Support for the bill 1. I support the bill. My primary reason is the need for robust affirmation of the twin pillars of our constitution: New Zealand’s commitment to the rule of law and to the sovereignty of Parliament (Senior Courts Act 2016, s 3(2)). I wish to be heard in support of my submission.…
GARY JUDD KC: SUBMISSION ON TREATY PRINCIPLES BILL
GARY JUDD KC: SUBMISSION ON TREATY PRINCIPLES BILL
18 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law
Has an Anonymous Political Donor to Schools Sabotaged National, ACT & NZ First? Will Children be Educated Not to Vote for them, as of Next Week?
12 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, economics of education, politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law
The State-owned Broadcaster has just announced, “Every high school in NZ is set to receive a copy of a new book about the Treaty of Waitangi following a surprise donation by an [anonymous] Auckland couple”. One News says the book, “Understanding Te Tiriti”, is “a guide to NZ’s founding document”. Except that’s not the book’s…
Has an Anonymous Political Donor to Schools Sabotaged National, ACT & NZ First? Will Children be Educated Not to Vote for them, as of Next Week?
Supreme Court into the political arena again – this time with MACA
12 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law
Gary Judd KC writes – This morning the Law Association’s LawNews published my criticisms of the Supreme Court’s purported judgment in the Edwards case under the title The Edwards judgment: a nullity designed to pre-empt Parliament? I explain that what the Court called a judgment is not a judgment at all, but a pronouncement the Court had no jurisdiction to make. […]
Supreme Court into the political arena again – this time with MACA
Indigenous government
11 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law, racial discrimination
Grant Duncan writes: Te Pāti Māori have a policy to “establish a Māori Parliament”. According to the NZ Election Study 2020, however, the proposal for a Māori upper house of parliament is only supported by a minority of Māori, let alone others.* This made me look up the data from the 2020 NZES. Net support for a […]
Indigenous government
Somerset v Stewart, 1772: an End to Slavery in Britain?
09 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, property rights Tags: constitutional law, economics of slavery

The campaigning activities of abolitionist MPs such as William Wilberforce and Thomas Fowell Buxton are well-known, but one former MP, who had become a member of the House of Lords, was involved in this question in a rather different way. Joe Baker – Public Engagement Assistant for the History of Parliament – looks at the […]
Somerset v Stewart, 1772: an End to Slavery in Britain?
Free Speech Union Is Taking Hutt City Council And It’s CEO To The High Court
09 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
This email from Stephen Franks explains why!!!!! Note: I have included all of the email, including the request for any financial support readers may be inclined to give to aid the FSU in this obviously expensive court case. Hi. Some fights take a little longer than others. While the FSU team has been confronting the NZ Police, professional bodies, Immigration […]
Free Speech Union Is Taking Hutt City Council And It’s CEO To The High Court
OLIVIA PIERSON: New Zealand – Unity or Apartheid?
09 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law
The steady stream of revisionist gibberish coming out of Māori Party rhetoric these days is eye-watering. They never miss an opportunity to bamboozle ordinary folks with silly word salads, half of which are spoken in a tongue only 4% of New Zealanders can even understand. Take this for example: In a recent interview with Jack…
OLIVIA PIERSON: New Zealand – Unity or Apartheid?
Andrew Le Sueur: Finally, separation of powers in Jersey?
05 Dec 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, law and economics, property rights, Public Choice, public economics Tags: British politics, constitutional law

The question of separating constitutional powers in Jersey is more complex than it appears. Here’s why. Jersey and Guernsey are unique globally in having constitutions that in the ancient office of Bailiff fuse together the roles of chief justice and presiding officer of their respective courts and parliaments. As I argue, this is further complicated […]
Andrew Le Sueur: Finally, separation of powers in Jersey?
MICHAEL BASSETT: MAORI PARTY MADNESS
03 Dec 2024 1 Comment
in economic history, law and economics, liberalism, politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law, racial discrimination
After the mass Maori Party madness over David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill comes more extreme Maori make-believe. Some are now calling the 83% of New Zealanders who aren’t Maori, “guests” or “visitors” to the country where they are citizens. Many of long standing. According to some radicals, the 83% are “manuhiri”, a word traditionally used…
MICHAEL BASSETT: MAORI PARTY MADNESS
Centrist: Debbie Ngarewa-Packer admits Māori have ‘different rights’
26 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The Centrist reports – In a Q&A interview with Jack Tame, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer acknowledged Māori have separate rights under Te Tiriti o Waitangi as tangata whenua. When pressed on whether this meant different standards of citizenship, she said, “We have different expectations and different rights, absolutely.”
Centrist: Debbie Ngarewa-Packer admits Māori have ‘different rights’
The Treaty Principles debate: Parliament is having a third go at addressing this conundrum
25 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, income redistribution, International law, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: constitutional law
Muriel Newman writes- ACT’s Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill was tabled in Parliament on November 7, and the first reading debate was held on November 14. The Bill was referred to the Justice Select Committee, where a closing date for submissions of 7 January 2024 has been set – full details can be found HERE. This […]
The Treaty Principles debate: Parliament is having a third go at addressing this conundrum
Attorney-General and Chief Justice reveal contrasting visions of judicial power
23 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of crime, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law
Roger Partridge writes – Should judges stick to applying the law, or should they reshape it to reflect society’s values? This fundamental tension over judicial power was laid bare at a New Zealand Law Society webinar this month about what it takes to become a High Court judge. Comments from the country’s two senior legal […]
Attorney-General and Chief Justice reveal contrasting visions of judicial power
The Presidential Bicameral Adjournment Clause Is Almost An American Equivalent to Prorogation
22 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - USA Tags: constitutional law

An American Connection Over the last thirteen years, I have been pleasantly surprised to find that Parliamentum attracts a surprising number of readers from the United States, about one-quarter to one-third of the total depending on the year. I occasionally write on American topics, but mainly on British North American history and how Canada or […]
The Presidential Bicameral Adjournment Clause Is Almost An American Equivalent to Prorogation
Do the KCs believe in democracy
22 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand Tags: constitutional law
Liam Hehir points out: Forty-two senior lawyers, known as King’s Counsel, have written to the government with a scathing critique of the Treaty Principles Bill. Their letter raises a number of concerns with which I am in full agreement. However, they also make a statement about Parliament’s law-making authority that contains a fundamental and egregious […]
Do the KCs believe in democracy
Hikoi organiser rebuffs Seymour while a bloke named Jones (no, not Shane) says he understands the Māori Party’s frustration
19 Nov 2024 Leave a comment
in discrimination, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Bob Edlin writes – Associate Justice Minister David Seymour “refused” Morning Report’s invitation to be interviewed on RNZ’s Morning Report, the day after the Treaty Principles Bill he is promoting had passed its first reading in Parliament after “a fiery debate and vote”. No matter. There were plenty of other people all too eager to […]
Hikoi organiser rebuffs Seymour while a bloke named Jones (no, not Shane) says he understands the Māori Party’s frustration
Recent Comments