What's wrong with having the Treaty Principles discussion?
While I don’t often find myself agreeing with David Seymour on much, I can’t help but wonder: What’s so wrong with having a conversation about the Principles of the Treaty? Is it really such a toxic topic that we can’t even discuss it without completely shutting it down? As I understand it, the final text of the Treaty Principles wasn’t finalised until the mid 1980s, over 140 years after the Treaty itself was signed. The principles emerged in response to the neoliberal agenda of the time, latterly pushed through by Roger Douglas and the Lange Labour government of 1984-90. The Waitangi Tribunal, rightfully concerned about the growing disenfranchisement of Māori under this new system, recognised that wealth wasn’t likely to "trickle down" as promised but would rather deepen inequality. The resulting three ‘Ps’ – Partnership, Participation, and Protection – were a tool for the Tribunal to evaluate claims under the Treaty. They were a well fought and won victory for Maori, but w
