It's not about Race, It's about Rights

• Pages: 1-29
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1059-4337(2012)0000057004
• Published date: 10 February 2012
• Date: 10 February 2012
• Author: Ann Sullivan,Valmaine Toki

IT’S NOT ABOUT RACE,

IT’S ABOUT RIGHTS

Ann Sullivan

1

and Valmaine Toki

2

ABSTRACT

In February 1840, Ma

¯ori co-signed the Treaty of Waitangi with the British

Crown. Partnership, protection, and participation are the fundamental

principles provided in the Treaty. In April 2010, the New Zealand

government endorsed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

These two instruments provide indigenous peoples with the right to

participate fully in decision-making that will affect their legal, social,

economic, cultural, and political rights. Having endorsed the Declaration

on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the New Zealand government is

morally obliged to comply with the intent of the Declaration. The focus of

this chapter is on the right of Ma

¯ori to participate and be represented on

the governing councils of local government. It will be demonstrated that the

refusal by the New Zealand government in 2010 to provide dedicated

Ma

¯ori wards on the Auckland Council is contrary to the intent of the

Declaration. The principles of the Treaty of Waitangi require the

government to act with integrity toward the indigenous people of New

Zealand. It will be argued that the failure of local government to utilize

electoral options that will enhance Ma

¯ori representation i n local

government breach obligations inherent in both the Declaration on the

Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Treaty of Waitangi.

Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Volume 57, 1–29

Copyright r2012 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited

All rights of reproduction in any form reserved

ISSN: 1059-4337/doi:10.1108/S1059-4337(2012)0000057004

1

INTRODUCTION

Rights are justified claims to the protection of persons important. (Gerwirth, 1995)

‘‘Human rights’’ is a term which describes those rights recognized as

inherent in each and every one of us by virtue of our common humanity and

innate dignity as human beings. They are rights that must be respected if we

are each to fulfill our potential as human beings and live together in security,

with dignity and equally, without discrimination. These rights are

interrelated, interdependent, and indivisible.

The right to vote and the right to be represented, as Ma¯ori, by Ma¯ori in

both local and central governments is a fundamental political right. It is

from the act of voting that the rules and regulations by which we are

governed flow, empowering citizens to influence governmental decision-

making and to safeguard other human rights (Tuzin, 2010). These rights are

supported by obligations contained in the Declaration on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples (K.A. v. Hungary, 2010), by the principles inherent in

New Zealand’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi (‘‘the Treaty’’),

and by basic principles of democracy.

The New Zealand government endorsed the Declaration on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples (‘‘the Declaration’’) in April 2010 thereby recognizing the

collective right of Ma¯ori as the indigenous peoples of New Zealand to

participatefully in the governingand decision-makinginstitutionsof the nation.

The Court of Appeal (New Zealand Ma

¯ori Council,1987) has argued that

Article 1 of the Treaty of Waitangi established a relationship or a partnership

between Ma¯ori and the Crown. Partnership implies a right to representation

and this is explicitin Article 3 of the Treaty which promises participation rights

equal to those of all citizens,while Article 2 provides for rangatiratanga or self-

determination (Toki, 2010, pp. 243–273). New Zealand’s electoral arrange-

ments at a national level currently provide Ma¯ori with the opportunity to be

proportionally represented in parliament. At the local level of government

however,the electoral arrangementsof choice area major barrier to the effective

and proportional representation and participation of Ma¯ori.

This chapter will demonstrate how international obligations and the

Treaty, as part of New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements, provide for

Ma¯ori as indigenous peoples, as tangata whenua, to be included rather than

excluded from the decision-making institutions of governance.

Part One analyzes both the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous

Peoples and the Treaty of Waitangi as two legal instruments that impose

obligations on government to provide Ma¯ori with the opportunity to

participate meaningfully in decision-making processes of governance. A

ANN SULLIVAN AND VALMAINE TOKI2