A new campaign group advocating for the protection of Te Tiriti rights has launched ahead of the 2026 election, with politicians and community leaders in the mix.
Queen Victoria’s Pledge sits under the umbrella of the Iwi Chairs Forum and highlights articles 2 and 3 of Te Tiriti in which Queen Victoria promises Māori full chieftainship (tino rangatiratanga) over land, villages and taonga, as well as equal rights to those of British subjects.
The news comes as the ACT Party vows to abolish the Waitangi Tribunal’s contemporary powers before winding up if re-elected.
Group leader and treaty educator Bill Te Huia Hamilton says the campaign was created to call on the Crown to honour the document, as well as to build networks of people to drive better education on the history surrounding the signing.
“We had rights here in 1840, and this government or several governments have done their very, very best to strip us of those rights and replace them with what they say are their rights, which are basically how they perceive our needs,” he says.
Hamilton confirmed the name is also a play on that of the lobby group Hobson’s Pledge, run by former ACT and National leader Don Brash.
“Honouring rangatiratanga benefits everybody, and there’s a myth, particularly by people like Hobson’s Pledge and ACT ... where they sort of try and demonise Rangatiratanga, and they create fear - and they’re doing pretty well.”
“Politicians in particular who play around with it try and make it seem as if it’s a Māori thing, but it actually gave Tauiwi an authority to belong, a tūrangawaewae, so they can say that this is their home. So we need to get the message out that Te Tiriti belongs to all of us, therefore, we should all care about its implementation,”.
Tangata Tiriti in the mix
The group has gained MPs and community leaders such as Aperahama Edwards from Te Pāti Māori, Green Party’s Steve Abel, and community voices Emily Beausolelil, Macy Duxfield, and Andrew Judd.
Hamilton says all major parties were asked if they wanted to be involved, but only the Labour Party, Green Party, Te Pāti Māori and the Opportunities Party have since responded in support.
“Recovering racist” and former mayor of New Plymouth, Andrew Judd, says he joined the group out of support for Māori in building a cohesive future.
“As Tauiwi, we must stand up and actually be treaty partners,” he says.
“We’re calling on all New Zealanders, treaty partners across all aisles to push back against what’s been happening recently with the Crown, and I would extend that actually since 1840, the day after the Treaty was signed, the Crown has broken its promises in the way it’s treated Māori.”
He encourages others to commit to the same journey.
“What I’ve come to terms with and discovered is actually including Māori has not only enriched me, it’s made me what I would suggest is a better New Zealander, a better Treaty partner”.
“You may get rid of all your co-governances and your links to te reo Māori, and you may do all the things that make you feel good about yourselves. But you know what? Those who still remain, Māori, are still indigenous and First Nations people, and Māori will still remain here,” he says.
“You haven’t removed anything but enhanced your own ignorance and privilege of a system that works for you as Pākehā. So, we have to challenge these people; we cannot stay silent anymore,”.
Steve Abel from the Green Party also accepted the invitation to join the mix.
“I think it’s part of the ongoing and long and excellent history of continuing to express the deep value of Te Tiriti, and help everybody to understand its meaning, and to make sure that we do indeed uphold it and we commit to that agreement,” he says.
A name with a spin
The name Hobson’s pledge came from words believed to have been said by William Hobson at the signing of Te Tiriti: “He iwi tahi tātou” or “We are one”, which the group uses in its messaging to oppose what it calls race-based policies.
Hamilton disputes that the phrase was used. He says that, even if it was, it was not intended to suggest Māori were to assimilate to the same rule or cede sovereignty.
“Hobson’s Pledge is a myth. It’s there to serve privileged white males, redneck white males,”
“They say we ceded sovereignty and there’s no evidence that that happened. Recently, the tribunal ruled that it didn’t happen.”
Te Ao Māori News asked Hobson’s Pledge for comment, but it declined.
The group says there will be more activity to come before the elections, and that they are looking to expand their network of supporters.
