Audrey Young is the New Zealand Herald’s senior political correspondent. She was named Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards in 2023, 2020 and 2018.
OPINION
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Welcome to the Politics Briefing. To an already crowded policy debate on Māori issues under the coalition Government, the mother of all questions has been added – did Māori cede sovereignty?
Labour leader Chris Hipkins ignited the issue when, in an interview on Whakaata Māori on Monday (see below), he said he did not think Māori had ceded sovereignty.In the past, leaders have avoided answering the question definitively to avoid divisive debates that cannot be settled, but in the past fortnight, the Prime Minister and leader of the Opposition have taken opposite and definitive public positions.
Parliament is now starkly split on the question: Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori say Māori did not cede sovereignty, and all members of Government, National, Act and New Zealand First, say they did.
There is also a view that some chiefs did, and some chiefs didn’t and that the question is impossible to answer in absolute terms.
So what does it all mean? The issue will not affect policy outcomes in the immediate term. The more immediate issues are Act’s Treaty Principles Bill, the review of the Treaty of Waitangi in legislation, a review of Waitangi Tribunal, the foreshore and seabed law changes, the removal of section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act, and the new hurdle for Māori wards.But it is likely to underpin Māori engagement with the Crown on an increasing basis. And it will loom large as Labour develops new policy next year, and it works out how it takes account of the newly-declared position. And there is the issue of whether the newly-defined split will be weaponised in the 2026 election.
It also means that the gap between Labour and National has widened and that Māori policy will continue to be polarised.
It probably puts paid to suggestions from the likes of former Prime Minister Helen Clark that it is better for the two big parties to shift the centre-ground together than align with the more extreme views on their flanks.
Two important questions are: first, what does tino rangatiratanga that is guaranteed under the Treaty mean in 2024; and should that meaning vary, according to whether sovereignty was ceded or not.
In news out today, the Green Party has deferred its vote on Sunday on the future of independent MP Darleen Tana until after a substantive High Court hearing on September 12. Tana applied for an interim injunction to stop the meeting.
Controversy over ‘communist judge’ comments won’t go away
Meanwhile, the controversy over Shane Jones’ “communist judge” comments about Justice Cheryl Gwyn is not going away. The Bar Association president, Maria Dew KC, has written to Attorney-General Judith Collins expressing concern about an increase in public comments about judges that goes beyond criticism of judgments.
“In recent years, we’ve seen polarising criticism of the judiciary in other countries. The risks of politicisation of the judiciary are clear. We do not want to follow other examples overseas where there has been a loss of independence in the courts.”
Hipkins today has also criticised the Prime Minister for his tepid response when questioned in Parliament. And he has a point. Luxon said it was descriptive, not a criticism – on the basis that Gwyn was once a member of the Socialist Action League.
In a May meeting, senior minister Shane Jones referred to one High Court Judge as a "communist". Photo / Mark Mitchell
The comments were not intended for public consumption and were uttered at a meeting of Paul Goldsmith and Jones with seafood industry reps. The meeting was supposed to have been about what they saw as inadequate consultation when the Crown undertakes direct negotiation with iwi over customary title.
Official briefing papers were prepared for the meeting and officials were present from Te Arawhiti and the Ministry for Primary Industries.Jones and Goldsmith went off the rails somewhat and talked freely about the proposed changes to the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 – including a recent judgment made by Gwyn. And the notes of the meeting, including the offending comments, were part of the official Crown documents given to the Waitangi Tribunal in its inquiry into the law change.
It is a salutary lesson to all ministers. Even private meetings are official meetings. You are always a minister – especially when you have officials in the room taking notes.
Quote unquote
“Your audacity knows no bounds - here’s this person who ran for the mayoralty when she was a teenager, virtually. Thinks she could run the Auckland city as a teenager.” Winston Peters clobbers Chloe Swarbrick in Parliament for the sin of interjecting “here we go,” before he answered a question on the Treaty.
Micro quiz
Winstone Pulp International in the Ruapehu area is consulting on closure and the loss of 230 jobs because of crippling power costs. Who is the local MP for Rangitikei?
Brickbat
Ginny Andersen claimed police foot patrols have dropped. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Goes to Labour’s former Police Minister Ginny Andersen for claiming police foot patrols have dropped by comparing December figures and June figures, and knowing that patrols peak in December for Christmas and New Year. There are increases and decreases in parts of the country but overall, foot patrols have increased by 13.6% January to June, compared with the same period last year.
Bouquet
Goes to Brigadier Rose King, whom Defence Minister Judith Collins announced as the new Chief of the Army, and is the first woman to lead any of the three services in the NZ Defence Force. She will also be promoted to Major-General.
