“The catch cry ‘democracy does not work for Maori’ has become the mantra for the destruction of democracy. Lenin would recognise what is being attempted in New Zealand in 2022, as would any self-respecting South American dictator. Quite simply we are witnessing a coup designed to dismantle our democracy and the Rule of Law and replace it with the worst form of tribalism coupled with the greed of those who want what they have not earned.”
– Anthony Willy, former Judge and Law Lecturer, June 2022
The rollout of the Government’s He Puapua plan to establish Maori sovereignty by 2040 is proceeding at breath taking speed. We are living in revolutionary times. It is a coup, by a small number of iwi elite who have their hands on the levers of power thanks to our Prime Minister’s willingness to sacrifice New Zealand democracy for totalitarian tribal rule.
Virtually every facet of our society is now subjected to their influence with their latest ‘conquest’, the legal system.
Before looking into the implications, let’s do a quick recap to put it all into perspective.
He Puapua was developed in 2019 by the Ardern Government under the guise of enacting the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
While Labour’s Prime Minister Helen Clark had refused to sign the Declaration, because it didn’t fit with our Treaty settlement framework, National’s Prime Minister John Key – under pressure from his Maori Party coalition partner – signed in 2010. At the time he assured New Zealanders that the agreement was largely symbolic and not binding.
In fact, Article 46 of the Declaration confirms as much: “Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any state, people, group or person… any action which would dismember or impair totally or in part the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and independent states.”
After a careful examination of the Declaration, Anthony Willy concluded, “It is clear beyond doubt that in terms of the declaration no indigenous person can enjoy a right which damages the existence of a democratically elected government. That immediately rules out any notion of the governance of the state or territorial local authorities being shared between indigenous peoples and those who came after.”
This inconvenient fact has not stopped the Ardern Government and the self-serving Maori separatists within it from transferring democratic power from New Zealanders to the elite leaders of multi-million-dollar tribal business development corporations.
Replacing democracy with tribal rule is so extreme, that Jacinda Ardern knew she would lose the 2020 General Election if her plan became known. As a result, she kept He Puapua hidden from her New Zealand First coalition partner – and from the public – until after she had secured the power to govern alone.
None of the significant changes undermining democracy and our Kiwi way of life, that are being introduced through He Puapua have received a mandate from the public. The restructuring of health, polytechnics, and water services are all illegitimate policy changes designed to pass control to the tribal elite. None have public approval, and all should be repealed by the next government.
In this climate of division created by Jacinda Ardern, key institutions are being corrupted from their original purpose of serving all New Zealanders as equals, to prioritising and privileging those of Maori descent. Under her leadership, democracy is being replaced by apartheid.
Jacinda Ardern is not doing this alone. Supporting her are three powerful members of Labour’s 15-strong Maori Caucus – the Minister of Maori Development Willie Jackson, the Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta, and the Minister of Maori-Crown Relations Kelvin Davis. Other influential fellow travellers, including in academia, the media, and the Judiciary, are also supporting her separatist cause.
One of the key constitutional changes identified as being necessary to achieve Maori sovereignty by 2040 is the inclusion of ‘tikanga’ – or Maori custom – in our common law. And last month’s Supreme Court decision in the Ellis case has essentially secured that goal.
Peter Ellis was convicted in 1993 of molesting children at a Christchurch crèche. He served a seven-year sentence but claimed his innocence throughout.
His ongoing attempts to quash the charges and clear his name led to two appeals to the Court of Appeal, two enquires by retired Judges, and in 2019, an application for special leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The leave was granted, but he died of cancer before the hearing could take place. His family and legal team wanted the case to clear his name to proceed.
The decision over whether a deceased person’s case should be allowed to continue centres on whether reputation survives death. Common sense tells us it does, and while such cases are unusual, they can nevertheless be argued under existing common law principles.
To digress for a moment – there are two main sources of law: statute laws passed by Parliament and ‘the common law’, which has been developed by judges over the centuries.
While the courts must apply statutes, they first need to interpret what they mean. If Parliament disagrees with their interpretation, the legislation may be amended to bring the courts’ interpretation back in line with Parliament’s intentions.
An important legal principle applied by the courts is that everyone is equal before the law, so the law can be applied ‘without fear or favour’. As stated on the Courts of New Zealand website, “Independent, fair and efficient courts are a cornerstone in our democracy. Courts underpin social stability. They give confidence that our rights as citizens can be upheld; that our differences and conflicts can be resolved through law; that those who interfere with our rights can be held to account; that our society can be protected from law breakers; and that the State can be required always to act lawfully.”
Independence is also required of members of the judiciary: ensuring no undue influence from other judges or politicians, and confining decisions to the facts of the case and matters of law, not opinion. Their independence prevents our judicial system from being corrupted – and helps maintain a high level of confidence in our legal system.
When the Supreme Court was asked to continue with the Peter Ellis case, instead of applying existing common law principles to the decision, three of the five judges – Chief Justice Helen Winkelmann, former Waitangi Tribunal Chairman Joe Williams, and Susan Glazebrook – invited the legal teams arguing the case to consider whether ‘tikanga’ could be applied.
It was a bizarre request. Given Peter Ellis was not Maori, the use of ‘tikanga’ in the case would have been ruled out had the standard 1908 test for recognising custom been applied: “whether the custom exists as a general custom of Maori, whether it is contrary to statute law, and whether it is reasonable.”
Instead, in a split 3-2 decision, the case resulted in tikanga being extended to include non-Maori and the test dismissed as a “colonial relic” – leaving the door wide open for any court to apply tikanga in any case, in any way.
This week’s NZCPR Guest Commentator Anthony Willy has examined the Supreme Court’s ruling and shares his grave concerns:
“This excursion into Maori customs raises a number of questions: What is ‘Tikanga?’ A search of the meaning of the word in the Maori dictionary yields fifteen possible definitions all of which amount to doing the right thing in the circumstances. None of the meanings have anything thing to do with the law as it has been understood and practiced in New Zealand since 1840.
“Then there is the question of which maori custom to apply in a given case. The majority of the judges accepted that the pre 1840 maori customs to be applied in any case will be decided by experts called to assist the Court. This is quite a different exercise from the ordinary calling of experts to assist the court in deciding matters such as science, engineering, medicine and the like. These experts will it seems tell the court how it should decide the case – and the judge will be in no position to decide differently. Where then is the independence of the judiciary?
“One wonders if the three judges who have initiated these seismic changes considered the importance of the separation of powers between Parliament and the Courts which is crucial to the health of our democracy. And why go to the trouble of producing a judgment which can have no binding effect on the substantive determination of the appeal. Nothing said about ‘Tikanga’ is binding on any later Court. It is what the law refers to as ‘obiter dicta’ and we thank the judgments of O’Regan and Arnold JJ for pointing that out. The reason being because no part of this excursion into pre 1840 Maori cultural practices was relied on by the Court in deciding whether or not the evidence given against Peter Ellis at his trial was sufficient to allow the Jury to convict him.
“That said they have opened the door to future activist judges to rely on the obiter pronouncements in these judgments and to apply them in later cases. It is of the deepest concern to contemplate that two of the Judges on our highest Court: Winkelmann CJ and Glazebrook J. appear to have become swept up in the drive by the Maori caucus of the present government to implement their He Puapua policies before it is too late and they are ejected from office.”
By embracing tikanga, our highest court has now significantly altered the foundations of law in New Zealand – and consciously so. What’s more, in light of the disastrous outcome of introducing tikanga into National’s Marine and Coastal Area Act, their ruling will be to the detriment of the Rule of Law and society as a whole.
In fact, the inclusion of tikanga in that foreshore and seabed legislation has led the Courts to deliver an outcome that is the exact opposite of what Parliament intended.
Let me explain: When National – at the behest of the Maori Party – introduced the Marine and Coastal Area Act to repeal Crown ownership of the coast and allow tribal claims, they specified two tests in the law. Firstly, claimants had to have held their claimed area according to ‘tikanga’, and, secondly, they had to have held it ‘exclusively’ and ‘continuously’ since 1840.
In a landmark decision in the Edwards case, the High Court awarded customary title and rights based only on the first leg of the test – whether the area had been held according to ‘tikanga’. The second leg of the test – whether claimants had held the area exclusively and continuously since 1840 – was not even considered.
Justice Churchman ruled that holding the area according to tikanga was sufficient to justify awarding title to the coast – notwithstanding that the law specified the property rights test should also apply.
The Edwards case, the first of almost 600 overlapping claims for the coast, will have a significant precedent effect.
When National introduced the law, they assured the public that customary title would cover no more than 10 percent of the coastline, leaving 90 percent unclaimed. If left unchallenged, the Churchman ruling is likely to deliver the exact opposite: 90 percent of the coast will be held in tribal hands with only 10 percent left unclaimed.
The NZCPR is raising funds to appeal the Churchman decision to the Court of Appeal – if you would like to support our fight against this miscarriage of justice, please click HERE to help.
Tikanga is a vague hotchpotch of Maori rituals and culture, defined and redefined to suit any particular argument by so-called cultural advisors – whose word cannot be challenged by the courts. As a result, including tikanga in our legal system is not justice, it is apartheid.
National has a growing list of things it will repeal should it become the government next year. Restoring the integrity of our legal system needs to be added to its list.
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THIS WEEK’S POLL ASKS:
*Does ‘tikanga’ have a place in New Zealand law?
*Poll comments are posted below.
*All NZCPR poll results can be seen in the Archive.
THIS WEEK’S POLL COMMENTS
| Maori Maori Maaori thats all we hear on the street at home and in our very own Parliament. As far as I am concerned I have treated maori the same as I treat anyone else, we are all Kiwis except the Elite. | Barbara |
| Tikanga hijacks us to the whims of individual opinion regarding any one situation. There is no stability, security, or confidence in in such a nebulous ‘foundation’ regarding law. | Jan |
| No minority should ever rule over the majority of people in any country. That is just looking for unrest and pushbacks from the general . | Elsie |
| These primitive savages could not even spell the word until we taught a few of them how to read and write. | Mike |
| It is incredibly disturbing to witness the blatant decline of our Democracy at the hands of Ardern’s Government. | Linda |
| Definitely NOT. Maori are NOT the indigenous race here. It is well known they arrived after Mori Ori and some Greek and British settlers. But their treatment of the people who were here BEFORE Maori came was despicable – killing and cannabalising whoever they came across. Maori have to stop demanding supremacy and settle into being citizens with equality in all spheres of life here. | Cec |
| Not if no one knows what it is in the first place. 15 different meanings ? Sounds like trouble, and it has already started. | Greg |
| There is a madness sweeping this country for which an enormous price will be paid ! I have no faith in politicians at all. I cannot believe how utterly useless this country has become. You reap what you sow. God help N.Z. ! | John |
| No place!! | Neil |
| Anything as airy Fairy as this Rubbish has no place in any country’s law | Eric |
| No, No and NO. | Sam |
| Certain ally not, too much say from a few radicals who want total control. | Ross |
| 11 months and it’s haere ra to this carcinogenic tumour of repulsive reprobates. | Campbell |
| No way,. No No No | Stan |
| Yet more nonsense coming from the halls of tyranny & injustice. | Bruza |
| No, no, no!!! Enough of this garbage! | Neville |
| Absolutely not, in exactly the same way that any ancient European customs do not! | Allan |
| Definitely not | Mike |
| Certainly Not! | Maria P |
| not ever.they could never manage their own affairs. | ken&sybil |
| It has no place in an established Democracy, otherwise the term Democracy itself is defunct. It is possible that the majority of Maori chiefs who signed the Treaty of Waitangi understood the concept of British democracy and universal adult suffrage very well, and saw in British sovereign protection the promise of peaceful existence and protection from a minority of Iwi elite – that same Iwi that are once again flexing their bellicose nature with approval from extremist PM Ardern and her Labour Coalition Cabinet. | Phil |
| Tikanga in practice is in direct contravention of the Treaty as it goes directly against the principle of we are one people. | Richard |
| Tikanga is not law. It is straight-up violent coercion. It leads to utu and to war. | Mark |
| we do not want apartheid in NZ | John |
| ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! FIFTEEN DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS WOULD TELL ANY SANE PERSON THAT!!! | Sylvia |
| This is based on a cultural aspect and NOT general law. | Carl |
| Absolutely not. And which customs should be applied? Utu as applied by Maori pre 1840? | Howard |
| Definitely NOT. The tikanga concept should not be expanded into NZ’s laws. | Peter |
| Tikanga is Maori lore,this nation was founded on Common Law principles, if we bring back Tikanga, then this nation will be split between two laws both separately enforced depending on if you identify as Maori or European. | Aaron |
| Tikatinga overrules our common law | Errol |
| If this sort of rubbish is placed into Law.We may all go to Hell in a basket | John |
| Comment isn’t really even needed on this one | Ken |
| Another step down the path to division. Can anyone imagine what it will be like in this country in 199 years. Absolute disaster | Martyn |
| Law is created in Parliament, not by common people even judges. | Denis |
| The racism on this site is extremely destructive. I am sure that it only attracts maybe 5% of Kiwis but if only a small percentage of those take it seriously we could have repeat of very destructive events in NZ. I was banned from this site for posting the truth, Negative disinformation is hard to believe how someone can be deluded to try to destroy NZ | John |
| NEVER | JOHN |
| Jacinda & her colleagues must go | John |
| Perhaps the Govt should do what it does with all policies where it’s looking for someone else to blame if it goes wrong, commission a report. How about asking that paragon of forecasting, the University of Otago, to investigate the benefits of going from a democracy to tribal government. Hope they don’t use the same model they used for forecasting Covid deaths. | Geoff. |
| Is New Zealand becoming an apartheid country? | Peter |
| NO NO NO IT IS ONE LAND ONE PEOPLE | eric |
| This is just another racist sham being perpetuated by Maori elite and sycophantic politicians like the Red Queen. | Mike |
| Mythological terms create indeterminate states of mind in the law courts so, No! Drop it out. | Ray |
| Yes, but only in the section labeled Maori history. Can anyone imagine having a house built under a contract governed by Tikanga? | Allan |
| It is all bs and no place in NZ law. He Papua should be booted outs it has no place in New Zealand and the name for all of us I s New Zealand!,!! | Daryl |
| New Zealand law for New Zealanders – Not vague custom for New Zealanders. Do what you like in a long cloud wherever that is. | Murray |
| Not unless it is defined legally and permanently, and not unless that definition does not conflict with principles of democracy and our justice system such as ‘equal before the law’. | John |
| The implementation of this just adds to the Apartheid system being thrust upon NZer’s | Chris |
| He Puapua should prove to be the end of this labour government and quite possibly the end of labour as a party, people will never trust them again. He Puapua will affect not only European New Zealanders but also every other ethnic group of New Zealanders. He Puapua is part of Aderns Socialist policy to divide and conquer, control the peoples needs. | Owen |
| these so called maoris are totally out of control I would suggest that there are too many sympathisers with their heads buried in the sand and are in for one hell of a shock | edward |
| Definitely not! | Brian |
| stop this erosion of democracy and legal standards now.. | Peter |
| No, No, No, Never | David |
| Far too vague to be used in a Court of Law. | Michael |
| We have had Ketteridge and her SIS keystone cops running around in ever decreasing circles till they disappear up their own fundies, looking for Right White bogeymen. All the while they have had Stalinesque lefties running the country and openly destroying democracy under their very noses. Also “you know who” have been running around supermarkets wielding knives. What a burlesque. Not a word has been uttered. Quite simply Ketteridge & NZSIS should all be arrested for dereliction of duty. | Tell |
| Never | paul |
| ‘Tikanga’…is unlawful and designed to separate peoples with NO legal basis. | mark |
| Maori bias. There rules change with their wants, Haka were once exclusively male. It was considered tapu for females to perform haka. As hakas gained international recognitont this tapu suddenly disappeared. There seems to be nothing sacred to Maori just a desire for unjustified recognition. | Peter K |
| We don’t need a group of people representing a minority racial portion of the population,to have the ability to use a loosely defined term ,to influence our legal system.Its just wrong. | Michael |
| not indigenous, just another immigrant | Ian. |
| It might in Maori law, if there is such a thing | Philip |
| Imprecise terminology leads to bad law. | Phil |
| Tikanga (aka custom law) was tried in the New Hebrides in the 1970’s and was a complete disaster. Different islands and often villages on the same island had different customs which led to total confusion as which custom law was to applied to a case. I can see the same thing happening here in NZ. Which tikanga shall we apply as different tribes have different tikanga for certain situations (no examples spring to mind). I am non- Maori so no tikanga should apply to me. But maybe because of my ancestry Viking law should be appiled. It just gets so messy. It is total stupidity again from this government. As Judge Willy points out there would be no such thing as common law many of the foundations of which were laid down in the Magna Carta in the 1500’s if my memory serves me right. But then again the Biblical law of God was laid down long before that so maybe we should take that as common law. Now I’ve opened a pandora’s box for some there as that will challenge there doctrinal stance. LOL | Kevin |
| Tikanga appears to be no more than a passport to apartheid. Resist such an intrusion into our democracy at all costs | Phil |
| Absolutely not. What we are being fed in the guise of Maori customs are in fact myths from the 1800s. No relevance to todays law | Neville |
| Sick of all this divisive nonsense, I feel like we are becoming a new south africa | Marie |
| Ardern has totally lost touch with reality and is thus incapable of exercising her proper role as prime minister. She should be removed on the grounds of severe mental illness. | Paloma |
| Well it is a NO from me. The key to any “laws” and “statutes” for me is that they treat all equally. You would need to be “simple” to believe that there was a law form in New Zealand before the colonisation. The law back then was the Chief of the tribe, and those he selected to be in his close “ruling” group. All others were slaves. Much the same as what they are working on right now, where the power is weilded by the few, supported but a few thugs to keep the slaves in check. This also fits very nicely with what the unelected WEF/UN/WHO have planned for the whole of the world. Neither will work because every man and woman posseses “sovereign free will” which is their birthright. | Neil |
| Absolutely not it cannot be defined and is open to abuse- as has already been demonstrated. | Anon |
| Maori can’t agree amongst them selves exactly what this is, So it will be make it up as they go along to suit the agenda of the day. | philip |
| I know this crap needs to be exposed but goddam, it’s depressing! | Grant |
| We have all been hoodwinked, many different cunning plans slowly creating the final picture, come end game. | Sven |
| Absolutely not ! The law is for all peoples resident in this country. The introduction of ‘their’ law by a minority over existing established law for all peoples of the NZ society is extreme racism and increases the division of ‘them’ & us. NZ needs another island which ‘they” can live & govern in ‘their’ way and set up ‘their’ laws. Naturally ‘they’ can build & pay for all the infrastructure & services they need. In that way ‘they’ will not be able to blame colonialism & what it has given them. No more handouts needed ! | Dane |
| What is going on with what was “OUR” country. This is absolute rubbish and is fairy land thinking by cindy the red communist witch licking up to the minority to look good on the world stage. Time we stood up and be counted to force an early election to get rid of the cretins NOW. | rod |
| It lives in some ones mind at the time it is thought – how can than be justice? Dream on if we want a common justice system for all equallt | tony |
| Its time to purchase lots more ammunition before the final confrontation begins. | Steve |
| Absolutley not – the integrity of our justice system must be restored and maintained | bob |
| Maori folk law has no place in common law. | Rob |
| Law must surely be knowable, fair and all parties should be able to have a reasonable understanding of what it requires. Tikanga is none of these. | Alan |
| Yes, If you want to be suppressed in every possible way | Tony |
| Greed knows no shame… | Scott |
| Definitely not | Rob |
| Under no circumstances should the minority trump the majority. Parliament should over-rule this breach of democracy. | Peter |
| It’s as repugnant as cannilbalism. | Allen |
| Sadly the generations of people who developed this country have passed away. They are not here to answer the present day agitators. It is going to take some leadership to turn this around. | Robert |
| When will this woman & her Govt be overthrown?? We read excellent factual pieces by Tony Willie for example but the dictatorship continues unabated!!! It is quite obvious Ardern is shovelling thru all this ‘cultural’ legislation pushed by her Maori caucus knowing full well she would never survive a snap election & therefore hasn’t the guts to call one!!! | Ron |
| It is hocus pocus, and provides no certainty of evidence to make the right decision. | Colin |
| “Tikanga”is an iwi elite vehicle to enhance their interests; a precursor for apartheid. It’s use is being twisted to suit an iwi agenda not in the interests of all of New Zealand’s population. | Ralph & Lauree |
| Bloody stupid Labour again. How can we get rid of them now? | Roger |
| Absolutely no tikanga in our laws thank you. We have moved past the Stone Age! | Lynne |
| We dont live in the stone age, we have to live in the NOW. Tikanga is not part of traditional law, and it can only create greater racial tension in the country! | Hugh |
| The Maoris don’t realize how lucky they are that the Brits and not the French were the successful colonists The Maori would be unknown now, but instead they are a bunch of whinging Hybrids at war with Pakeha NZ’ ers and all other nationalities who live her in peace, IT IS A WAR THAT THEY MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO WIN. | JOHN |
| Excellent explanation | Graeme |
| Discrimination against all other ethnicities. | Kerry |
| One wonders why Jacinda Ardern is hell bent on passing over control and financial benefit to a group of Maori elite that only represent a small percentage of our population. If she and her Maori caucus succeed It will be the end of democracy in New Zealand. | Graeme |
| ANOTHER BACK DOOR MOVE BY THIS LABOUR GOVERNMENT | Keith |
| One LAW for ALL New Zealanders | Glenn |
| Not as such. The Court has equitable principles from the common law which it can apply in addition to statute law . tikanga is a whole new system in itself | Bill |
| None whatsoever. | Ray |
| The question itself is a further push by pseudo Maori to promote tribalism | Bob |
| No. It has nothing to do with law. | Dennis |
| A nebulous and ill defined concept. | Gilbert |
| none at all | Colin |
| Utter nonsense | Stephen |
| Archaic BS | Gavin |
| Any acceleration of an illegitimate agenda such as he puapua (or even Agenda 2030 or the SDG for that matter) speaks of desperation on the part of the proponents to get their lame laundry lists of ill-advised legislations over the finish line before too many people wake up and wise up to what’s really going on. The greediness and corruption of those currently in power seems to know no bounds and this is only serving to wake up ever more people to what’s going on… we can only hope they wake up quickly enough and ready to act | Jenny |
| Definitely NO. Why isn’t opposition National and Act not petitioning England Sovereignty about the blatant contravening of the equality in the Treaty of Waitangi and of Queen Victoria’s letter patent constitution. Corruption and apartheid must be stopped somehow WAKE UP NZ. Nobody is doing anything just ineffective lip service. We all know tribal rule and apartheid are winning. | Peter |
| The justice needs a jolly good shake-up to get rid of all the judges and any other people who have corrupted our democracy. | Helen |
| certainly not | Evan |
| I suppose if the cost of living goes up even higher Cannabalism will be introduced? | linda |
| NO WAY! Allowing that opens the door for every person to appear before a court to claim a defence through “tikanga” , and since it is based on the opinion of those who are known for not telling the truth, how could evidence be given under oath. Why not allow witchcraft? | Terry M |
| Definitely NOT. | Tony |
| definately no | David |
| Cracked pots comes to mind. | Bruce |
| It is difficult not to feel depressed by this ever increasing madness. We need leadership like never before. | Alan |
| It has no place in a true democracy. | chris |
| Definitly not. It would be a very dangerous move if this was done it would be the end of racial integrity in our country | Brian |
| The Judges supporting any He Puapua related decisions, should be removed. Tikanga has no place in our legal system. | Peter |
| Doesn’t have a passport or visa! | Michael |
| There is absolutely no place for racism in any law. | Richard |
| It is obvious that the current government realise they will probably not be around after next year’s elections. Hence they are rushing through every piece of legislation the can before then. | Lawrie |
| Absolutely not. This is just more racist propaganda. The judges should also be held to account | Gvprice |
| Of course not! And most ordinary Maori, who are working for a living, and going through the same every day difficulties and problems that many Kiwis are facing, trying to make ends meet while the government has run everything into total shambles, are not very interested in such stupid ideas. | Rosemary |
| Definitely NOT. One country one people, one set of rules. If these Maori minority want to have their own laws etc let them move to somewhere like Pitt Island & live in huts with no power, running water & sewage system etc. | david |
| Tikanga which it does not appear to be able to be effectively described in English is a relic of Maori tribal rule. It would then seem to be applicable to Maori only in any part of this land where Maori Tribal principals are still recognised by Maori. That is Maori who claim to be Maori would be subject to Tikanga amongst themselves only. The question then is what is a Maori ? Who identifies as a Maori when crossbreeding has “watered down ” Maori bloodlines” in many cases to be less than 50% original full blooded Maori. Tikanga could only be what is recognised between Maori who identify as Maori. It could not be upheld under European law nor apply to any party other than Maori and it appears Maori could appear to be able to opt out themselves in any case against then based on their bloodlines. They have consciously chosen their bloodlines to be impure resulting in no full blooded Maori remaining. They effectively bred their Maori exclusivity out of existence. They now claim to have a foot in both camps subject to Tikanga and European Statutes when it suits them | terrence |
| No to Tikanga and all other elements of Maori influence over our lives. We are modern people, we have left the stone age far behind, along with cannibalism, slavery and human sacrifice. And to hell with unwanted Maori words all over the place. | Chris |
| Why should anything connected to Maori culture have a place in our justice system when they as a race had no structure when it came to handing out justice to their own | ken |
| Law changing by stealth … just the usual ! | John |
| Tikanga is alien to democratic law | Peter |
| I despair. | Albyn |
| Given that Tikanga has no human rights or property quotient unlike Common Law, that it is not codified, that it is not standardized and has varying regional and Iwi interpretations, then this is not law. The question should be asked: What version of Tikanga are the judges accepting? | Brenton |
| Please no more Maori to be a law just had enough of this crap. | Warren |
| absolutely not – just another step on the way to becoming another Zimbabwe – WAKE UP NEW ZEALAND. | Don |
| WE want democracy, at least I think we do, although there are some, including our present Government, who are seeking to break down the freedom which democracy affords us. freedom | Harvey |
| In 2022 we are being lumbered with a stone-age culture with a racist and sepratist agenda for the advantage of a few. | Bill |
| I ,because of my ancestry,are Ariki . I see 180 years of close cooperation being torn down to enrich the greedy marxists who will in fact destroy any notion of civil society in New Zealand. | Ron |
| I have had an absolute gutsful of all this Maori crap! | Brent |
| Absolutely bloody not. This is apartheid at it’s best showing yet. The evil of this totally corrupt Government is now beyond imagination. Now it really is time to stand up, be counted and say NO. | Geoff |
| Need equality of all before the law and each according to their need – not the intrusion of race based custom or policy which will cause great division | Bruce |
| Maori were living in the primitive stone age some 150 odd years ago and Tribal brutalism law has NO place in today’s New Zealand democratic society. To boot Maori are NOT indigenous to New Zealand. | Wayne |
| Has anyone noted that Maori are NOT the NZ indigenous people ?? (Moriori etc ?? | Michael |
| All tiikangan need to pass the test for common law, only then can we have a reasonable justice system. | Murray |
| we are one nation. we are going deep into apartied | bev |
| Absolutely No! No! | Bryan |
| Not in our judicial system. Too much is left open to interpretation that simply can’t (or won’t be allowed to be) challenged. | Jan |
| This country should have sovereignty by the majority of the population not a minority | Diana |
| No never. It represents corruption and apartheid and its true meaning has been polluted to the destruction of democracy. Why are National not challenging via our sovereignty with England this deliberate destruction of democracy? | Brenda |
| No it does not. Roll along elections 2023. | Chris |
| More racism | Greg |
| We have to keep fighting all this. It is ruining this once great country. We need to push for an election now and be very clear to contenders that they are our servants and need to listen to what all New Zealanders want for the future. | Helen |
| As discussed in the newsletter, clearly tikanga is a divisive dangerous tribal call to flout current legal standards and requirements leading New Zealand further down the path of racial divide and apartheid | Chris |
| If individuals want to invoke tikanga, they are able to but most definitely should not be part of government or compulsory | Shelley |
| It is Stone Age mumbo jumbo and has no place in the 19th century let alone the 21st century. These judges need to be fired as the cretins they are and then prosecuted as traitors. | John |
| Absolutely not | Mike |
| Of course not, it’s an invention not real law which has been developed over many years by legislators | Terry |
| Absolutely NOT | Roy |
| absolutely not ! | mike |
| Certianly not, its disgraceful and as you said “every one should be equal before the law”. But it’s looking more like “Welcome to Aeotaroa Apartheid Ethnostate. | Brian |
| Most definitely not | Mick |
| To use the Aussie saying “Yer dreaming mate”. | Adrian |
| one people under the law. Treaty of Waitangi. New Zealand is the name. | linda |
| New Zimbabwe | Boris |
| NO!!! These racist idiots are heading NZ toward civil war. What next, customary cannibalism? We need equal justice and rights for all members of our society. | Andrew |
| NZ law is exclusively based on British law. And this is the law which was accepted by Maori with the Treaty of Waitangi. That was the whole point of the Treaty. | Andy |
| Custom can be interpreted in any way that they see fit for that instance. It will vary for every tribe. That makes it a wishy washy mess. Law is solid reasoned fact. It can be dealt with rationally. Tikanga cannot be rational. It can be anything at any time by anyone, and it can be made up. Who really knows what it was 180 years ago.its irrational and therefore destructive. | Laurine |
| Absolutely and most definitely not!!! | Mike & Jillian |
| One law for all New Zealanders. | Peter |
| It goes against democracy – it cannot co-exist. | Ross |
| Myths and fables have no place in law | Charles |
| definitely not | Lorraine |
| Laws must be well defined, and not subject to interpretation on the whims of a few to suit their agenda. | Mark |
| There was no law and order in NZ until after 1840. | Charles |
| We must stop the rot NOW !!!! | Alan |
| Tikanga does not have a place in New Zealand law. A senior member of my family has just completed a reading of John Robinson’s latest book: REGAINING A NATION- Equality and Democracy. His final comment after many throughout the reading was, “I’ve never read such a frightening book about New Zealand in all my life.” It was a Tross Publishing October 2022 edition. | Donald |
| It shows an appalling bias to a small part of the population | Laurel |
| We need to go back to visit how the TREATY is INTERPRETED and re-introduce the Westminster way of legislation with equal rights for all KIWIS. | NEIL |
| Of course not. By introducing Tikanga is leaving the laws wide open to be altered to suit a maori perspective. Imagine what the radicals could come up with under that. Get rid of it asap. | Peter |
| It is more Maori myth and has no place in the law of NZ | Dianne |
| What’s in this for Jacinda. Or should the question be what does the Maori elite have over tribe Jacinda | Keith |
| Add those 3 judges to the list | Harvey |
| Send it packing, maybe it can join Sharia Law in the neververse. | Allan |
| It is all simply tragic | Rosalie |
| we are seeing the country reverting back to be run by tribes. . Helped by the labour government who are trying to turn our democracy to socialism. | chris |
| Tikanga has no place in New Zealand law and all reference to it should be removed. If it remains then apartheid will be fostered and that is not what we want. | Derek |
| Too me is just pushing the country further into apartheid. As a New Zealand citizen I find what is going is dangerous and I fear there will be a back lash and it could end up violent. | Jackie |
| The No vote is qualified in that Maori may believe whatever they wish as individuals or groups but it has no place when being forced on others who do not subscribe to tikanga. | Alastair |
| Absolutely definitely not. | Eileen |
| Hell NO – neither does the Waitangi Tribunal….. | john |
| All human decision should be based on whats best for the greater good rather than what good for the local iwi. | Anon |
| Apartheid Racism call it what you will | Murray |
| Absolutely not! | Brenda |
| Absolutely not.! | Errol |
| Aparthied. We fought against. We protested against. We divided our nation against it. And yet now, embrace it. I am disgusted. Will the next lot of politicians have the Balls to dismantle? I think not ! We despair for NZ future. Sad but true. | stewart |
| Stone Age mumbojumbo | Ihaia |
| Absolutely not!This is taking us back to the Stone Age.Interesting how the proponents of all this nonsense still love all the benefits of Western civilisation which has evolved to bring the huge benefits we all share today. The development of the nation state has taken centuries.These greedy, self interested idiots will drag us back to the wonderful era of tribalism and the sycophantic, pseudo intellectuals who embrace all this will be the first to squeal when reality bites. Foreign investment will disappear and we’ll become the Zimbabwe of the South Pacific. | Bernie |
| Racist Marxist unacceptable rubbish | Hylton |
| Only idiots and stupid people would say yes | Tom |
| I thought we were all New Zealanders but obviously it is now a case of Maori and the ” others ” . – Too, in the late 1800’s there was Pidgeon English but fast forward to the 2020’s we seem to now have Pidgeon Maori !! | Logan |
| common and statute law should be unaffected by tikanga, whatever that is interpreted as | fred |
| No to ‘tikanga’ having a place in any New Zealand Law. We do not even need to have a clear meaning of the word because it should only mean what it meant prior to the 1840 ToW. We need to understand that we are all New Zealand citizens trying to live in these lands co-operating with each other with the aim to achieve decent, clean, happy lives. That we All need to be treated equally and in the same manner under our legitimate Westminster type parliamentarian laws. The whole nation will only go forward with success if All our nation’s children are able to reach a good level in learning both the English language and becoming proficient in Numeracy. Just to achieve this would be a big advancement in the nation’s future abilities and personal maturity levels that could be the spores to evolve a more harmonious and an agreeable co-operative population. Come on New Zealand. | Garry |
| Another racist law being brought in under the guise of The Treaty | Rod |
| One law for all please. | Tim |
| No – absolutely not! Having said that, the Peter Ellis case is a shameful blot on New Zealand’s legal history. An ailing judge, a police detective having an affair with one of the parents, man hating expert witnesses that broke every rule in the book for interviewing children – the list goes on and on. Disgraceful! | David |
| No, tikanga is a vague concept that can’t be defined, which is not how the law works. | James |
| Why have some so called intelligent people believe these maori myths and superstitions should be used in the 21st centery is beyond me so the sooner we can get rid of them and adern and her chocalate mates to get NEW ZEALAND back on the road to recovery and a safe and decent country to live in the better we will all be. | Richard |
| We are one nation not two. Apartheid should have place here. But unfortunately the Justices have been hoodwinked by powerful Maori who have no ethics nor conscience. | Ann |
| Tikanga is a custom of a stone age race which has not been tested for clarity or fairness to everyone equally . The laws of our country have been tested by learned participants and refined to the quality they are today and under our present judicial system will be continued in refinement well into the future . Tikangi does not even come close to that high standard. | William |
| We need law based on written facts not myths and methology or customary rights as pointed out in Muriel’s column as the NZ Police will tell you an eye witness is the least reliable evidence you can obtain and of those whom tell ones history by word of mouth with no written accompaniment is not based on fact but of a history littered with inaccuracies and embellishments with their being no written history to reflect or compare these stories against. Is this why our education system has been systematically disemboweled to prevent the average Kiwi from having the required critical thinking ability to challenge or see threw these fabrications. | Larry |
| No. Common law is what is fair for all. Tikanga is confused and vague and divisive. It has no place in New Zealand as we know it. Noone has agreed to this. | Rosemary |
| Nor does tribalism | Phillip |
| Whatever it is??? Another myth/legend. | Sheena |
| RACISM | sheryl |
| TIKANGA May have relevance to the 15% of the population who are Maori but absolutely no relevance to the rest of the population,should we change the laws to fit in with other beliefs!! Let’s stick to common sense for goodness sake! | Chris |
| As I understand it, ‘tikanga’ is a concept, not a legal entity | Charles |
| Total BS. | Maddi |
| Its too arbitrary | Margie |
| No it doesn’t | Roger |
| NO | tony |
| Definitely not. | Mary |
| It is imprecise and its meaning vague and can be molded to suit the purposes of Iwi Dictators. | John |
| Absolute rubbish! | Mike |
| No way. I see it’s also being snicker into the new rules of Incorporated Societies..you can have your say at the moment but times running out | Cat |
| Absolutely not!!!! | Campbell |
| One law for all | kabe |
| celebs pay heaps to protect their image | chris |
| A disgraceful affair | Maureen |
| Absolutely NOT | Peter |
| Next: Allow Maoris to carryout cannibalism but not everyone else. | Ian |
| Absolutely note, no tikanga in our law. Its a delusional impression that has no precise meaning and instead rely’s on the vague opinions of those enforcing their ideologies onto our society | Phil |
| Absolutely NOT. All the mythical Maori type thinking has NO place in our modern democratic country The public of NZ must force an injunction on this Govt to prevent such tribal myth taking hold in our law. | Graeme |
| Lets move on. We are a multi-cultural nation. One and the same law for all, please. | Doug |
| This Law is supposedly to benefit the indigenous peoples. Maori are not the indigenous peoples. they have a Treaty but that does not make them indigenous. | Dave |
| Tikanga One groups opinion This is no basis for consistent legal outcomes for every citizen | Rex |
| Absolutely NOT. It became null and void when the parties to the Treaty of Waitangi ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria and therefore became subject to British law and citizenship rights and privileges. | Neil |
| Its all out of control just got silly | Noel |
| I’m sick of all this BS | Laurie |
| Nope Nope Nope it’s totally racist and defames New Zealander’s rights of Democracy | David |
| Tikanga cannot be challenged and has no place in law. | Robert and Louise |
| this is just absurd that the we are changing the whole of our Country to satisfy a few entitled. We are all ONE | Helen |
| Unbelievable! Why?? Tikanga Maori rule didn’t work too well before 1840 did it? | John |
| HELL NO – A THOUSAND TIMES NO! | dave |
| I always thought “Law” was based on well defined statutes and words, so there is NO place for vague, make it up as you go words such as “tikanga” or any other equally vague word regardless of origin | Michael |
| Absolutely NOT. | Lloyd |
| we cant keep living in the dark ages | john |
| No! – absolutely not! We must be dumb unto death as a nation to have allowed this Stone Age tripe to proceed as far as it has! Our complacency will be our undoing and we will suffer the penalty of taking our hard won rights and freedoms for granted. We need to wake up and realise that our so-called “leaders” do not serve us and the sooner we can replace them with those who will, the better. | Scott |
| Absolutely not !!!!! We have had enough of the pandering to what is a minority and the extreme warping of the Treaty to suit any agenda. Get rid of the Labour party and their radical leftist and globalist agendas and whilst about it get rid of the loony Greens and the Maori party. Nobody I know of anywhere verbally, online or in any social media agrees with Jacinda and her minions and agendas but NZ’rs are far too naive and apathetic to do anything about her. With what is happening in the US and globally perhaps the wheels are finally turning. | Alan |
| Have no idea what tikanga is | Collin |
| When judges of the highest court of the land embark on such adventurism, what hope is there for respect for the rule of law. The decision merely reinforces the concerns of all of those who at the time it was proposed to shed the rich judicial tradition and wisdom of the Privy Council’s role as our highest court of appeal, worried about this very potential in a small country with a unicameral parliament and a single law society for our legal system to be undermined. | roger |
| No no no. No one can even define tikanga | Bev |
| If it is then the next step will be witchcraft! The Tanisha is a mystic creature just like the Greek Gods. No relevance in today’s World of Law and Order. | Robyn |
| One law for all. | Janet |
| Absolutely not. Heresay and witchcraft have no place in a legitimate legal system. | Chris |
| We are a democratic country, everything has been fine until all this MORE TO MAORI to rule with started . Our country has always been rules that apply to EVERYONE, now we are a divided country and it is getting worse. | Nan |
| Never | Bruce |
| Absolutely not. Tikanga is vague and capable of interpretation to suit. The law must be definite to avoid misinterpretations. | Jack |
| NO! 85% of the population are not Maori or even part-Maori, so why should this ‘thing’ be imposed on the rest of us. The Rule of Law, as it stands and has stood for nearly 200 years, should be the Laws that we ALL adhere to. | Heather |
| Should be nipped in the bud and buried | Colin |
| Absolutely not. | David |
| Any system which values people needs the same consistent law for everyone. | Ian |
| Emphatically NO. | Pam |
| It’s a form of apartheid | bill |
| Hardly let’s get this nonsense stopped for good | Peter |
| Hey, poo poos on the floor have to be cleaned up. Ardern needs to be arrested for her unmandated rule. | Kevin |
| How can an unprovable set of mythical concepts be included in law of a modern first world counrty? | Brent |
| It should be ONE LAW FOR ALL NO EXCEPTIONS | LesW |
| Not NZ Law | tony |
| Absolutely not | V |
| this must be shouted out loud to no place in nz | leo |
| I voted no as there is no real understanding what tikanga means. Until something can be VERY clearly defined it has no place in Law | Cookie |
| Apartheid, myth, legend and hearsay can only lead to chaos. | charles |
| Absolutely, unconditionally not. | John |
| thats the last thing we want | graeme |
| we cant live in the past | warwick |
| Absolute corrupt and despotic madness | Siobain |
| Absolutely NO in New Zealand law. | Peter |
| Never, it connot be clearly defined in meaning. | Ian. |
| No – If for no other reason, that the “Tribal law” of one tribal area is bound to differ from some or all of the others. The Ellis case has accordingly heralded the descent of common law into a rather loose “if the cap fits wear it” rationale. | Jacqueline |
| Maori language has meaning rooted in context. Taken out of context it is open to interpretation in very strange ways. A waka is a canoe not a motor vehicle. Tikanga exists in the maori world not the world most of us live in. I suppose this will gain momentum like the misinterpretation of the use of the word partnership in judicial reference to the treaty. | Peter |
| this country and government is out of control. It needs to stop now. | Tracet |
| This hocus pocus rubbish doesn’t belong in a modern court of law – get rid of this government and all their troughers. | Clive |
| never,never,never,never | owen |
| And the High Court Judges who have bought it in meed sacking. | Ronmac |
| No stone age tribal mumbo jumbo belongs in New Zealand law | Hugh |
| Tikanga is based only on generations of hearsay Unreliable and irrelevant | Nigel |
| Apartheid is entrenched in NZ and will continue to strengthen until the separate Maori seats in parliament are abolished. For that is the essence which defines APARTHEID. | Geoff |
| Because is it indefinable in law – therefore it cannot be included without contradiction | Skarlett |
| Absolutely no way in our democracy | Shaun |
| Only on Marae , not in legislation or the judiciary | John |
| No racist laws | bud jones |
| Absolutely not, never. | Laura |
| ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!! | William |
| Myths and madness have no place in a court of law! | Roger |
| Another nail in the coffin | richard |
| SNEAKY ELITE MAORI AND WAITANGI TRIBUNAL LEAD JUDGES BY NOSES | JOHN |
| In my view Ardern is as dangerous as Putin . She should be jailed along with her colleagues who do not believe in one man/women one vote principles’and Peters too for puting her in that position | alan |
| It is absurd ! | Christopher |
| Racism at its worse | David |
| Tikanga should not be included into our Laws as it is not a properly defined entity and has not been established in Law by democratic means Shame on the Judges who hold high office in NZ and believe they can rewrite our Laws according to popular political beliefs. | Bev |
| Absolutely, no! Under this Labour government the country is very quickly unravelling. The sooner we all wake up and turf the lot out the better we will be. They must be thrown out next year. | Rob |
| Never | moyra |
| You have to admire a culture that changes the rules to suit to occasion, and gets away with it. The Hybrids have no shame | Allan |
| This must not happen. | Julianne |
| The question is too broad however. | cliff |
| Absolutely not | Simonne |
| Muriel says it all. | June |
| It’s absolute Maori mythical ROT!! This is another aspect of the untouchable Maori wonderfulness of falsehoods destroying our civil society. Daily our newspapers report maori violence, assaults and criminality. What if one kills and eats his victim, a customary pre-European Maori practise? Then he goes through the appeals system and claims tikanga, namely that maori custom legitimises his action. What hypocrisy will they produce to twist their way out of that scenario? | Tony |
| There are no Maoris in New Zealand they are all mixed race | Mike |
| It’s aparthied | Lyn |
| Folks If we go back in time to early Maori life, ways, culture….ways of doing things (their laws) it was all about UTU and theft and trickery over other tribes..I am so sick of the PC labour Government pandering to this, the above, ways of the Maori….really, are we opening ourselves to UTU and the treachery that was the ‘norm’ for their culture…the needed the Laws that us white fellows brought for them and us to live under. There is nothing redeeming about their historic ‘culture’ sorry, if it is a return to their ways of doing life! | karl |
| more far ken snatch and grab from these bloody brown face wankers, | Anon |
| I do not like pidgin mixing of languages. I do not accept “tikanga” has a place in our legal system. The use of hate speech is an issue for the PM. I think a more serious issue is the undermining of democracy by the Ardern government along with this unacceptable dilution of long established law. These issues are dangerous nonsense being facilitated by an ineffective and poorly lead government manipulated by activists. | Peter |
| Lets keep it simple, NZ law is for everyone. | Brian |
| Its putting into law a vauge law based on a races cultural beliefs, based on a whim….. | Carl |
| I am not Maori and such vague ‘laws’ as tikanga, will never relate to me. | Carl |
| Definitely not as the law stands at present. | Frank |
| stupidity! | Wiremu |
| The existing laws and common law are sufficient. This case was just more gerrymandering by some top judges. Shame on them and their so-called “profession”. | sally |
| Definitely not. Let’s get rid of this divisive Labour Party and restore democracy to all people | Warren |
| Hocus pocus should never be permitted to trump legal precedent | Geoffrey |
| No, He Puapua and all that stuff is nonsense. We are all one people as the Treaty says. | william |
| Definitely not a real backwards and racist step | Carl |
| The cancer spreads | Brian |
| It’s such a vague concept. Like playing pin the tail on the cloud. Our laws need clear concise guide lines laid out by parliament that apply to all the people of New Zealand | Kirke |
| Noone fought against apartheid harder than NZ Now extremists are trying to introduce it here. | Brian |
| Definitely not Labour is pandering to a minority of NewZealanders utterly disgusting dividing us by their stupid nonsense. | Barbara |
| We are being taken down a rat hole | Evans |
| It is aparthied by stealth and a planned assault on democracy. The applucarion to appeal tikanga in our common law must be appealed. | Terry |
| NO not ever | Peter |
| Idiot NAtional again | Thomas |
| Already provided for in current legal provisions | alan |
| Might have been possible, had the “elite”not abused the kindness ofEuropeans. | Gill |
| Absolutely NOT! Our law system and democracy owe nothing whatever to tribalism and we have developed it over the last 800 years and need to defend it. | Roger |
| Of course not, absolutely ridiculous. The use of the word “coup” and its application is interesting, | Ray |
| Absolutely Not | Peter |
| NO!!!! Hans Christian Anderson’s Fairy Tales have no place in New Zealand Law so why should Maori Fairy Tales have any place in New Zealand Law. C’mon Luxon and co PULL FINGA. Talking about Law why are the opposition not kicking the opposition over the state of affairs we now have in that there are NO consequences for criminal actions The country is stuffed! | Bruce |
| British Law is the primary method in New Zealand from the beginning | David |
| It bypasses our laws | John |
| No !!! we are “ALL” one people, “ALL” one nation. | Richard |
| Already foreign newspapers are starting to speculate about New Zealand being the next failed state. This is being driven by the most hated treacherous prime minister and government NZ has ever had. There is hardly a section of industry that Ardern has not destroyed. With the dairy/beef industry to take a big hit they will be generating less in the way of taxes from the farmers who have been funding hospitals and pharmac and in future your family members will not be getting the care and relief from pain that is the norm for a western country. Time to choose if this mob is the best for your families. I cannot believe this is what NZ wants. You have had ample demonstration that this a Government that does not practice democracy and I do not believe we can give them another year to practice their evil. The Australians should also be aware of the threat that a marxist NZ poses to their Eastern border. It almost beggars belief what this Government has wrought. | Terry |
| We already have a democratic system so no need to change it. And why is there a 75 year clamp down on findings from Waipouli forest stone house findings and DNA tests | Ken |
| Another nail in the coffin of democracy | Bryan |
| NO NEVER. Labour and their racist maori caucus need to be removed from office now. Come on Nats, Act and N.Z 1st a no confidence vote immediately and put this trash out with the rubbish. … | Kevin |
| Absolutely not !! Racist in the extreme | Maurice |
| It should have no connection whatsoever. | James |
| Race is not a characteristic that has any rational place in the law. | tony |
| Stop this Maori stealth takeover immediately | Kevin |
| No – it should have no place within our legal system. Maori should have equal political power to every other group (i.e. in proportion to population numbers) and equality under the laws of New Zealand. If Tikanga finds a place in law, what about people like me – of Irish background? What about Pasifika and our growing Middle-Eastern and North African populations? We have many eastern Europeans and immigrants from the US, Canada and Europe. Each of these, and other groups, has an indigenous background and traditions that have no place in New Zealand law either. So – one law for New Zealanders and equality for all citizens. David | David |
| Thanks Key/Finlayson. | neil |
| For all the reasons outlined in this edition | Mel |
| Absolutely not. We are in 2022 not 1840 where maori raped and pilaged each other and practised canabalism, removing babies from slave mothers wombs and cooking them On a stake over a fire. Labour he pua pua in action again. LABOUR MOST GO NOW Come on other parties initiate a NO CONFORDENCE VOTE IMMEDIATELY . THIS SCUM LABOUR GOVT MUST BE REMOVED. | Allan |
| “The law is an ass” someone once famously wrote. However, Tikitanga makes the law completely irrelevant and leaves it to the whim of the woke feelings of any specific day. | Pieter |
| NO!!! What other mumbo-jumbo Tanisha type of rubbish has also already been added to laws we NO nothing of. | Peter |
| Pre treaty customs have no place in democracy. | Peter |
| Law needs to be based on absolutes, tikanga is at best a social construct and subject to vast interpretation with no useful precedent. | Gerrard |
| Tikanga, taniwhas, animism, should never be imposed on anyone and definitely not be any part of the ‘Law’. We are all human beings. We all have our different beliefs and we all have affinity with our natural resources. No one person or belief system should have precedence over anyone else. | Jacquetta |
| This is appalling!!! I can’t believe all of this horrible stuff is happening in our country. I feel very sad n angry | Deb |
| We already had sufficient law in place for this case, to step across into a world of unclear meaning of “tikanga” can only cause confusion to legal processes. | Paula |
| Tikanga law has no basis in a liberal democracy There are no codified or precedent guides | Geoffrey |
| This may result in an insurrection. | Terry |
| Now we will have tohunga with more status than law? | Sally |
| It%u2019s all a bit late now to introduce such a law. This country is now a well established democracy to which the great majority of citizens have signed up to. To introduce radical change without consultation Is a national crime | Lindsay |
| Why should such small percentage of the population get to bring in their cultural superstitions and the like taking us back years | Colleen |
| This is so awful we must all stand together and fight against that dreadful woman and her cronies and remove them from power before NZ as we know it is destroyed forever. Shame on them. | Erin |
| Maori do not own this country, we all do so they can get stuffed. | Graham |
| No brainer | Barras |
| Absolutely not!!! | Margaret |
| Laws for the people need to be based on substance, not ethereal fluff. Almost daily, now, somebody with a personal agenda is attempting to re-write history and precedent for their own personal gain. Wiser heads must prevail, for the benefit and survival of all generations, everywhere, irrespective of race. | David |
| No it cannot. Laws are being changed to suit the Maori elite. The members of their tribes will not benefit, but Kaumatua will as they in the tribal sense are the owners of property and rights and the elders are not required to share with the actual tribe the benefits received. | Brian |
| One country, one law for all | Chris |
| Emphatically NO NO !! | russell |
| Including tikanga changes the basic NZ law and should be decided by binding referendum not by Jacinda having another lightbulb moment. | gay |
| One country, one law for all, one people. No race based anything! | Murray |
| It%u2019s part of co-governance and that will never work! Look at the model unfolding before us with Te Urewhera! | Rose |
| NEVER | Jill |
| Of course it doesn’t. If this Maori crap continues in New Zealand, there is likely to be a civil uprising. | Des |
| Given the definition of tikanga is “Maori customary practices or behaviours” doesn’t, as such it doesn’t reach the bar to enact as law. | john |
| Of course not. | Robbie |
| No, it doesn’t. | Kate |
| This ***** and her Maori hangers-on must be removed ASAP. NZ cannot afford to let these treacherous MPs carry on for another year. Where are the opposition parties on this manipulated law (?). Oh yes, the bought and paid for Media won’t report any of this. They are, like Ardern, crooked as. | Carolyn |
| does tikanga include cannibalism, rape, slavery, murder etc | clive |
| I had to look up the meaning of the word. | Steve |
| Time to end this nonsense. But we can’t rely on National to do it, John Key s government is responsible for the current mess | Rod |
| Its just corruption! | David |
| Absolutely not!!! Most of this maori mumbo jumbo is only appearing in recent times. Made up by maori activists who want to rule New Zealand. Look at the rot that is destroying African countries with all their tribal nonsense. | Darryl |
| More Maori crap forced down our thriats. At the moment I don’t even know the English name of any government department. It appears that English is no longer an acceptable language. What a load of crap this government is | Peter |
| NO NO NO NO and NO again.!! Separatism, divisive laws, apartheid, and this disgusting govt. all need to go NOW! | Elizabeth |
| Again…. a slippery slope… | Gary |
| This ***** and her government are selling us out for votes | laurie |
| Definitely not, it is a term that should only be applied to societal issues and never applied to law or government policies | Jeffrey |
| I fail to see how tikanga can apply to the Ellis case as he was not Maori nor of Maori decent and tikanga is not part of our legal system. I do however, agree that the family of Peter Ellis, and any other person, should always have the right to clear the name of their deceased relative of any miscarriage of justice which Peter Ellis definitely incurred. I do not think this is tikanga but simple natural justice. | Keith |
| This is a method for the iwi (I want its) to achieve their aim of getting control by stealth | Tony |
| Tikanga should have no status in law. It has the same status, logically, as the term aotearoa. | Grant |
| However, Believe that Ellis was innocent. Am pleased his name has been cleared. | Sandra |
| NO, and it never should be. | COLIN |
| According to the Holy Bible, man (and women) were created equal by God. Our politicians and judges need to start acting like it…without fear or favour. | Christopher |
| End of discussion. NO. Nothing of Maori origin has any place giving their bleached descendants rights and privileges over other New Zealanders | Mike |
| next govt MUST get rid of this along with the activist judges who slipped this into our legal system | Mike |
| Definitely not | Graeme |
| Absolutely not. No other western democracy would contemplate such a primitavist, animistic and stone-age maneouvre by an iwi elite that numbers just 4% of New Zealand’s 2022 total population of perhaps 160 different cultures. | Paul |
| For Maori obviously.Not for all of NZ. | Graham. |
| The thought of it appals me! | Ron |
| it’s very vague and open to abuse by a fraction of NZ’s population, giving them ownership far beyond their rights. | Maureen |
| Cultural mumbo-jumbo, that has no specific definition, relies on an “expert” who must be Maori instructing the judge, and can be claimed by only people of Maori descent, clearly breaks every rule in NZ common law. It’s a joke – just like our racist government and our Minister of Justice, who also happens to be Maori – no surprise there! | Derek |
| Return New Zealand to the people | Nev |
| No law based on race has any part in our country. It is bringing in apartheid. | Andrew |
| This is State- and judicial-sponsored corruption. Given that the term “tikanga” can be twisted in any direction it must be removed from law.. Maori separatists will be elated with the ruling. There is now free rein to manipulate issues in their favour even if Labour is ousted. National will need to reverse this but, so far, has shown no inclination to do so. | Gavin |
| No, and no again. We are going backwards to a pre-Christian area, to tribal rule and all that entails. Tell Willie Jackson and you get called a moron and an idiot. | Florence |
| Absolutely no | Peter |
| What has happened to this country, ever since this Jacinda woman and her communist ways has taken control, the place has gone to the dogs, unless we can get rid of her, the sooner the better, then there will be so much for the next gov’t to put right that they will not be able to right everything before next election. Come on NZ, now is the time to rise up and show we do not want this crap to ruin the country!! | Roy |
| Definitely not | Jim |
| no way, never ever | Henk |
| We could be a world leader in an harmonious multicultural model..however we are on the path to divisive laws underpinned by tikanga, societal disharmony fueled by racial hatred and ultimately a nation ruled by tribal elites…ie nepotism. | Ken |
| What does i’tikanga’ mean? | Tony |
| This is an utter disgrace. | Cherry |
| As has been mentioned many times in the past Maori are no more indigenous than anyone else in New Zealand having, by their own admission, traveled here not too long prior to europeans, I expect that inconvenient little fact will be forgotten in one of the many rewrites of New Zealand history yet to come. | John |
| It is the foundation of apartheid | Bruce |
| Maori rule!!!!Out | Donald |
| Bordering on Humpty Dumpty in Alice, insanity. | Dick |
| This is utter nonsense. There is no DEFINITION of “tikanga” — it can mean anything unspecified “advisors” want it to. We appear to be regressing to the dark ages. The govt behind this lunacy must go. | Sue |
| Having a word with no clear definition, just provides and excuse for not following the law. | Steve |
| Absolutely Not! | Trish |
| We need to apply to the King to have this gvmt disbanded, NOW. | Norm |
| Most definitely NO. This new interpretation is going to be a disaster for our country. If only the Judges could be sacked. They are an utter disgrace to their positions. | Helen |
| Absolute crap | Barry |
| HAHA repealing these law changes by the next Government. What a joke!! Maybe Act might be uttering a word or two in criticism but National is paying lip service only and they will not dare to do anything. I do not understand at all how all this could come that far, There seems to be no way to get off this run away train anymore. Not without applying radical measures anyway. (( OOPS hat speech again)) | Michael |
| Customs using chinese whispers to relate them have no place in law. | Hone |
| I believe we have a government hell bent on destroying democracy for socialist gain. Bring on an early election with urgency and make the pm answer questions | Ken |
| No tribal, which doctor laws in nz | paul |
| Never. Our present laws should protects everyone and rights and responsibilities should be the same for all | Michael |
| Myth | Graeme |
| Jabinda Ardgerm and her Maori backers are taking NZ from the 21st century back to the dark ages. | Ron |
| No, no, no! The meaning of tikanga can be twisted in any direction. It has NO place in the law. | Paul |
| Absolutely not. And those Supreme Court judges wanting to introduce tikanga into the law should be sacked. Oh – I forgot. Judges can’t be sacked – we are stuck with them. What a debacle! | Gordon |
| Things are going from bad to worse under this Ardern Labour Government. The sooner they are removed from office, the better! | Roger |
| Maori supremacists will be delighted with the “gift” the Supreme Court has delivered them. They now have an almost free run to manipulate things in their favour even after Labour is ousted. National will need to fix this otherwise tribal activists will increase their power. Tikanga must be removed from the law. | Henry |
| Nothing surprises me anymore. This corruption of the law is just another step towards the death of our democracy. | Laura |