Robert MacCulloch
Robert MacCulloch is a native of New Zealand and worked at the Reserve Bank of NZ before he travelled to the UK to complete a PhD in Economics at Oxford University.
The state-owned broadcaster has just announced, “Every high school in NZ is set to receive a copy of a new book about the Treaty of Waitangi following a surprise donation by an [anonymous] Auckland couple.” One News says the book, Understanding Te Tiriti, is “a guide to NZ’s founding document”. Except that’s not the book’s title. It’s Understanding Te Tiriti: A Handbook of Basic Facts about Te Tiriti o Waitangi. That is no small difference.
What some people call ‘facts’ are not what others call ‘facts’. Our schools teach there’s a difference between fact and opinion. This book self-identifies as factual. That’s merely an opinion of its author. The difficulties posed in finding ‘facts’ have resulted not only in journalists rejecting ‘objectivity’ as an illusion, but also in legal opinions declaring objectivity impossible. One person’s version of the truth invariably differs from another’s.
What’s more, schools haven’t bought the book thanks to a clean “donation”, as declared by One News. It’s not a monetary donation, leaving them free to spend the funds how they wish, in which case they may prefer buying another book. The anonymous donor’s money was paid, as I understand the deal, to the book’s author. Then the books went to the schools.
Understanding Te Tiriti is a political book by a political activist. It influences children how to think, and vote, regarding one of the most politically charged issues in NZ. It’s by Roimata Smail, a lawyer. In her words, “She represented lead claimants in the Waitangi Tribunal Hauora Inquiry that led to the establishment of a Māori Health Authority.” National abolished it, so Smail is no Nat.
She says:
The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill is trying to create three new principles that don’t match what was agreed in Te Tiriti o Waitangi ... It’s important NZ’ers tell the government its not OK to undermine our country’s founding agreement, by passing a law that makes up new principles.
Seems she knows the facts of the agreement, even though the nation doesn’t. She’s no ACT voter.
One News reports:
Te Kura Kaupapa Māori O Te Raki Paewhenua in Auckland was the first to receive their copies and it was already resonating with students. One said, “In Article II of the Māori text, Māori retain their absolute authority over their homes, treasures, and all of their land ... But in the English text, it says ‘Māori yielded sovereignty’ or ‘Māori ceded’ It’s wrong – most Māori signed the Māori text.”
That issue is our most contentious, causing great division. Large numbers of folks don’t agree with this student’s view, including Deputy PM Peters. He asked in Parliament, “Is it a fact that, 102 years ago in a major thesis, Sir Āpirana Ngata set out the very circumstances of the Treaty and said Māori ceded sovereignty?” This blog takes no view on the matter, other than that school children should be presented with all sides to the debate in the name of freedom of expression – and afforded the basic human right to make up their own minds – without coercion.
I run a maths charitable trust. It supports maths competitions in South and West Auckland to improve Maths education, especially amongst Māori and Pasifika. That scheme is brilliantly run by Josephina Tamatoa and Katalina Ma. We award valuable maths prizes to teachers, since the nation has a shortage of them. However, the charity can’t fund a maths text book to be put into schools for teaching purposes (even though we’ve financially supported the writing of a culturally sensitive one to better inspire Māori and Pasifika children to get into the subject). Our education bureaucrats won’t have a bar of it.
Being an economist, I’d also happily pay for a book like Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom to be put into our schools and taught. He’s a pro-free market libertarian. At the same time, children should read opposing view-points, and I’d happily pay for those types of books, but cannot. I’d be accused of brainwashing.
So why was this political donation of a partisan Treaty book accepted? Has it been structured in a tricky way, like as a library gift? Will Sir Āpirana’s ‘major thesis’ also be given to children? How dare the donor shove A Handbook of Basic Facts about Te Tiriti o Waitangi into the faces of under-age children, thinking they can remain anonymous – above the political fray – whilst using their wealth to try driving ACT and NZ First from power, swing elections and achieve influence far greater than gifting to a political party. Those gifts are subject to disclosure laws – why not this one?
https://waiakobooks.com/pages/template-submission-opposing-treaty-principles-bill
This article was originally published by Down to Earth Kiwi.
