UN “intruding” in New Zealand affairs

UN “intruding” in New Zealand affairs says academic

AUT University Professor of History, Dr. Paul Moon, has expressed serious concern that New Zealand is being asked to defend its record on the Treaty of Waitangi at the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

“Ministers and officials will be grilled by unelected bureaucrats with at best peripheral knowledge of Treaty issues”, says Dr. Moon, who is the author of two books on the Treaty of Waitangi. “This is the sort of intrusion that New Zealand should not be wasting any time and resources on. It is completely unnecessary”.

Dr. Moon says that as a sovereign nation, New Zealand should not be held accountable to any external institution for an area of domestic policy – especially one which is widely regarded as the most successful of its type in the world.

“Every time this type of meddling takes place”, says Dr. Moon, “the credibility of our sovereignty is eroded”.

Also of concern to Dr. Moon is the lack of expertise by the United Nations Officials on the status of the Treaty: “For an organisation aiming to facilitate international co-operation, its intention to interrogate New Zealand about the measures the country plans on taking to incorporate the Treaty of Waitangi in domestic law is misplaced, and displays an element of ignorance about the status and functions of treaties in international law”.

ENDS

© Scoop Media