Boom – Winston’s started the new political year.
He’s the only politician to pick up what the Māori King said – inadvertently or not :
“There are no Treaty principles”
Which is bizarre – as that’s what the Hui was about – a reaction to the coalition government and Act’s Bill to define the “Principles”.
The Treaty Principles were first mentioned by the Waitangi Tribunal when it was set up in 1975.
In 1989 under then Labour PM Lange and under the advice of Palmer they set out to define the “principles”. This “defining” has taken on a life of its own, as the Courts and the tribunal and successive governments keep expanding the treaty’s meaning so it’s now the never ending story and encapsulates anything and everything.
Winston Peters has always maintained that the Treaty has no principles and they have been manufactured by academics – in government, the bureaucracy and courts. The Treaty stands on its own as a document and not some kind of pin board for the latest know all know nothing academics to pin their stupid reasons to.
Winston also does not shy away from the reason he did not attend the Hui –
“In a career that spanned six decades, my view has always been the Māori king should NOT be involved in politics – and that was a political meeting”.
