Summarised by Centrist
A foreign-born New Zealand citizen is calling for a separate citizenship pathway for overseas-born Māori based on whakapapa.
John Ruddock, who was born in Australia and raised largely in Hawaii, said he assumed citizenship would not be a problem for his children when he moved to New Zealand.
After discovering citizenship by descent was limited to one generation, he said there needed to be “a tangata whenua pathway or whakapapa pathway” for people in his position.
Ruddock took a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal, which recommended amending the Citizenship Act 1977 to create a tikanga-based pathway allowing hapū and iwi to assess whakapapa evidence.
The Tribunal also recommended extending citizenship by descent to two generations for Māori.
Ruddock and his three children have since secured citizenship, but he said his case should not be regarded as a permanent solution.
“The pathway that I did get… I mean, I don’t really think it’s considered a pathway,” he said.
“I think I creaked open the door.”
Ruddock said Māori should receive a separate process because of their status as tangata whenua.
“I just feel we’re tangata whenua, and we have a unique thing having Te Tiriti,” he said.
“We are always and always will be tangata whenua.”
He said the proposal would not pose “a huge threat to the population, to the government, to the economy”.
Ruddock’s children are now attending school in Wellington and embracing Māori and Samoan culture.
There has been no move by the government to establish the dedicated citizenship pathway recommended by the Tribunal.
