Summarised by Centrist
Dr Muriel Newman argues that the government is failing to honour its election pledge to “stop all work on He Puapua,” citing revelations that a new committee led by Labour MP Adrian Rurawhe is working to formally integrate tikanga Māori into Parliament.
According to Newman, tikanga is not law, but a fluid set of ill-defined Māori spirituality and customs that can be manipulated to advance a political agenda.
She writes that introducing tikanga would erode long-standing protections like parliamentary privilege and threaten equal democratic rights.
She argues that the recent parliamentary haka by Te Pāti Māori MPs was a stunt designed to embed tikanga within parliamentary rules.
Newman traces its institutional rise to the influence of Supreme Court Justice Joe Williams, a former Waitangi Tribunal chair appointed by the previous Labour government in 2019.
She further warns that the Māori seats have become “weaponised” tools of “radical activists” committed to constitutional transformation and tribal rule.
Newman argues the Māori seats should have been abolished with universal suffrage or under MMP “given the Royal Commission on the Electoral System explicitly recommended their abolition.”
She also criticises the judiciary, claiming activist rulings – including those on the Marine and Coastal Area Act – are expanding Māori legal rights beyond the original scope of legislation.
