DAVID SEYMOUR and the Act Party's Treaty Principles Bill is not so much an attempt to 'reinterpret' the Treaty of Waitangi but to significantly undermine it, in the interests of capital. For some four decades New Zealand has been stretched and pulled apart in the name of capitalism. But standing in the way of capital's further expansion is the Treaty of Waitangi. Rupert O'Brien has made that point clear in an excellent article for Spinoff:
'Many political commentators think the Act Party doesn’t fully grasp the importance of the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, or lacks understanding of their real purpose. But this belief gives far too little credit to the party’s forward planning. Act, and their benefactors, do understand Te Tiriti, they remember the effects that it has had in the past, and they know that it stands as a major obstacle in their goal of deregulation and promoting laissez-faire economics.'
He goes on to say:
'The Treaty principles have proved a significant roadblock to both corporatisation and privatisation in the past and present a clear threat to any plans of future development of public assets to the private sector. This effect is likely one of the key, although unstated, reasons for the push to return Te Tiriti to its erstwhile status as a simple nullity.'
This is also something that Green Party co-leader Chloe Swarbrick alluded to in Parliament on Thursday. While other events that day grabbed the headlines, Swarbrick made the important point that the motivation of the Treaty Principles Bill is to remove a significant obstacle in the way of further capital accumulation:
'Capitalism, an economic system with the key priority being to turn profit at almost any cost, needs colonisation. This insatiable, unsustainable economic system needs to assimilate and acquire new frontiers to exploit. It needs to turn every citizen into a consumer and to commodify our natural world. And right now, in this country, the biggest thing standing in its way is the resilience and the fire in the enduring movement from mana motuhake.'
Certainly, the defence of the Treaty of Waitangi seems to be the last line of resistance against capital and its beneficiaries, especially since 'traditional' working class organisations like the Labour Party and the trade union movement have done so little to defend working class interests. There has never been a 'line in the sand' they have not been prepared to surrender.
That said, resistance to the Treaty Principles Bills should also not be the defence of an economic and political status quo that severely disadvantages working-class Maori.
But the leaders of the movement against the Treaty Principles Bill, like Labour Party MP and multimillionaire Willie Jackson, are largely defenders of the neoliberal status quo that has kept most Maori poor. While Jackson, as a Minister in the previous Labour Government, boasted of the 'booming Maori economy' it is only a Maori elite that have benefited from that boom. There has been no 'trickle down' of the wealth to working class Maori.
It is also worth remembering that Te Pati Maori continue to blame 'racism' for the plight of working-class Maori rather than capitalism. This isn't entirely surprising since, historically, TPM has always represented Maori business interests. It was part of the National Party government from 2008 to 2017.
While Willie Jackson and other Maori of his liberal persuasion may continue to support neoliberalism, tino rangatiratanga is impossible in a capitalist economy like ours. Yet a Maori elite who have enjoyed the economic benefits of neoliberalism continue to act as if decolonisation can be achieved while accommodating itself to the neoliberal status quo and to capitalism.
Tino rangatiratanga though must mean liberation for all Maori and not just its elite. It is also in the interests of the Pakeha working class, who, like their Maori brothers and sisters, have also seen few tangible benefits from four decades of neoliberalism.
'Many political commentators think the Act Party doesn’t fully grasp the importance of the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, or lacks understanding of their real purpose. But this belief gives far too little credit to the party’s forward planning. Act, and their benefactors, do understand Te Tiriti, they remember the effects that it has had in the past, and they know that it stands as a major obstacle in their goal of deregulation and promoting laissez-faire economics.'
He goes on to say:
'The Treaty principles have proved a significant roadblock to both corporatisation and privatisation in the past and present a clear threat to any plans of future development of public assets to the private sector. This effect is likely one of the key, although unstated, reasons for the push to return Te Tiriti to its erstwhile status as a simple nullity.'
This is also something that Green Party co-leader Chloe Swarbrick alluded to in Parliament on Thursday. While other events that day grabbed the headlines, Swarbrick made the important point that the motivation of the Treaty Principles Bill is to remove a significant obstacle in the way of further capital accumulation:
'Capitalism, an economic system with the key priority being to turn profit at almost any cost, needs colonisation. This insatiable, unsustainable economic system needs to assimilate and acquire new frontiers to exploit. It needs to turn every citizen into a consumer and to commodify our natural world. And right now, in this country, the biggest thing standing in its way is the resilience and the fire in the enduring movement from mana motuhake.'
Certainly, the defence of the Treaty of Waitangi seems to be the last line of resistance against capital and its beneficiaries, especially since 'traditional' working class organisations like the Labour Party and the trade union movement have done so little to defend working class interests. There has never been a 'line in the sand' they have not been prepared to surrender.
That said, resistance to the Treaty Principles Bills should also not be the defence of an economic and political status quo that severely disadvantages working-class Maori.
But the leaders of the movement against the Treaty Principles Bill, like Labour Party MP and multimillionaire Willie Jackson, are largely defenders of the neoliberal status quo that has kept most Maori poor. While Jackson, as a Minister in the previous Labour Government, boasted of the 'booming Maori economy' it is only a Maori elite that have benefited from that boom. There has been no 'trickle down' of the wealth to working class Maori.
It is also worth remembering that Te Pati Maori continue to blame 'racism' for the plight of working-class Maori rather than capitalism. This isn't entirely surprising since, historically, TPM has always represented Maori business interests. It was part of the National Party government from 2008 to 2017.
While Willie Jackson and other Maori of his liberal persuasion may continue to support neoliberalism, tino rangatiratanga is impossible in a capitalist economy like ours. Yet a Maori elite who have enjoyed the economic benefits of neoliberalism continue to act as if decolonisation can be achieved while accommodating itself to the neoliberal status quo and to capitalism.
Tino rangatiratanga though must mean liberation for all Maori and not just its elite. It is also in the interests of the Pakeha working class, who, like their Maori brothers and sisters, have also seen few tangible benefits from four decades of neoliberalism.
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