ConstitutionNZ

You can join our on-line assembly from anywhere, to help heal our nation.

To join you will need to answer some questions when you apply.

We are a citizen-initiated constituent assembly to develop and promote the adoption by general plebiscite of a written, secular, modern, inclusive, and democratic constitution for New Zealand that reasonably replaces the Crown and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

This is a delicate but probably necessary and inevitable quest that many wish to avoid. Our political parties currently do not want to go down this path, so we will need to go on this quest without them. Today, the Internet makes such direct democracy possible.

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the founding document of our nation, but it has become irredeemably divisive. Anger is escalating on all sides, with predictable consequences.

Changes will continue to be imposed on us, no matter which bloc of parties is in power. National has recognition of the Treaty as one of its core values. The ACT narrative keeps the Treaty alive and will exacerbate Treaty conflict. When the Labour/Greens bloc is returned to power, we can expect a rapid return to the untenable He Puapua agenda, without our explicit democratic agreement.

The Treaty has never been democratically endorsed by the voter, and with no prospect of its differing interpretations converging, the Treaty cannot be included in any constitutional process. But, to be socially sustainable, indigenous rights will need to be reasonably defined; reasonably agreed with those who identify as indigenous; and recognised and implemented.

Te Tiriti, a colonial artefact, needs to be retired, with dignity. Outstanding claims need to be settled reasonably. The Waitangi Tribunal needs to be wound up. As part of moving on from our colonial past, our links to the British Crown probably also need to be severed.

Today, over one in four New Zealanders were not born in New Zealand, or are not of British or Māori ancestry. Our current culturally binary narrative, and the persistence of British colonial allusions, do not speak to our 21st century diversity. Arguably, such diversity, which will continue to increase with significant immigration, needs to be reflected in our national and constitutional narrative, with a more inclusive shared baseline.

Today, one in five New Zealanders identify as Māori, and there is a growing demand among a significant proportion of our population for the visibility and assertion of Māori values, culture and power. This demand is not transient, and must be reasonably met for our socially sustainable future, but not at the expense of one-person-one-vote, the rule of law, and the unitary State. Indigenous self-determination can be accommodated, but no group can formally have authority over any other, based on bloodline.

To rise up as an independent socially sustainable post-colonial nation, we need a modern written constitution that reasonably recognises the rights of our indigenous peoples – the iwi and hapū of New Zealand – without requiring other peoples in New Zealand to take on Māori culture or to be subordinated to Māori. Very few migrants came to New Zealand for Te Ao Māori or to be loyal to the British Crown – they came for a modern democracy that respects diversity.

Our constituent assembly is not starting with a blank slate. Around the world, through the ages, much thought has been given to constitutions, systems of government, and the rights and responsibilities of citizens. In New Zealand we also have several documents that we can reference, though not necessarily wholly agree with. Having prompts we can crystallise and define ourselves against, can be helpful.

Our first task is to develop a draft constitution for New Zealand.

We propose to use the Draft Chilean Constitution of 2022, and the Palmer/Butler draft NZ Constitution of 2018, as prompts for discussion. What is relevant or not? What do we adopt; what do we discard? What, if anything, is missing, that we may need to add? We no not need to be experts. Most of the work has been done, and a viable Constitution needs to strike a chord with us, as ordinary citizens.

Globally the Draft Chilean Constitution of 2022 is one of the most recent and thorough constitutional drafts developed by any nation. The draft was extensively reviewed by international constitutional experts, widely discussed, and ultimately rejected by Chilean voters. There are sections that are clearly not applicable to New Zealand, but there is much that is of relevance to a modern democracy with indigenous peoples.

We can leverage the Chilean experience, and also learn from Chile’s ongoing efforts to develop a draft constitution acceptable to a majority of its voters.

The Palmer/Butler draft constitution of 2018 has relevant elements that we can adopt but, overall, it is burdened by the Treaty, and is therefore not viable.

While the urgent need to reasonably and sensitively replace Te Tiriti is the primary driver for our quest, it is not the only driver. We need to develop a clear shared vision for Nature and the Environment, and there are some cultural and political baselines that we need to put beyond the reach of Acts of Parliament.

To be able to contribute to our considered and respectful constitutional work, it would help if you have read and are familiar with the following:

• Constitution Act 1986
• New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990
• Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975
• He Puapua
• ‘A Constitution for Aotearoa New Zealand’ by Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Andrew Butler; 2018 version
• The Lands Case, Court of Appeal, 1987
• The Draft Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile, 2022
• The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights
• The United Nations Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)

Work with us to develop a viable draft constitution.

Please do not join us if you need to be dominant; or if you are consciously prejudiced; or if you subscribe to what are generally considered to be conspiracy theories. You do not need to be a lawyer. We welcome members from all walks of life, and of all ethnicities and identities. We would like you to be a New Zealand citizen, though you might not be currently resident in New Zealand.

To join, we ask you to answer a set of questions. Some will require you to carry out some online research; others are ideological markers to determine if you are aligned with what we perceive as the New Zealand cultural baseline; others are prompts for thought. They are the types of questions we will be grappling with.

The questions you will be asked are:
1. What is the gist of Article 134 in the Draft Chilean Constitution of 2022?
2. Why do you think He Puapua only selectively invokes Article 46 of the UNDRIP?
3. Is abortion the right of the pregnant person?
4. In a future pandemic of possibly significant mortality, would it be reasonable for the State to enforce border controls, lockdowns and vaccine mandates?
5. Are you a New Zealand citizen?

Our discussions will all be on-line using Zoom, normally on week nights. Hybrid meetings are possible for members wanting to gather locally to Zoom in. From time to time we may assemble in person over a weekend. We will vote online for the inclusion, or not, of clusters of related articles for our emerging constitution.

Given the sensitivity of our quest, membership is private. You may use a nickname or pseudonym, and an Avatar in Zoom meetings. You do not need to be visible.

If you do not want to join via Meetup you can also apply by email to [email protected] ; you would still need to respond to the joining questions. Our preference is that you join via Meetup because it makes the events and membership easier to manage.

This is a hopeful endeavour that will span several electoral cycles, requiring our resolute persistence and patience. Every oak started as an acorn.

If our endeavour strikes a chord, it will resonate and amplify, and we, the people, will be unstoppable. In time, we will adopt a constitution for our socially sustainable future, against the determined opposition of vested interests.

We will start our Zoom meetings once we have a critical mass of members, which will take some time. By all means encourage others who might be interested to join.

Below is the URL to an English translation of the draft Chilean constitution of 2022:

https://constitutionnet.org/vl/item/english-translation-draft-political-constitution-republic-chile-july-2022

Your public library will give you access to the Palmer/Butler draft Constitution of 2018 set out in 'Towards Democratic Renewal'.