Toitū te whenua, toitū te tiriti

 Here is my submission to the Treaty Principles Bill:

(with thanks to Peter Sime and his submission. Those phrases/sections with quote marks are from his post, with his permission). 

Kia ora koutou

Part 1: I wish to comment on the Treaty Principles Bill before you.

Ko wai au? Some background:
I grew up knowing I was Māori but embarrassed of that part of my heritage. In our family (of Ngāti Porou, Scottish, Irish decent), we were as proud of our connection to the outlaw Ned Kelly as we were ashamed to be 'part' Māori. As a child, I watched the 'darker skinned' members of my family experience more negative things (attitudes of the teachers/shop store owners/bosses) to me - I used to call myself 'the white sheep in a black family'. Being fairer skinned with green eyes, I was lucky. I was able to leave behind that life, get an education, enjoy a long and successful career as an educator and writer. And, it is as a teacher I have seen the change in the way Māori students (and their families) experience schooling in Aotearoa New Zealand. In the early days, I am as 'guilty' as my pākehā peers of ignoring ngā mea Māori. Although I did study New Zealand history at university in the 80s so I had some appreciation of the 'race relations' and The Treaty of Waitangi.

In the early 90s, I read Michael King's work. Then Berryman and Bishop published their Ka Hikitia findings and many of us embraced the mantra 'what's good for Māori is good for all.' As the years have gone on, I've watched my whānau continue to struggle with negative outcomes associated with being Māori: poor experiences in education, medical (my teina currently has had her cervical cancer return but is on the waiting list for an ‘urgent consult’), inadequate housing. My nieces and nephews and their off-spring have of late, spoken to their mother/grandmother (my teina) about their concerns of not being welcome; of not being valued in this country. My sister said to me: please speak for me; for us. Tell that committee I want my moko to grow up being proud to be Māori.

I began learning te reo Māori myself in 2011 and did more study about Māori experiences politically, educationally, and I studied the Treaty of Waitangi again during my second degree from Otago (graduated 2015). I was determined to understand the original principles created and fine tuned by the finest of minds, Māori mā, pākehā mā. I began to be as proud to be Māori as I am Irish and Scottish.

Today:
I see the introduction of this new bill, Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, like one partner of a marriage coming in with a different relationship agreement or prenuptial but not allowing the other to have a say (and not even wanting anything rewritten).

This Bill represents nothing of the nation I long to see. It will remove the societal progress already made in the past 50 years from the founding document. At a time when people are suffering, he moumou wā, he moumou rauemi, he moumou putea (a waste of time, resources and money). I long for a New Zealand that’s continuing to move in the right direction toward all peoples embracing the uniqueness of what it means to belong and live on this whenua. The attention and noise of this bill has set us back and risks damaging the uniqueness that is our country.

Part 2: recommendations
Recommend to the house that the Bill not proceed. These reasons for this are as follows:

Principle 1 claims “full authority of the Executive Government of New Zealand to govern”. Firstly, it is not clear 'who' is meant for 'Executive Government'; Secondly, it ignores that the Treaty of Waitangi was between Māori and THE CROWN (i.e. the British Monarch). "Finally, this is a denial of the principle of rangatiratanga guaranteed in article two of the Treaty of Waitangi and excludes formal Māori involvement in the decision-making processes affecting their resources and taonga."

"Principle 2(1) limits the application of the rights of Māori to those held at the time the Treaty was signed." This is short-sighted and inequitable. I ask that the committee take care here as if this principle was to be adopted, the question should also be: does that also apply to non-Māori? For example, would it mean that women don't have the right to vote; are owned by their fathers or husbands. All the progress in terms of technology and art created since 1840 would be invalidated and unprotected.

"Principle 3 asserts equal protection for all before the law." But, we already have that. All of us. “Every person has the right to the observance of the principles of natural justice by any tribunal or other public authority which has the power to make a determination in respect of that person’s rights, obligations, or interests protected or recognised by law.” Principle 3 is redundant.

In conclusion, by putting all this time, money, and resources into "seeking to redefine the Treaty in this way, the Crown unilaterally neuters it and expropriates the rights that have been recognised ever since the passage of the Act in 1975." Each of the principles rest on misunderstanding and erroneous framing.

"Further, by proposing a referendum for this constitutional outrage, the Government (as this is a Government Bill) risks social cohesion through engaging in populist politics." The recent “Toitū te whenua Toitū te tiriti” march on parliament shows the strength of feeling of a nation that achieves so much more when united. The Treaty Principles Bill has already caused damage to the relationship between Māori and The Crown. I am concerned for the reversal of excellent educational programmes for students and teachers happening since the new deputy minister of education took office. I'm at the coal face of these changes. This Bill would continue this erosion so that we are back to where things were 50 years ago. We cannot let that happen. The only course of action for the committee is to abandon it immediately.

Instead, let's continue to build a county that will mimic the workings of He Waka Haurua - the double hulled waka. The two hulls (Tāngata Whenua and Tāngata Tiriti) working in their specific way but in tandem, with a shared purpose. Let's ensure the voices of all are given equal status and that the reo, the traditions, the histories and hopes of Tāngata Whenua and Tāngata Tiriti fit easily alongside one another, making room respectfully for each to speak and share as if we all sit on a type of paepae, or around a large dining room table.

Hello again:

 

A lot has happened since I last wrote. My book Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature From the Sea was awarded the Margaret Mahy Supreme Winner in the 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. That was incredible.

Then it won an Ibby Award

And is to be published by French publishers Au Vent des Ïles (2025).

Just recently, book 2, Charlie Tangaroa and the God of War, was released into the wild. Below the video, is a link to the transcript of the launch speech. We launch the book first in Kirikiriroa Hamilton hosted by the 2024 Australasian Children's Literature Association for Research Conference at the University of Waikato and then at Scorpio Books the following week.

First review

Launch speech

The photos below are from that launch

 Me and my husband, Phillip

The wonderful Rachael King launched the book and here we are with the lovely and talented Heather McQuillan.

Writer in Residence: Michael King Writers Centre

Below is a slightly amended report I submitted to the MKWC at the end of my two weeks writer residency:

July 11th 2020 of our year of Covid-19    

        

Tonight is my last night at the Michael King Writer Centre. I’m sitting in the Dame Chris Cole Catley Room because it’s warm but, more importantly, it’s a room filled with books. The Annette Isbey portrait of Michael King (what a handsome man he was) stares down at me – not judging, I feel, but encouraging me; urging me to haere tonu, haere tonu.

            Though I liked very much the writer’s studio, I worked out by the second week I liked being in the house better. It’s been raining non-stop and my writing uniform consists of pyjamas and wooly socks. When out in the studio, I cannot nip to the kitchen easily for a cup of tea or coffee without getting my feet wet. In the first week, this probably meant I got a lot more solid writing done.

My Project:

I planned to work on my memoir, The Writing Teacher, 50 years of New Zealand’s education system (1970- 2020). My first set of foster parents are here in Auckland and I was anticipating that I would also use the time to write a reflective chapter about teaching in the time of Covid-19 (not something any of us could have anticipated last year when I applied for the residency!)

            But, by the time I arrived in Devonport, I was already exhausted from 22 weeks of teaching (including working through the school holidays to prepare for online learning) and then six weeks of remote teaching. I was really worried the time I was at the Michael King Writer Centre would be wasted as I’d be too emotionally and physically spent to make use of the opportunity.

            Turns out, it was exactly what I needed. I was able to spend time with my foster parents interviewing them about their ‘take’ on the decision to foster me as a 16 year old. It was invaluable to fill out the memories I have of the early 1980s: what things were said in the staff room about me, how decisions were reached to ensure that I continued my education; the way the staff consulted with each other to help my foster parents (Wendy, my foster mother, was a teacher at the school) manage me and my sometimes challenging behaviour. Wendy was able to also provide excellent suggestions for other places to get information to ‘fill in the gaps’.

            Luckily, because of the Baily Collection in the Michael King Centre, I was able to browse texts which were perfect as memory joggers for those early primary school years.

            Because of the toll Covid-19 has had on me (on all of us), I did not write anything on the memoir apart from an essay on my reflections of the last term. However, I took lots of notes, including titles of books browsed in the Centre’s library which I know will be really useful to me when I am ready to get into the narrative of my life again.

 There is the saying ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’. Being here at the Centre, looking through the books, especially the collections of short stories and poetry, as well as the educational resources in the Bailey Collection, has provided me with lots to go on with – things I would not have thought about to include or research further.

The other writing I did was work on book two of my Charlie Tangaroa series for Huia. I wrote 5,000 words, plotted out the structure and was able to ‘untangle’ some knotty bits as a result of reading some snippets of a couple books on the craft of writing from the bookshelf.

            

Charlie Tangaroa will be published September

At home, I would have been distracted by the demands of family and would not have slipped a book from the shelf, sat on the lovely couch, and read. I would not have given myself permission to do that. Here, as writer in residence, I felt I could – in fact, I felt it my duty to fill up with as much of what was on offer right here in the house.

Currently, I am working toward my Masters in Te Reo Māori and do have a 2000 word essay to write on poroporoaki. Once again, I found such wonderful texts to read and take notes from for my assignment. Texts I would not have known about to search up at the Massey University library.

            Finally, I wrote some teaching notes for one of my novels. I was able to do this over two days – completely uninterrupted; something I could not have done at home.

Other organisations or institutions

            On Wednesday, 1^st of July, I presented a workshop to new (or new to New Zealand) English teachers at the National Library, hosted by AATEL. The title of my workshop was ‘The What, Why and How To’ guide for teaching writing to secondary school students.’

            There were 20 teachers plus four of the librarians in attendance.

            In week two, I caught the ferry again and visited Unity Book Shop (and Little Unity) and spoke with Briar Lawry (current judge for the NZ Books Awards for Children and Young Adults) and we discussed my upcoming novel, Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature from the Sea. Also, I bought books (of course!)

Other Events

            Because of the uncertainty around Covid-19 restrictions, I did not arrange anything formal for the two weeks I was here. However, fellow writer in resident, Fifi Colston and I, along with Melinda Szymanik, visited Maria Gill at Point Wells on Saturday 4^th July. We spent some time at the Matakana market and then the evening discussing the latest children’s books and the value of residencies for writers as Maria is writing an article for the Magpies magazine. 

On Sunday the 5th, we enjoyed a party in Westmere to celebrate Fifi’s 60^th birthday. On Monday the 6th, I travelled with Jeannie Mclean to a crime writers monthly coffee meeting at Hobsonville Point. It was wonderful to meet and listen to New Zealand writers of the crime and thriller genre talk about their books, their current works in progress, and to receive advice about international marketing of New Zealand books.

Conclusion

Tania and Fifi, grateful creatives

            This place is beautiful: the bird song (despite the many days of rain), the garden, the walk to the top of Takarunga, the house itself: all just so wonderful. The bed was delicious to sleep in; the layout, provisions and amenities made me feel very spoilt. The time and the stipend was the boost I needed, for writing can be such crushing mahi. I am grateful that I got to share these two weeks with my dear friend Fifi. We spent many hours talking about our projects, about writing, about how lucky we were to have this opportunity. We encouraged each other daily and I actually confess to being a bit competitive toward Fifi and her steady, persistent work ethic. It was a motivation to keep going when I’d had enough of the writing I was doing.    Thank you to Tania and Jan for being such wonderful hosts, thank you to the trust for all the work you do to honour Michael King and thanks to Creative New Zealand for support with the funding. 

            

The photographs on the walls in the hallway, the wonderful range of novels, plays, collections, journals in the bookshelves, the artwork and poetry posters are testament to the depth and breadth of talent and creativity in this small community that is writers of Aotearoa New Zealand. 

The hallway with photos of alumni

The Writer's Studio

Auska the cat

Final day.

What a huge honour I feel now that I can add my name to the list of alumni. I can’t believe the two weeks has come an end but I know the gratitude I feel toward the trust for awarding me this residency (and my school for allowing me to take it),  never will.

Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa.

Tania Roxborogh

11^th July 2020

Advice from an ill disciplined but 'successful' writer

I'm not good with being told what to do but these TEN things I know about what I see in the world of 'successful' writers. Here's my advice for what it's worth: 

1) you've got to be good, really good, at writing. If you aren't then learn how to be - go to workshops, get a mentor, read good writing.

2) you've got to put the hours in. Mostly I hate it, this writing gig. It's exhausting, frustrating and often boring. And put the hours into the re-writing too.

3) see above - the truth that people don't see is that behind the shiny new book is hours of editing, re-writing, proof-reading and at least two other people's eyes looking at the work.

4) it isn't easy getting your work published. Especially in New Zealand. I have an agent. A well regarded successful New York agent. He's awesome. I have won awards. I have 30 books published. Yet, I have a rejection for every single one of them. Even publishers who have published previous books have turned down my latest.

5) You never 'make it' as a writer - you must continue to hone your craft. I am always reading posts by writers and editors I respect and I am constantly reading good books (and sometimes not good books).

6) I am 'successful' because I give back to the writing community and I try to be involved. In other words, I have made wonderful connections with other writery people who are my 'tribe'. I try to avoid negativity and keep polite - New Zealand is a VERY small place.

7) I am 'successful' because I am open to criticism and am totally willing to rework my writing.

8) I am 'successful' because I don't give up (even though I wish I could - it's exhausting getting rejected over and over)

9) Honestly, in my opinion, you don't want to be like me: I write in bed. I write on the couch, I sometimes write at my desk. I usually don't write enough. Especially lately. I watch HOURS of telly - HOURS. My husband and I love crime shows and thrillers and sci fi (he's a DC man but I love Marvel just as much). I 'could' be writing instead of watching tv but I watch critically and I love it.

10) Finally, if you 'want to be a writer' then you have to write. But, find a way to do that which suits you. When my children were small, I wrote while they 'played' or slept. Later, I wrote during weekends and school holidays. Sometimes I'm really focussed and disciplined; mostly I procrastinate and the birth of social media has been a wonderful distraction. 

Do your writer thing your way and don't feel guilty - unless you're not actually writing at all. In that case, go away and do some. Now. 
Go on. 
Git!