DEAR News Of The Area,

Tēnā koutou katoa (Greetings all)

The inaccuracies and misinformation in Peter Weyling’s letter (27 January) re the Voice to Parliament relating to the Waitangi Tribunal in Aotearoa (New Zealand) are staggering.

I was born in the 1950s in a part of Aotearoa where there were 50 percent Māori, 50 percent Pākeha.

I learnt Te Reo Māori (the Māori language) during the 1980s and 1990s.

I was part of a non-formal community education process about Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) and bi-culturalism from the mid-1980s onward.

The paper on which Te Tiriti o Waitangi was printed was supplied by one of my forebears.

I sat at Tuahiwi marae and listened to the submissions being made by Ngāi Tahu during their Treaty claim process to the Waitangi Tribunal in the early-mid 1990s.

During that time, I knew and worked alongside one of the principal speakers for Ngāi Tahu.

I think I have learnt something about Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Waitangi Treaty during all that time.

The Waitangi Tribunal was set up to hear and make recommendations to parliament on historical claims by Māori where Crown breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi were alleged.

Contrary to Peter Weyling’s erroneous claims, the Waitangi Tribunal makes recommendations only, it has no “veto over parliamentary debates and government decisions.”

Nor does it allocate resources, on any ground.

To state that it does so “on the basis of race, not need” is nothing short of gross misinformation and fear-mongering.

The history of Aotearoa around Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Waitangi Tribunal is significantly different to that painted by Peter Weyling.

Furthermore, Peter Weyling is being disingenuous by quoting his source as the Institute of Public Affairs, which leads readers to assume that this is a New Zealand body.

It is not!

The Institute of Public Affairs is a conservative think-tank based in Melbourne – hardly a creditable source for information on the Waitangi Tribunal.

I would hope that if the Waitangi Tribunal and Te Tiriti o Waitangi are cited as models used by the drafters of the Voice to Parliament that they use far more credible sources than Peter Weyling is putting forward.

Remember too, that Aotearoa has a treaty.

Australia does not.

The Voice to Parliament is not a treaty.

Just one final comment.

Māori do not have a voice to parliament in Aotearoa, Māori have a voice in parliament, and have done so since 1867.

Initially there were four dedicated Māori seats in parliament, today there are seven.

New Zealand has benefited from that voice within its parliament over the past 150 years plus.

Ngā mihi,
Bruce MEDER,
Coffs Harbour.