To many, New Zealand looks like and sounds like an island paradise with the world's most charismatic leader.
New Zealand is a beautiful country with beautiful people and a beautiful leader.
It hides our reality of intergenerational poverty, racism and trauma with high rates of child abuse, child poverty, bullying in schools, suicide and family harm.
Maori, the indigenous peoples of NZ and Pacific Peoples are over-represented in those statistics.
We have known this for years as have successive governments.
Maori have continued to face intergenerational harm despite the Treaty of Waitangi that was signed by both Maori and the Crown on 6 February 1840.
The Treaty of Waitangi included three very worthy principles. Put simply they included:
Partnership ~ Maori held the sovereignty of NZ and were considered as partners with the Crown in making decisions in relation to their land, New Zealand, their culture, their language, their beliefs and their people
Participation ~ Maori were to be active participants in all decisions pertaining to their land, to which they were sovereign, their culture, their language, beliefs and their people.
Protection ~ Maori people and what they deemed to be treasured were to be protected by the Crown
Our Treaty of Waitangi is acknowledged by our government and all our state sector agencies as our founding document and the principles are enshrined in policies on paper.
There is an expectation by our government that those principles are to be actioned.
Evidence has proven that this has not happened.
Maori have continued to face intergenerational trauma from the systems created by the Crown.
Maori have been effectively excluded.
In reality, Maori have NOT been included as partners with the Crown, they have not been active participants and they have not been protected by the Crown.
In reality, the Crown has always held the power. They have decided who will be their partners, they have decided who will be involved in making the decisions and they will determine how Maori will be protected and what will be protected.
The Crown believes they have done many things to help Maori. They have created laws, they have surveyed Maori, they have provided Maori with money and resources on plans that say will help them but they have not worked.
Instead, their actions have caused harm and perpetuated that harm.
That is because they have done to Maori not with Maori.
In all their plans to help Maori, the Crown has forgotten to refer to the Treaty of Waitangi.
They did not include Maori at the decision-making table and they did not listen to Maori.
And now they have started to listen and selected a few Maori to join the decision-making table, it is too late.
The harm has been done
Now many Maori are facing intergenerational trauma, poverty and racism caused by the Crown
Understandably, many Maori do not trust the Crown.
The Crown has much work to repair the damage they have caused.
All the money they spent was wasted because they gave it to the wrong people.
This has been a very expensive learning lesson for the Crown.
It has cost them a lot of money but of more concern, it has cost us the loss of our people, our language, our land, our culture and our identity.
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