Author(s): Mike Butler

New Zealand Non Fiction

The Treaty of Waitangi was a simple, 375-word document, consisting of three articles, a preamble and a postscript, by which Queen Victoria obtained sovereignty over the anarchic and bloodstained islands of New Zealand (first article). Maori were guaranteed possession of their property that they could sell to the government (second article), and all Maori including the many slaves became the Queen’s subjects, equal to Britons - an unprecedented status for tribal people at that time. The treaty did not give Maori any special rights but radicals of the late 20th century and their collaborators in Parliament and on the Bench have created a quite different treaty that allowed the government to govern settlers only while letting chiefs carry on being chiefs. This is nonsense as, were it true, the chiefs would have kept their slaves and continued their cannibalism. Moreover, the twin fictions of “principles” and “partnership” have expanded into demands for 50 percent of the nation’s resources for the benefit of part-Maori who make up only 14 percent of the population. This book compares the treaty that was signed in 1840 with a redefined 1980s version and unravels the tangled web that the lawyer-driven treaty industry has become. It tells of missionaries, musket wars, land sales, the 1860s armed conflicts, the 1940s settlements, Maori sovereignty protest, the grievance industry from 1985, as well as the rise of the new-rich tribal corporations. It is vital for every New Zealander to understand what lies behind this newly created phenomenon, which is driving a sword through the unity and sovereignty of the nation. This book explains the issues truthfully and clearly.