Rock The Vote NZ Challenge the Myth of Partnership

Our letter to the Local Government Commission

To whom it may concern,

I am writing on behalf of Rock The Vote NZ regarding the Local Government Commission’s proposed standardised Codes of Conduct - and particularly Clause 8 Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

We ask that Clause 8 be removed completely from the proposed Codes of Conduct because this Clause is very much a contested interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi (especially the notion that the signed Treaty created a partnership), and there has been no formal agreement on this interpretation by the people of New Zealand.

Rock The Vote NZ note that the word “partnership” is not mentioned in the original signed Treaty, therefore to promote that the Treaty as a partnership is essentially false.

To insert Clause 8 is a violation of our NZ Bill of Rights, which ensures freedom of speech, freedom of belief, freedom of conscience, and freedom of expression.

Rock The Vote NZ stands for a strong democracy which includes keeping everything as simple & transparent as possible, This simplicity encompasses the principle that ALL New Zealanders are one with equal citizenship, rights & responsibilities (i.e. there is no partnership between different ethnicities). Transparency includes, in this case, that this document should be openly & fully advertised to the public so that people of New Zealand can know about it & have their say.

In New Zealand there is no place in our democratically elected Councils for race-based political ideology.

Kind regards

Michael Avenell

Chairman of Rock The Vote NZ