The Human Rights Commission has been a strong defender of the public’s right to the freedom of expression in New Zealand. In 2007, when the Labour Party was planning to introduce their controversial Electoral Finance Bill to restrict free speech in election year, the Commission made a stinging submission to Parliament. They claimed the Bill would have a “chilling” effect on the freedom of expression and they described it as a “dramatic assault” on a fundamental human right. They called for the bill to be withdrawn.
In their submission, the Commission explained that Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantees citizens the right to:
- Hold opinions without interference
- Freedom of expression including the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds … either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art or through other media of choice
They also noted that Section 14 of the Bill of Rights Act states that “everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form“.
It is therefore ironic that the Human Rights Commission has now created a permanent register which “names and shames” anyone who speaks out on the thorny issue of race relations, whose published opinions they deem to be negative.
The Human Rights Commission is defending its move by saying its concern about the number of negative stories being published about Maori issues in the media, led it to “monitor” the media: “Last year we engaged media monitoring company Mediamine to collate and analyse news reports about race relations based on our existing daily media monitoring criteria.”
Their analysis of race relations in the New Zealand media during 2014, “based on our Methodology”, showed that ‘Maori Issues’ had the largest volume of negative sentiment, with 57 items, or 17 percent.
Their report singled out Winston Peters: “Winston Peters was the most widely quoted external spokesperson, with 58 items; all of these were coded as negative.”
The Party fared no better: “The organisation with the largest volume of negative sentiment was New Zealand First, with 80 items.”
They identified the Taranaki Daily News, a publication that recently won the Canon Media Award for the best New Zealand newspaper with a circulation of under 30,000, as the paper with the largest proportion of negative sentiment – 16 percent. “Our analyst notes this was partially driven by items disagreeing with New Plymouth Mayor Andrew Judd’s support of a Maori ward on the city council.”
In preparation for an interview on Radio NZ’s Mediawatch, the Human Rights Commission provided links to 16 of the Taranaki Daily News items that they had categorised as racist and negative. On analysis, it turned out that 12 were Fairfax wire stories that the newspaper was simply republishing, and the other four were Letters to the Editor, where readers were engaged in a robust debate countering other letters from other readers.
During the interview, Mediawatch’s Jeremy Rose criticised the Commission for publishing a report that lacked rigour on the internet, and former Taranaki Daily News editor Roy Pilott expressed concern that the Human Rights Commission is trying to force newspapers into justifying any negative stories they may write about race issues. He highlighted a lack of depth in the Commission’s analysis: “These figures relate to 2014, and during that time there was a general election on. When I drilled down and had a look at the so-called negative stories that we wrote, almost 100 percent of comments made by David Cunliffe, Jamie Whyte and Winston Peters were deemed negative when they were talking about immigration issues. Now that basically meant that every time the Taranaki Daily News covered a story quoting one of those three, we got pinged for a negative story.”
While the Human Rights Commission is claiming their Talking About Ourselves initiative is not a ‘report card’, clearly it is. Similarly, while the Commission is claiming that those being named and shamed are not being labelled as racist, clearly they are.
What this means, of course, is that newspapers are going to be much more careful about printing anything that could be construed as negative to Maori, in case they gain a reputation for being a “racist” newspaper.
The Commission has said it intends keeping an on-going tally of negative reporting around the country – not only in traditional media, but in popular blogs as well.
The Human Rights Commission has clearly overstepped the mark by embarking on a censoring campaign – the very thing it says it exists to oppose. What’s worse is that it is trying to pretend that their reporting will not stifle media freedom, when clearly it will. They say “Our aim is not to limit media freedom, we want to start an open conversation about balance, fairness, social responsibility and quality in reporting.” That, of course, is simply playing with words to mask the real effect.
Freedom of political debate is at the very core of a democratic society. An informed electorate is in the public interest and the inroads into freedom of expression which will result from the Commission’s initiative will be disproportionate. The effect of this initiative will be to muzzle the media and stifle the on-line debate about race relations in this country.
The obvious question is what has motivated the Human Rights Commission to shift its position from being a strong defender of free speech to one that wants to censor open debate?
Surely this change in direction would not have been suggested by the Minister of Justice, Amy Adams?
Or is their move simply an attempt to silence the critics of the radical separatist agenda to which they clearly subscribe?
The Human Rights Commission holds the copyright to the publication, Tangata Tiriti – Treaty People, which is widely used to educate new migrants about the Treaty of Waitangi. It is based on the premise that Maori did not cede sovereignty to the Queen – it would be hard to find a publication which condemns colonisation and promotes Maori sovereignty more strongly.
Many new migrants, concerned that they might face questions about the Treaty of Waitangi at job interviews, attend Treaty workshops. Because the courses are ‘official’, participants are likely to assume that what they are learning is standard New Zealand history. It turns out that this is not necessarily the case at all.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator, Fiona Mackenzie, a political commentator with a background in education, has been assessing Treaty education materials for migrants and is very concerned about the radical nature of the information they are being taught:
“The interactive workbook Tangata Tiriti – Treaty People purchased from a course promoter is published by the Auckland Workers Educational Association – a social/political organisation. There’s no evidence of a qualified historian either teaching their workshops or having reviewed their materials. Instead, the workbook is very one-sided and there’s a serious omission of many facts. Emotionally manipulative, it’s heavy political propaganda that would do a Communist ‘re-education’ camp proud. Of great concern is the less than subtle encouragement for ‘non-white’ immigrants to join Maori in being anti-Pakeha, anti-democracy and anti-capitalism, while supporting calls for Maori sovereignty.”
She quotes extracts from the workbook, including, “In other countries, the local people were strong enough to kick the colonisers out. Maori should have done the same thing.”
Further analysis of the radical material that is being taught to new migrants about New Zealand’s early history can be found in a Breaking Views article by Mike Butler, Marketing treaty myths to migrants, and two articles by Bruce Moon, Treaty gurus teach guilt and Gross errors in ‘guilt guru’ claims.
So the question remains – why is it that new migrants are being taught radical separatist propaganda as if it were fact?
Fiona says, “Indoctrinating new immigrants is a very easy win for the unscrupulous. Newcomers are usually eager to make a success of their move, to fit in and not cause any trouble. Immigrants are likely to absorb every bit of propaganda thrown at them, assuming such ‘educational’ courses are official and that the content is factual. Conversely, many have fled from countries where unequal legal rights and the associated corruption are facts of life – so why question it here?”
Mana Party leader Hone Harawira also shed light on this matter when he explained that Maori are worried about the effects that immigration is having on the place of the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand: “I think Maori are specifically concerned about immigration. They don’t see that the Treaty is being properly protected. If more and more people come here that don’t know about it, then there is the likelihood that less people will want to care about it. But Maori people do.”
Maori leader, Ranginui Walker, is more cynical: “Biculturalism is the basic dynamic of New Zealand because the tangata whenua is the base culture. Those people that oppose that ideology try to diffuse it by talking multiculturalism.” He believes immigration is being used to undermine the power base that Maori have established: “the growing influence of new cultures in New Zealand will only be surface deep compared with the history and influence of Maori… immigration is being used by those who want to undermine Maori’s presence in New Zealand.”
Massey University pro vice-chancellor, Professor Paul Spoonley agrees: “The diversity of New Zealand is beginning to undermine the investment we have in biculturalism. Maori don’t believe new migrants are sympathetic to biculturalism and the Treaty.”
He is right. New Zealand is moving on. As a concept on which to build a modern democratic nation, biculturalism is dead. The problem is that its supporters will not let it lie down.
That’s no doubt why new migrants are targeted for indoctrination by Maori sovereignty activists. They aim to turn them into supporters for their cause.
But is it acceptable that radicals are targeting new immigrants in order to spread their grievances and distorted versions of history?
Migrant education is funded through a variety of sources that usually includes some form of government and council support. The question is whether the government or the council have thought to examine what it is that they are actually funding. Clearly they haven’t – or if they have, they are turning a blind eye as it is indeed shocking to read some of the misrepresentations that propagandists are teaching new migrants.
Surely an official vetting process should be in place to ensure that public funding is not being used to enable radical extremism that is totally divisive to the unity of our society and our nation to be targeted at the nation’s vulnerable new citizens.
Workplaces should also take note. When employees are sent off on treaty education courses, sometimes the materials and tutors are that same as those for migrant education. Managers may want to examine exactly what it is that Treaty educators are teaching their staff.
THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
Should publicly funded migrant training courses be officially vetted?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| Not only should the information given to migrants be vetted but also what is being given to children in NZ schools. | John |
| Maori and their supporters are rewriting history Maori are not the indigenous NZ race!!!Where are the Maorioris and the early Europeans? NZ is beeing ripped off to the extent that the average “whitey” is becoming,or is already, a second class citizen in our own country! God help our grandchildren if they choose to or are forsed to stay in NZ !!! | Alistair |
| I am appalled at the extent of lack of public accountability accorded by some Govt agencies and their offshoots. | Anthony |
| Any migrant should be expected to live by established NZ standards and expectations. | Dianne |
| Moving to a new country is made easier when one has a short indoctrination into the culture and norms to that country. I never received this in NZ and it was missed! Would have helped w/ the transition. | Hilary |
| What is happening is a disgrace and typical of the overly generous latitude given to Maori to influence migrants and member of he public.Without doubt some vetting of what is being taught at Treaty workshops must take place immediately.What a greedy, self serving gang Maori have become. | William |
| Really, how much longer do we need to endure these outrageous, backward lies? When do these criminal, activist- Maori move into the 21st century instead of stoneage backwardness? | Monica |
| The Treaty of Waitangi came about because some Maori Tribes were concerned they would be decimated by the more aggressive Tribes. They therefore became equal in law to Europeans under Queen Victoria. The Maoris in turn named Europeans as the Tribe Ngati Wikitoria or Victorias People therefore all becoming New Zealanders.It is not as simple as this but it is the general reasoning behind the Treaty. | Lee |
| Most certainly. Problem is, vetted by whom? | Isobel |
| But who is going to do the vetting? | Ann |
| We will be in a sorry state if all this misinformation is allowed to continue. | Helen |
| Definitely, one rule for all. | Winifred |
| Absolutely they should be. Unless our elected representatives wake up and see what is happening we will be third world within a couple of decades. Binding referenda and recall have to become part of our political system. so we can out these dead beats. | Neville |
| Anything that uses taxpayers’ money should be vetted. | Charles |
| I wouldn’t call that “less than subtle” indoctrination. I’d call it outrageous, and worthy of reporting to our ‘Race Relations Commissioner’….. | Colin |
| Why is the govt. spending taxpayers money training immigrants??? | John |
| “Healing our History” by Robert Consendine is another example. | Robbie |
| The bias and blatant manipulation used to spread out and out lies about the treaty is getting worse. The question is, when will New Zealand have its civil war (although I’m sure the maori radicals would call it a fight for freedom)? | Gary |
| Maori are the racist …greedy and maniputive… | Dianne |
| Non-vetting of publicly-funded courses equates to taxation without representation. And that caused the American Revolution. When will European NZers wake up? | Mike |
| This propoganda garbage is also prevalent in teaching training courses. This sort of thing will continue until APARTHEID in NZ is finally ditched by the abolishment of separate Maori seats in Parliament. | Geoff |
| During my career I have attended several Treaty of Waitangi workshops with different Government Departments. The message always portrayed is that Maori are not like other normal human beings and as such should receive special treatment within NZ Government policies. Of course my outspoken questioning of this nonsense was not looked upon favourably. | Martin |
| Yes they should be vetted and that it is not all Maori. | Robert |
| You bet, and everything else the Maoris have their hand out for, as history tells us, they can’t be trusted. | Athol |
| I was required to do a Treaty of Waitangi 1 day course when I started a new govt dept job about 15 years ago (and I was born in NZ!). I was shocked even back then about what they were teaching – entirely different to the more truthful version I learnt in school during the 60’s & 70’s. | Fiona |
| Definitely, most of our history has been rewritten by activists, disguising the actual facts. | Monty |
| They really should NOT be publicly funded;but definitely vetted. | Dick |
| Sooner the better. | Richard |
| Let truth be told. People should be aware of the real events not radical slant and alterations of facts to promote a divided New Zealand. | Jahanara |
| WATCH OUT FOR AGENDA21 | JOHANNES |
| Of course it should. | John |
| Yes no reason not to. | James |
| Anything that uses public money should be vetted, not just migrant training. | Bill |
| Sounds a bit to much like unwanted religion being jammed down captive audience throat. | Donald |
| Control essential. | Jim |
| Vetted by who? | Warren |
| I can not understand why issues such as these and a lot of other important ones are not given the priority they deserve by the proper authorities, parliamentarians/ministers. If they can’t understand what is going on then I think the average New Zealander will be in deep trouble, or are they corrupt as well? | Laurence |
| A stop needs to be put to this sort of indoctrination and lies. | Duncan |
| The problem is that any vetting would be carried out by another government organisation. This from the same government that is systematically giving to maori by stealth our citizen owned land, mountains, rivers, lakes, fish, forests, airwaves etc. Now we have a seat at the UN it will be considerably worse as we fall over backwards to avoid being called racist. | John |
| Yes – to ensure that the information being imparted is true & presents a balanced ‘picture’ of the situation. | Laurie |
| Another prime example of how rotten to the core the whole affair around this TOW has become.What is this Auckland Educational outfit anyway and who is funding this miniature Goebbels Propaganga Ministerium.And who the hell is running it.???? We always find out in a roundabout way about these institutions. We do hear nothing about these in the NZ media.One thing is for sure: Maori zealots are undermining tirelessly our political system and that hardcore lot is in my view no better than any of these fascists who started out the same way by worming their way into the system and undermining democracy. I have the impression that real democracy in this country of ours has gone out of the window and what we perceive as democracy in NZ is nothing but smoke and mirrors and cunning window dressing. Otherwise this sinister tolerance towards a increasing establishment of a apartheid system in NZ would not take place. Our elected governments take part in this transition.All existing political parties are guilty of conspiracy.There is no real intend to sustain equality between all ethnic groups .Divide and Rule is the agenda!!!! Instead we have these traitors appeasing an increasingly agressive group of people hellbent to deseminate destabilising propaganda which does not serve anyone but a few. And to crown it all this : This deceiving and lying claptrap does not serve ordinary Maori who are, like the rest of us, trying to live in peace and harmony and go about their business in every day live. This behaviour of our government is nothing but treason towards all non Maori in this country. It is high time that everybody who rejects apartheid and destruction of our democratic values is presented by a political party which will not shy away from exposing the truth. | Michael |
| Once again Maori have found another way to increase their supporters of their version of the treaty. Successive governments are too weak to put an end to the Treaty. | Mary |
| It is obvious that the Minister in charge does not really understand what her departments are doing. She needs to step in and control this sort of nonsense. | Murray |
| Another example of maori indoctrinationof the vulnerable, like school kids who are taught a skewed history that ignores all factual truths. | David |
| I think it is time we looked closely at all these commissions with a view to closing them down as I doubt they have any relevance to New Zealand and far to much power to influence the dally lives of every day kiwis. | Hugh |
| Bi-culturalism is a myth. We have been a multicultural country since long before the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 Read out history! | John |
| Any publicly funded schemes should be vetted…enough money is wasted already…hip hop courses etc. | Audrey |
| Better still, they should be scrapped. These are serious and sinister programmes. New migrants should not be force fed racist or religious nonsense but instead be provided with assistance towards assimilation into a new country. | Les |
| Before jumping to come to a conclusion one has to hear the story from both sides! | Theodorus |
| But who would do the vetting? The problem gets much more complicated when treaty education material is state-sanctioned ideology straight from the Waitangi Tribunal and State Services Commission, and this ideology involves a view of history biased against “the wicked white coloniser”. | Mike |
| Migrants should have unbiased training courses. | David |
| Maori are the worst racists out. | Mike |
| Should be checked before starting so our migrants are not told that Maori is a privileged class. We are all equal. | Ian |
| Of Course.!!!! | Brian |
| Absolutely. There MUST be someone in Govt who has the influence to stop this indoctrination. I’m sick of the sanitised stuff the younger generation and immigrants are being brainwashed with. | Carolyn |
| How can we be an informed electorate if the press feel muzzled in reporting on matters concerning inaccurate Treaty history and huge flows of public funds to Maori – if the media are fearful of being placed on the Human Rights Commission’s register of negative stories concerning race relations? In fact, rather than being muzzled, the opposite should apply. It should be on peak evening TV news and in metro and regional newspapers, that Treaty workshops are ‘encouraging non-white immigrants to join Maori in being anti-Pakeha, anti democracy and anti-capitalism, while supporting calls for Maori sovereignty. Promoting these views is none other than treasonous and subversive. If the average kiwi viewer or voter were to learn of this they would justifiably be angry and want something done about it – promptly. One thing’s for sure – if there’s no pushback, the utterances and claims from these loonies will become increasingly outrageous. | Peter |
| Of course. | Geoffrey |
| Definitely. | Terry |
| Surely anything which is publicly funded or supported by public funding, must be factual, represent a position supported by empirical data, The documents should also be readily available to the general public for their perusal and comment if they it is felt necessary. | Michael |
| Personal agendas in areas of racial relations will easily distort what reasonable people consider to be the best for a nation. There are many in the academic area who are influencing a one sided view which will not be in the interests of a united country. These views then tend to be absorbed by students who later have positions of influence in the governmental sector. They then attempt to become “game changers” – a dangerous area for our country. | Brian |
| All the maories want seems to be seperatism. | Jack |
| Of course they should. Why should we fund courses which teach false history and political propaganda? Such vetting must begin NOW before any more myths are spread. | Graeme |
| Absolutely as should the heavily sanitised and corrupted NZ history being taught in our schools. | Ken |
| Also depends on ‘whom’ the vetters are? | Roger |
| But the vexing question would be “by whom”? Anyone associated with the Government is likely to be indoctrinated in some way. | John |
| Otherwise immigrants receive a very one sided,confusing and dishonest picture of the actual situation in NZ ie multiculturalism. Also these courses should be run by a mix of neutral European, Pacifica, Asian and finally “Maori” people. | Rog |
| One law for all — should be the basis of our society. Say no to Maori separatism now. | Bruce |
| If the truth is not being taught, then of course it should be vetted. | John |
| Absolutely the lies are a shame to the maori people why don’t they oppose the racialist minority stand. | Anthony |
| Publicly funded socialist political propaganda a should not be taught to anyone especially new immigrants. | John |
| Very much so! | Brian |
| ALL training courses funded by taxpayers should be vetted very carefully. | Alan |
| But don’t hold your breath that it will result in anything different given the leanings of many public officials. | David |
| The Dominion Post recently published the following item:-“The Crown has purchased a 9.7 hectare property near Kihikihi which is the site of the battle of Orakau, fought in 1864 between Maori and the Government.” “Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson made the announcement on May 18 2015 and stated that the site is spiritually important to Maori.” “The property will be landbanked and maintained by the Crown.” We may presume that the land will be given to Maori as part of yet another Treaty claim, based on more twisted truth. ALL PUBLICLY FUNDED TRAINING ON TREATY MATTERS SHOULD BE VETTED FOR LIES AND HALF-TRUTHS. The New Zealand Wars were started by Maori who would not stop killing white settlers. By 1841 with Government control being put into place, various groups of Maori were expressing dissatisfaction. By 1844 these groups were forming war parties to steal and plunder settlers farms and villages. The Governor made an urgent appeal to headquarters in Sydney for troops who were sent to New Zealand. Maori groups started attacking British troops who fought back, with dead and wounded on both sides. The wars lasted another 20 years. It must be asked why those who seek to rewrite our history, also seek to reward Maori who started the killing of white settlers in the first place? | Ernest |
| Peer review would be a good place to start. A Chinese colleague of mine attended a series of courses last year to equip her to work in a private Chinese educational institute whose target group was recent Asian migrants to New Zealand, the aim being to help these migrants assimilate into New Zealand Society. A guide work book was provided. I was appalled at the content which seemed designed to give any participant a gross guilt complex regarding issues of 150-200 years ago. This type of approach will not help anyone. It is way past time to get rid of the chip on the shoulder and move with the times. This is the 21st century! | Peter |
| As the training course has untrue content it should be banned. Moreover, if one cannot say anything negative about Maori without repercussion, one should also desist from saying anything positive about Maori (if one can think of anything). | Alan |
| All material that is used to educate migrants should be vetted for truth, regardless if it is publicly funded or not. There is far too much propaganda published now. | Ronmac |
| Most important education is factual and balanced. | David |
| This is disgaceful…is the NZCPR able to make public office aware of whats happening ? | Lyn |
| Of course they should if the taxpayer is in any way contributing to it. | Peter |
| Obviously it does need to be vetted – immigrants should not be told a one sided history. | Andrea |
| Yes but give the vetting to a balanced group and not from those with political careers and not Maori activist. | Ken |
| The night that the All Blacks introduced the version of the Haka the one were they make a motion of Throat Cutting, was in Dunedin in the game against the British Lions you probably remember the Lions Captain was nearly killed by a foul tackle in the first two minuets , howe3ver I made an official complait to the Race Relatins Commission, as at that time prisoners were having their throats cut by ARABS and being broadcast on TV, the Commission replyed explaining it away with no less than nine pagece of the tradition of Haka and N Z Rugby, I took offence and imedeatly laid a complaint qagainst the Commission, I got a letter of opology , This weel a Judge brought down a sevier Sentamce on a man that dissplade a Troat Cutting motion with his hand to his nieghbour, certaily there are two sets of rules in this country. | John |
| The information given should be factual, not the fiction fed to public today. | Rodney |
| This latest brainwashing of new migrants is disgusting and another attempt to change history to appease the militant Maori IWI who are only interested in lining their back pockets at the expense of everyone else including their own people. | Colin |
| Absolutely yes! | Roy |
| Sounds like indoctrination rather than migrant training. This is not a constructive path to pursue especially if the version of history being taught is not accurate; self serving and heavily tainted with denial. | Gary |
| Absolutely. No Treaty nonsence in there at all. | Graeme |
| All people, and especially new immigrants, should be able to receive a balanced history based view of New Zealand society and not just a radical one-sided view, whichever side that would come from. | Pieter |
| We used to be a peaceful unified country. These actions are sure to divide and destroy the peacxe we enjoy. | Denis |
| By an indepent body. Maori propaganda should be prohibited not only for new comers but also at education. This is New Zealand and I life in New Zealand. Not in Maori land. I have friends who are Maori, I have friends who are from the Pacific Island. We mix, work together, eat together, no problem. We respect each other. That is how it should be. | Johan |
| Sick of the influence one sided maori actavists manipulate to further their own ends to the detriment of us all. | Peter |
| I was unaware of the extent to which migrants were being ‘educated.’ If it is as described, then yes it does need to be balanced and correct just the same as children’s education must be otherwise it becomes another source of support for Maori sovereignty. | Chris |
| Cut the bull and tell the truth which seems to become more obscure by the day. | Stuart |
| Without doubt any publically funded courses like these should be officially vetted, but who might these vetting officials be? | Peter |
| How and why are our political leaders allowing this sort of rubbish to happen and prosper? It is racism of the worst kind, and when will maori start thanking the white man for saving them from certain disaster. | Stevo |
| Yes, absolutely – otherwise we will reap the results of the “oft repeated lie” of Doctor Goebbels. If you can lie and distort the truth for long enough as he did and as the Treatyists are doing now, people will come to believe it – to the detriment of all. It is therefore imperative that any funding be monitored closely to prevent its misuse. This fiscal carelessness, which seems to be the case at present, will cost us dearly in the future if it is not dealt with now – by an influx of truth! | Scott |
| Definitely. Anywhere our public money is spent there needs to be accountability. | Graeme |
| Yes, as long as the Auckland University History Dept, doesn’t hi-jack the vetting. Their anti-European bias is breathtaking… | Peter |
| If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. … Goebbels. The lie is getting even deeper. | Andrew |
| Without a doubt. | David |
| Again Mario trying to indoctrinate people to there small way of thinking why can they not get overit and acknowledge the are the losing minority if they want there heritage by all means but don’t host it on the rest of us. | Russell |
| Every aspect of migration should be vetted. NZ has a good level of corruption the same as all countries. | Elizabeth |
| They definitely should be vetted by a properly constituted impartial panel. Likewise, the training given to training nurses should similarly be vetted. | Wendy |
| Why aren’t they if not why not. | Peter |
| Absolutely. | Paul |
| Our history of p/c over the last decade is an example of where this type of indoctrination will lead.the content of this migrant education on the treaty certainly needs to be vetted by an independent body to ensure what is being taught is factual and not made up history as we go. | Maurice |
| This is just Corruption by government. I suspect Chris Nga Tahu Finlayson has something to do with this. | Greg |
| It would appear from your article that while saying The Public have freedom of speech The Human Rights Commission is denying us that right by “Naming and Shaming the people who have taken the offer of Freedom of Speech re Race Relations. Shame on them for telling lies. | Laurel |
| Absolutely, we can’t trust the people who are producing the rubbish masquerading as helpful information for migrants. | Terry |
| Migrants are not stupid, they will soon see that all this treaty rubbish for what it is, just that. | Benjamin |
| There are enough lies and BS out there already without more being published. | Neil |
| I am now away from all this crap but if the Govt wants i could come back and Tutor migrants. I would have to tell them its all untrue and the NZ Govt is rascist towards white people simply to appease Maori. | Lola |
| Speak read and write English should be mandatory.. | Ian |
| That’s a qualified ‘Yes’ – the vetting should be by an independent party. If the ‘officials’ doing the vetting have their snouts in the treaty trough, the ‘vetting’ process would merely amount to an official blessing for this kind of indoctrination. | Barend |
| Absolutely!!! | Maddie |
| Absolutely. | Albert |
| Migrant courses should absolutely be vetted and only qualified, verified teachers allowed to take the classes. We had already noticed many migrants who had a totally incorrect view of many things around the Treaty and Maori in New Zealand and wondered where it came from. The treaty and the questions those in the public service such as nurses have to answer to are totally wrong. No one should have to declare they adhere to the “principals ” of the Treaty. What are the “principals” and who decided them. They are someones fictitous interpretation yet jobs depend on giving the correct answers. So it is very important migrants are given correct information. | Gail |
| Absolutely! | Ken |
| Time to put a stop to apartheid in NZ. | Bruce |
| Vetted? Yes. Why should it not be vetted like every spending body paid for by our tax money? | Ray |
| That should not even be a question. It is logical, IF we want the info planted in immigrants to be the truth & still giving them a free personal choice to make their own personal decisions on all levels of society. Otherwise we are not different than Hitler & the Nazi’s who destroyed the world!! | Anna |
| What will come next? Will we have to take treaty “lessons” before we can claim the pension? Just dediculous. | Tim |
| New immigrants should be taught how to be assimilated in to New Zealand society as typical Kiwis. They should not be indoctrinated with Maori or any other racial or religious doctrine. | Peter |
| Maori influence is over emphasised everywhere. Without European contact Maori would still be stone age savages. This is essentially a European country with the same values and laws and technology. | Laurie |
| The treaty propaganda or pro-maori stuff starts in our pre-schools where the teachers/carers are also products of the nonsense, in my grandchildrens pre-school they are mostly bone pendant wearers. | Geoff |
| ….bring on the new arrivals to our shores….let ” iwi” live in the “real world” of TODAY……. | Christopher |
| More maori racism!! | G |
| Vetted, but by whom? It is likely to be someone who is also indoctrinated……. | Hone |
| There is no benefit to the nation in allowing new citizens to be misinformed about treaty matters. If allowed to continue, there are only two possible outcomes. Firstly, that the immigrants will have to be re-educated or secondly, we will all eventually be obliged to accept the New ‘Truth’. Both outcomes have profoundly unattractive elements. | Geoffrey |
| Stop all treaty bullshit now. We are one country with, supposedly, one law for all. | Kerry |
| After all, it’s taxpayer’s money and there should be clear guidelines to prevent a distorted vision of what democracy really mans in this country. | Mel |
| You bet these Treaty course should be vetted to prevent extremists poisoning the minds of migrants. It is disgraceful what is going on. | Pauline |
| This radical stuff must be stopped. Why doesn’t the Minister do something about it. | Brian |
| The Human Rights Commission should be stopped from carrying out their censorship programme. That’s not what it was established for. In fact the Commission should be closed down altogether – it is a liability. | Stewart |
| Migrant education about the Treaty should be carried out through polytechs using approved courses and teachers only. | Graeme |
| The attempt to spread Treaty propaganda in this country is a disgrace – first school children and now new migrants. | Jim |