Academic Warns Commission Plans Threaten Indigenous Culture

Māori Academic Warns That Commission's Plans Threaten Indigenous Culture

The Human Rights Commission’s plans to penalise what it calls “disharmonious speech” directed at the religions of ethnic minorities could be bad for Māori, says a University of Canterbury Māori academic, Melissa Derby.

In a submission to the United Nations last year, the Commission recommended that the Human Rights Act needs to be amended because at present, it is “unable to be utilised in respect of religious hate speech directed at Muslim New Zealanders.”

Ms Derby says this is a major problem because it privileges a colonising religion and yet fails to give Māori the same sort of protection.

“What we are seeing here is the Human Rights Commission putting up barriers to protect the beliefs of immigrant groups, and discriminating against Māori by not offering the same explicit safeguards. It’s like a form of neo-colonialism.”

Ms Derby will be contacting the Commission to ask for an explanation for what she regards as a discriminatory, anti-Māori report, but does not expect a response. “The Commission is clearly working to an agenda, and it’s very plain that it’s not a Māori agenda.” She says the reason she does not expect a response is simple: “How can I complain about anti-Māori discrimination to the Human Rights Commission when it is the Commission that is guilty of discrimination?”

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