Source: Radio New Zealand
Tina Ngata. Supplied/Sarah Sparks
Māori leaders have told the UN Committee on Eliminating Racial Discrimination (CERD) that racism against Māori has escalated under the current government.
New Zealand is signed up to the UN’s International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD). This requires the government to take action to eliminate racism and racial discrimination and promote understanding between all races in Aotearoa.
Under CERD, the government is required to regularly report on its progress at eliminating racial discrimination and supporting indigenous peoples, ethnic and religious minority groups to enjoy their rights and freedoms.
The government is presenting its report to CERD this week in Geneva, the committee will then publish draft findings and recommendations before the end of its 116th session, which concludes on 5 December 2025.
The session was opened by Minister of Justice Paul Goldsmith who told the committee that improving the lives of all New Zealanders, regardless of background, is the government’s priority.
He said he is confident the coalition government’s focus will build a strong economy which will benefit all New Zealanders including Māori.
“It’s the priority of the government to improve the lives of all New Zealanders including Māori and a key focus for this is the government using data, evidence and best practice to deliver social investment on the basis of need.”
Presenting on behalf of the National Iwi Chairs Forum Pou Tikanga and the Peoples Action Plan Against Racism, Tina Ngata told the committee that racism against Māori has escalated under the coalition government.
The Iwi Chairs Forum is one of around twelve organisations who have submitted shadow reports to the committee.
“For our report we’ve really highlighted what we have called the treaty assault, or hostility towards the treaty and that includes the Treaty Principles Bill, the Regulatory Standards Bill, the Treaty Clause Review where they have looked to remove a number of treaty clauses from legislation,” Ngata told RNZ.
The forum also raised concerns that affect other minorities, including the ban on puberty blockers, she said.
“One of the other key issues that we’ve raised is the way in which this government has inverted the language of racism. So an example of that is how David Seymour in a number of his submissions and in public communications has called treaty policies or treaty clauses forms of racism.”
Ngata said there is no one fix to these issues, but it is important to address it on as many fronts as possible, from your own whenua, to the UN, the courts and at select committee.
“The combination of our wānanga, the combination or our occupation, the combination of our hīkoi and our international work that together creates this pressure for government’s to either change how they are or to step to the side.”
Darlene Marks is part of the Kāhui Rangatahi of the Peoples Action Plan Against Racism, there to understand more about the processes at the UN and CERD and to give a young person’s perspective on the issues raised.
Marks told RNZ the removal of the requirement for school boards to give affect to Te Tiriti is one issue they are focused on.
“The first line for our rangatahi is our education system… so making sure that our first experience of Te Tiriti in action is actually upheld by not only our kura, our school boards but also by the government.”
Marks said young people are feeling the onslaught as every day brings a new issue.
“If these institutions can’t hold our government to account it’s hard to think of what else they can do, but it’s also important… making sure that if we don’t have these spaces to talk about these issues this this government is just going to continuously change the rhetoric of what is good and what is wrong in our country at the moment.”
A complaint presented to CERD this week by Māori Health leader Lady Tureiti Moxon is not part of the ordinary reviewing cycle.
Moxon is seeking for CERD to use its Early Warning and Urgent Action procedure, something it has only used once before for New Zealand.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
