Julia Whaipooti (Ngāti Porou) is in Geneva, Switzerland for the 18th Session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), as the Tatau-Urutahi of the NZ Human Rights Commission.
During its visit in 2019, the EMRIP made recommendations in support of the development of a national plan of action to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
The NZ government has not responded to the EMRIP’s request for a follow-up visit.
Te Ao Māori News reached out to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and ministers Winston Peters and Tama Potaka, none responded.
Commission urges UN to visit despite govt silence
Whaipooti encouraged the UN not to be deterred by the government’s inaction and to proceed with an informal follow-up visit, saying the need is urgent.
She was also a panelist at this year’s discussion on regional human rights institutions in achieving the aims of UNDRIP.
“One year ago I reported the Commission’s concerns about the winding back of human rights in Aotearoa. Matters have not improved since and the New Zealand government continues to undermine indigenous peoples’ rights,” she stressed.
Wider UN concern around international human rights processes
In April, Māori leaders met with high-level officials at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, highlighting breaches of Indigenous rights in Aotearoa, including the Treaty Principles Bill, the proposed referendum on Māori wards, and the disestablishment of the Māori Health Authority.
Following that meeting, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Albert K. Barume, sent an allegation letter to the New Zealand government.
This week, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour came under fire for dismissing the letter as “an affront to New Zealand’s sovereignty” while also breaching confidentiality.
He Puapua and the politics of UNDRIP implementation
After the EMRIP visit in 2019, the He Puapua Report was commissioned by the NZ government and conducted by the Ministry of Māori Development (Te Puni Kōkiri) to achieve the goals set out by the UNDRIP.
He Puapua was leaked to the public in 2021 by the opposition parties (National and ACT). Following the 2023 election, the National Party’s coalition agreement with NZ First included the line item “Stop all work on He Puapua.
Luxon has said that, as Foreign Affairs Minister, he expects Winston Peters to engage with the UN. For many Māori, this will raise alarms as in his party’s Pukekohe Policy, NZ First promised to formally withdraw NZ from the UNDRIP. Peters has also claimed Māori were not indigenous.
Global advocacy: “When the government is not listening”
Whaipooti said over the decades, the United Nations has played a significant role, and that many Māori have taken the global stage.
“When the government is not listening, or when the Waitangi Tribunal makes recommendations that the government ignores and doesn’t implement, this is another lever that we can go to,” she explained.
“It’s a powerful position for us to have a Māori Chair of EMRIP,” Whaipooti said regarding Valmaine Toki, who is the EMRIP Chair. “We should be proud that we are represented over there.”
