Rick
The Anglo Saxon
[The AI transcript of Anglo Saxon’s video, below, was kindly provided by Geoff Parker.]
Across New Zealand, signs have gone up declaring “Decide together, thrive together”. At first glance, the slogan sounds appealing. But hidden within that phrase is the essence of the problem with Māori wards. The word together implies dual authorities – iwi on one side, councils on the other – instead of one single democratic authority representing all New Zealanders.
This is not a minor difference. It cuts to the very heart of how a country is governed. On one hand, there is collective rule – the tribal model in which power is dispersed across many overlapping authorities. On the other, there is sovereign rule – a single authority within fixed borders, accountable to all citizens. These two systems are polar opposites. You cannot have both.
Māori tribalism was based on collective rule: hundreds of chiefs exercising fragmented power, with disputes resolved by shifting alliances and often by war. In contrast, European societies eventually abandoned this same fragmented model. After centuries of bloody conflict, the 1648 Peace of Westphalia established the principle of sovereign territorial rule: one supreme authority within set borders – a foundation for representative democracy and stable nation states.
The Crown brought this model to New Zealand in 1840. The Treaty of Waitangi extended the rights of British subjects to all Māori, emancipating the common class from servitude under the rangatira elite. It gave every individual, regardless of ancestry, the chance to participate in the most successful system of governance ever devised – democratic sovereign rule.
But ever since the 1970s, New Zealand has drifted back toward tribalism. The Waitangi Tribunal revived grievance politics and empowered iwi elites with vast resources, while ordinary Māori were left behind. Calls for Māori wards and iwi appointments to councils are not about fair representation – Māori already vote and stand for office like everyone else. Instead, they embed an unelected tribal authority alongside democratically elected councils, re-establishing a form of collective rule.
History shows the dangers of such systems. Collective rule fosters instability, competing jurisdictions and endless disputes. Europe abandoned it because it led to war. Pre-Treaty New Zealand was wracked by intertribal conflict, culminating in the musket wars that decimated the Māori population. Collective rule cannot coexitst with sovereign democracy. The two systems cancel each other out.
If New Zealand embraces Māori wards, we set ourselves on a path back toward fragmentation, division and conflict. Every step toward tribalism is a step away from equality, unity and the democratic system that allows ordinary Māori – and all New Zealanders – to thrive.
This is NOT Just about local councils. It is about the future of our nation, the stability of our democracy and the wellbeing of generations to come.
Decide together, thrive together is a false promise. The truth is simpler: Decide as one, thrive as one. VOTE NO TO MĀORI WARDS.
