In a warning to Australians set to vote on altering their Constitution, New Zealander Casey Costello says her country’s own Indigenous “Voice to Parliament” has not had the desired effect and has become a burden on its democracy.
Costello, part-Maori and Anglo-Irish, is the founding trustee of the Hobson’s Pledge, said the Waitangi Tribunal, established in 1975 to give Maoris a greater voice in Parliament, has been unsuccessful.
“[Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should be able] to say ‘Look, there are no Maori unemployed anymore’ or ‘Maori have the best education outcomes of the country’ or something that you could point to to say this has been a successful model, and there isn’t any,” she told The Epoch Times.
“He just listened to rhetoric and gone ‘oh, yeah, let’s do what they’re doing’ and saying that if Australia does it, then you'll get better outcomes.
“Well, we haven’t got it.”
In 2020, Albanese posted on Twitter that Australians could “learn a lot from our mates across the ditch about reconciliation with First Nations people.”
The Albanese government has been pushing for an ‘Indigenous Voice to Parliament,’ which would entrench into the Constitution a dedicated advisory body to the government for Indigenous Australians. The prime minister has flagged a referendum for the Voice be held in late-2023.
Costello also said the identity politics the Tribunal has brought into society was stripping citizens of their national identity, with the country shifting from a multicultural society to a bi-cultural one.
Looking Backwards a ‘Hindrance’
In February, former Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe quit the left-wing party after disagreeing with her colleagues on the best approach to Indigenous representation in Parliament.
But Costello believes Thorpe’s goal of signing a treaty is on the wrong track because, in New Zealand’s case, the mentality focused on reparation and retribution placed a “stranglehold” on the country from moving forward.
In New Zealand, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between Maori chiefs and the British Crown in 1840.
Costello said after the treaty had been signed, it allowed for the formation of the nation, laws, and parliament.
She added that the document had become “irrelevant” until New Zealand began looking back at it in the last 50 years.
“To capture a treaty once you’ve formed nation, it seems ludicrous to me,” she said.
“It’s actually become a hindrance to New Zealand because we’re continually looking backwards as opposed to looking forwards.”
The Epoch Times reached out to Senator Lidia Thorpe’s office but did not receive a response.
Meanwhile, Thorpe has yet to announce her own final position on the Voice, despite her resignation centring on the issue.
“I want to continue my negotiations with the government,” she said.
“First Nations Sovereignty is crucial, but so is saving lives today. They could do that by implementing the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the recommendations from the Bringing Them Home report.”
Thorpe has previously been critical of the Labor plan to support the Voice to Parliament, saying it did not help Indigenous communities.
Scope Will Inevitably Expand
A report by the Institute of Public Affairs highlighted that the history of the Waitangi Tribunal proves that the proposed Voice to Parliament will expand into a “limitless scope” of issues.The author, research fellow John Storey, noted that the Tribunal has heavy involvement in COVID-19 health policies, negotiation of international treaties, as well as laws, policy, and culture.
“There is no piece of legislation beyond its purview, no policies it cannot influence, no aspect of New Zealand culture free from its gaze.”
Costello echoed these concerns, adding that it simply creates an extra layer of bureaucracy.
Indigenous Leaders Lacking Inspirational Messages
Costello criticised the highly successful Aboriginal and Maori advocates who fail to give their communities inspirational messages on how they can become successful in life.“They tell Maori that ‘the world’s against you.’ What a horrible thing to tell young people—that you’re trapped in the cycle of racism because you can never achieve on your merit,” she said.
She pointed to the number of elected Aboriginals in Australia’s Senate was proof that it was already possible to achieve on merit “without the special separatist agenda.”
Like Australia, New Zealand has more parliamentary representatives of Maori descent in proportion to the population.
“So to say ... you can’t achieve unless we do this special representation. Well, that’s an insult too because they are achieving,” Costello said.
She added that many “bleeding heart liberals” who support the Voice do it out of “a way of replicating guilt” but don’t consider whether it will deliver better outcomes.
“So you’re saying Australia that you haven’t listened to all Aboriginals for the last 50 years?” she said. “Well, that doesn’t pan out because that’s not true. That’s not true by funding. That’s not true by representation.”
