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Hobson’s Pledge to oppose Maori favouritism

Hobson's Pledge

Don Brash fronts a new group to fight the Maori gravy train. Named Hobson’s Pledge, the group’s mission is to bring New Zealand toward equality for all New Zealanders and end race-based policies and privileges. It calls itself an anti-separatism’ group and brings back the Iwi vs Kiwi campaign from 10 years ago.

Many Pakeha are fed up with politicians pandering to Maori radicals and with the false sense of Maori entitlement that pervades New Zealand society in the 21st century. It is not that many Pakeha feel that they need a leg up or special privilege, rather they just want what many other civilised nations have, equality for all citizens regardless of race. In short, many New Zealanders are apposed to Apartheid, that wretched system enforced through legislation that divides people by race.

More than 10 years ago, Don Brash launched the Iwi vs Kiwi campaign and went into an election with the the idea of New Zealand being a nation of one people regardless of race. His party narrowly missed out winning the 2005 election and with Labour in power followed by a John Key led National Party, we have seen Maori try to claim everything from rights to fresh water to fishing rights in the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary.

This kind of behaviour is despised by many New Zealanders who feel like second-class citizens in their own country. With no lobby group or political party to hear their voice, many New Zealanders vent their frustration in blogs, social media, and internet forums. It seemed only a matter of time before some kind of funded group or party would arise to voice their concerns.

Arise ‘Hobson’s Pledge’, a group that derives it’s title from Governor Hobson who upon the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. greeted each Maori chief with the following pledge: “he iwi tahi tatou” – “we are now one people”. The group’s ideals can be summed up in this paragraph that appears on their homepage.

Our vision for New Zealand is a society in which all citizens are equal before the law, irrespective of when they or their ancestors arrived in this land.

Hobson’s Pledge is a funded group that will put their weight behind any political party that commit to the following ideals:

  • Remove all reference to consultation with any ethnic group from the proposed changes to the Resource Management Act;
  • Hold a referendum on scrapping separate Maori electorates;
  • Drop the proposal to grant tribal trusts special powers to control the allocation of water – something previously regarded as the exclusive province of local government.

Justification for Hobson’s Pledge core ideals are based on their following views:

  • There is nothing in the Treaty of Waitangi justifying any racial preference under the law;
  • Legal equality between citizens is the foundation stone of democracy;
  • True democracy has proven to be the most enduring and successful system of government; and
  • Race-based privilege creates opportunities for corruption, resentment, and unrest.

We can only hope that a good number of New Zealanders get behind this group’s values. If this happens, it is more likely that a political party will work with the group in order to gain the support and vote of their supporters.

To learn more about Hobson’s Pledge, visit their website →

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‘Pakeha’ is a Maori word

I have seen this same message in many tweets and Facebook posts. They say something to the tune of, “How ironic that the ‘Pakeha’ Party is named from a Maori word”.

I don’t understand the reasoning here. The Pakeha Party is about equality for all New Zealanders, and is not about excluding Maori or Maori culture. The point in this tweet would be a valid one, if The Pakeha Party was racist or a White Supremacist movement which of course it is not. The fact that the movement uses a Maori word at all shows that it embraces Maori as it does with all races.

What these kinds of tweets prove is there are the many misconceptions about the Pakeha Party. Surely if a person bothered to educate themselves as to what the movement was about, then they wouldn’t make comments like that. This sort of ignorance is probably no different to those Pakeha in our history who were against equality for Maori. Perhaps if they lived back then they would be equally against equality for Maori as they are for Pakeha now.

Think about it. If you had to make a choice as to which point was racist out of:

1) Parties that are race-based with a pro-race agenda; or
2) Parties that promoted equal rights for all races;

I would certainly choose point 1 as being the racist of the two.

And so it is that The Pakeha Party movement stands with point 2. Not for Pakeha privilege or a Pakeha only agenda, but that all have equal privilege regardless of race.