"The Treaty/Tiriti was the starting point not the end point for New Zealand’s constitutional development."

"The Treaty/Tiriti established Crown governance and the rule of law, protected property rights, and conferred equal rights on all New Zealanders. As an international agreement Te Tiriti had no force until it was reflected in domestic legislation. This required the enactment of the NZ Constitution Act 1852 and the establishment of a Parliament....
    "The Treaty/Tiriti was the starting point not the end point for New Zealand’s constitutional development. The1986 NZ Constitution Act confirmed the democratically elected Parliament’s authority and made clear that the Crown has only a symbolic and procedural role....
    "Confusion in today’s Te Tiriti discourse largely arises from activists ignoring the 1840 document and substituting their own interpretations and wishes....
    "Te Tiriti is not a constitutional partnership between Pakeha and Māori or the Crown and Māori.... There are no principles stated in Te Tiriti. There is no “Aotearoa”; Māori are citizens of Nu Tirani (New Zealand). They are not referred to as indigenous nor as tangata whenua....
    "History shows that race-based societies fail. No tribally based society has ever succeeded in the modern world. And yet New Zealand is rapidly racialising and tribalising its system of central and local government and other institutions."

~ Peter Winsley, from his post 'The Human Rights Commission needs to do its job and stay out of politics'