapa, culture, gender, ability, and class can only lead to inequality. This is particularly true in a country founded on the displacement and manufactured poverty of indigenous people.
So, while we all must vehemently oppose Act’s Treaty bill, we cannot let it distract us from the fact that the erosion of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and entrenchment of inequality has already begun: the ministerial erasure of te reo Māori, the disestablishment of the Māori Wards, the Māori Health Authority and Mana o te Wai, the removal of funding for section 27 reports from sentencing, which will put more Māori in prison, and the removal of section 7AA from Oranga Tamariki, which will lead to more Māori children being harmed in state care.
All these policies have been justified in the name of sameness, and all these policies will lead to unequal outcomes for Māori.
The Fast-Track Approvals Bill is this Government’s most blatant erasure of Te Tiriti o Waitangi to date. It will eliminate our kaitiaki (guardianship) rights, and the ability of communities to have any say over mining or infrastructure projects in their backyard. But again, according to Chris Bishop, everyone has the same opportunity to submit projects of their own for consideration - regardless of whether you are Māori, non-Māori, or a multinational corporation.
We absolutely cannot allow the Fast Track bill to be lost in the noise that is David Seymour.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi was never about giving people the same rights. It was about giving equal rights. It did not impose one cultural standard on everybody in Aotearoa, it allowed Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti to set their own standards. It is our blueprint for equality and justice and it is currently being rewritten, with or without the Act Party.
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is Te Pāti Māori Co-leader and MP for Te Tai Hauaūru.