Martin Williams: Treaty suggestions are "simply extraordinary"

Martin Williams

Tom Johnson's talking point on 10 March (regarding the Hobson's Pledge meeting) demands a response. He refers to "historical revisionism" changing historical facts, not available for observation, from "empirically verifiable truth to fantasy". In response I wish to share a few facts about the Treaty of Waitangi and events subsequent.

Fact: The instructions of the British Government in 1839 to Governor Hobson were to disclaim any right to either seize or govern these islands except through the "free and intelligent consent" of Maori.

Fact: The Treaty of Waitangi represents that consent, but on specific terms. Governor Hobson's statement "Now we are one" is not part of the Treaty document.

Fact: The Treaty itself guaranteed to Maori (English version, Article 2) the "full exclusive and undisturbed possession" of their lands for so long as they wished to retain them, but in the event they did wish to sell, the Crown would have the exclusive right to purchase at an agreed price.

Fact: When faced with enormous pressure with settlers pouring into the country from the 1850s, and with Maori not wishing to sell, the Crown embarked on systematic alienation of Maori from their land. The guarantee in Article 2 was breached in the extreme. Through the passage of some 360 pieces of legislation dedicated to the cause, and confiscation by military force, Maori were deprived of over 25 million hectares of land, at a total price of some £4,000. The profits on sales of that land to the settlers essentially paid for the infrastructure of our country - Maori quite literally subsidised the creation of New Zealand as we now know it.

Fact: Whereas there was a prosperous or thriving Maori economy prior to the Treaty, by 1900 they were a population dispossessed of their land, ravaged by poverty and disease to a point of near collapse.

Fact: Total Treaty settlements (in the region of $1.2 billion as at 2012) are a very small fraction of the value of the land taken from Maori in breach of the Treaty guarantee, in present day terms, but have at the same time underpinned a renaissance in the Maori economy with an asset base (now) of over $37 billion.

Opinion: It is only fair to acknowledge this history rather than deny it. We cannot, as Bill Sutton said, turn our backs on it. The Hobson's Pledge movement appears to intend exactly that. To suggest that modern attempts to correct what was undeniably a substantial injustice involves some type of fascist "cultural hegemony" to advance a "separatist agenda", is simply extraordinary.

Martin Williams is a barrister specialising in local government and resource management law, based in Napier.