Editorial: Judith Collins' premature bombshell on He Puapua, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

National leader Judith Collins claims the He Puapua report calls for a "two systems" approach to New Zealand's governance arrangements and is being done "by stealth". Photo / Mark Mitchell

EDITORIAL:

One hundred and 23 pages. That's the sum of what appears to have become National Party leader Judith Collins' latest obsession.

He Puapua is a report provided to Te Puni Kōkiri from a nine-member, independent technical working group on how to realise the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples. This was triggered after New Zealand, under a National government, supported the declaration in 2014.

New Zealand aspires to be the first country to develop and implement a Declaration plan.

There is no secret agenda. Then Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta issued a press release in March 2019, stating the Government was working on the plan of action to drive and measure New Zealand's progress towards the aspirations of the UN Declaration.

This included, she said, working with her Cabinet colleagues to appoint a technical working group to help provide advice about what this partnership process should look like.

The subsequent report - which has been with Mahuta, in draft form at least, since November 2019 - recommends sweeping changes to reinforce self-determination for Māori to meet the spirit of the UN Declaration. It notes New Zealand could be a world leader in recognising its indigenous people only by being "ambitious".

Yet Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said the report hasn't been discussed by Cabinet and wasn't proactively released as the Government didn't want to give the impression it was being implemented.

The Government hasn't announced receiving it, hasn't discussed it at Cabinet level, nor announced it would adopt it or any part of it.

It does appear He Puapua is yet another consultation document the Opposition would, in other circumstances, decry the Government for wasting time and money on.

Collins might believe otherwise, but this is no smoking gun proving a "separatist" agenda.

Current Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson has said "every New Zealander will get a say".

Such discussion needs to be well informed, and without unnecessary overplay.