Daniel Hutchinson From The Hutch

Ah, what a peaceful country we live in. Everyone co-exists in harmony in our glorious democracy. We are free to say whatever we want, whenever we want. We honour our promises and tolerate other people's point of view.

Lol, just kidding!

Nothing gets the blood boiling more than the Treaty of Waitangi and that's from both sides of the document.

We've even got a national day solely dedicated to grumbling about it.

There are five million different viewpoints on the Treaty of Waitangi.

Now, if you've never read the Treaty, find a copy that freshly-minted Tauranga councillor Andrew Hollis hasn't burned already and read it.

That shouldn't take too long. I'm guessing lawyers didn't get paid by the hour back then. What will take you an age to trawl through is every mention of the treaty in the 62 acts of Parliament that specifically refer to it.

The principle's of the Treaty of Waitangi are so interwoven into our laws and legislation that it would take decades of legal wrangling and an awful lot of dollars in legal fees and compensation just to untangle it. That was a decision made in the 70s and this is not a single document anymore. The principles behind the Treaty of Waitangi are now woven into the fabric of our society.

Imagine the complications if, after spending the last 40 years debating and settling legal problems created 170 years ago, or 100 years ago, we just decided to scrap the whole thing?

We would need a tribunal just to sort it all out.

Big bucks

There has so far been just over 70 settlements with various iwi around the country with about 10 well-advanced but yet to be settled for various reasons. This has cost about $2.4 billion over 26 years.

To put that into perspective, it would cover superannuation payments for two months. It is one-eighths of one per cent of government spending over the past 25 years.

Iwis that were economically irrelevant have lawyered up, fought their case and are now large corporations. For example, the second iwi to settle (The South Island's Ngai Tahu, for $170 million in 1997) is now worth $1.65 billion.

These commercial arms provide employment and feed their dividends into trusts that generally have a charter to deliver cultural, social and health benefits to members.

Individual Maori benefit in direct proportion to the nous of their iwi, through the mana that is returned with the acknowledgement of their culture and the symbolic or actual return of their important places. Kiwis who don't affiliate with an iwi and have no interest in that side of the country's heritage, may feel like they don't see much benefit at all.

Personally, I love my country's unique bi-cultural heritage and culture and feel the investment is well worth it. It's also the honourable thing to do.

It is probably the single biggest thing that sets us apart from other countries.

We are a beautiful, deeply thoughtful and successful country by most measures.

Andrew has suggested the Treaty of Waitangi has been 'going on too long”, 'past its use by date” and 'a joke”.

This is no great secret. He made these views known during his campaign and was elected.

That's a genuine view and obviously one that is held by many, many people.

It's okay to talk!

Most of us are descended from countries and creeds with intense tribal rivalries. It's human nature. The concept of making peace and owning the errors of previous generations is pretty unconventional.

It was controversial at the time, but, as a whole, that's what we decided to do and now it's part of our nation's identity.

It is stuff we tend to talk about with people we think are in our 'tribe” and who we think agree with us or have the same motivations. In NZ, it's a case of don't talk politics, religion or the Treaty.

People feel aggrieved that they have to pay for old mistakes with new money.

They resent being guilty by association of things they had no control over and take issue with special interest groups being given preferential treatment.

There are tribes who are angry they got so little of their land and resources back.

So when these opinions spill out into the public arena, it all gets a bit weird.

The academics rail against the ignorance. The silent masses silently cheer the guy that gave them a voice.

The arguments get slightly more heated in the offices and work sites and then, eventually, it all simmers down and we all go back to our lives and our enclaves and our tribes. For those who think the Treaty of Waitangi should be thrown in the trash, burned or consigned to history, I don't want to burst your bubble, but you might be a few decades too late on that one. The ship has well and truly sailed when it comes to the role the Treaty plays in New Zealand society.

If you can't work with it, then life in any kind of local or central government role is going to be quite difficult.

But I suspect, as long as mana and money are involved this issue will just keep bubbling away.

daniel@thesun.co.nz