Nothing nebulous, Nicola

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has reinforced the contempt that this government has shown not just for the Treaty of Waitangi but for Māori generally.

- Aaron Smale

In trying to justify the stripping of the requirement for school boards to give effect to the Treaty of Waitangi, Willis referred disdainfully on RNZ National to the principles of the treaty as “nebulous concepts”. She added school boards should be able to leave such matters to those in Wellington. Presumably, she means people in Wellington like herself.

Willis has shown utter arrogance by describing principles derived from the treaty as “nebulous”.

As former attorney-general Chris Finlayson has pointed out, the definition of the principles has been developed by the courts over time. Maybe Willis might like to familiarise herself with the law for a start. And history, which this government seems to want to scrub from the curriculum.

Her disdain is a slap in the face to Māori who know first hand what it means when the crown ignores the treaty.

I could give a litany of examples from my own whānau, starting with my tipuna who left Te Araroa on the East Coast to fight the crown's invasion of Waikato-Tainui. He didn't make it home. He was killed in the Battle of Te Ranga in Tauranga.

He didn't die for a “nebulous” concept, he died fighting against a crown that had breached the treaty by invading and stealing land from Māori.