Don Brash backs Winston Peters to end Maori 'separatism'

Don Brash (Getty)
Don Brash (Getty)

More than a decade after he nearly won a general election by pitting iwi against Kiwi, Don Brash is still arguing New Zealand is "going to rack and ruin" thanks to Māori separatism.

He's the face of a new lobby group, Hobson's Pledge, which wants to eliminate race from the country's statutes.

It's named after the first Governor-General of New Zealand and co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson.

"Hobson said as each chief signed the Treaty, we are now one people," Dr Brash told Paul Henry on Thursday. "Article three says all New Zealanders should have the same rights and privileges."

It actually says the "Queen of England extends to the Natives of New Zealand Her royal protection and imparts to them all the Rights and Privileges of British Subjects", at least in the English version.

Hobson's Pledge wants supporters to back any political party that would "vote against all laws, regulations and policies that provide for any entitlement based on ancestry or ethnicity".

In the past that was National, under Dr Brash's leadership - remember the iwi/kiwi billboards?

Don Brash backs Winston Peters to end Maori 'separatism'

Now Dr Brash says only New Zealand First fits the bill.

"I disagree with Winston [Peters, NZ First leader] on monetary policy, on the TPPA, a whole range of issues. But on this issue, he's absolutely right."

Dr Brash admits many Kiwis might not realise the situation is getting "markedly worse" under John Key's National Government because they "haven't recently tried to get a resource consent and had to get consultation with a local tribe".

Dr Brash also lashed out at the Māori King, Kiingi Tuheitia, who last month called for a Māori "share" in New Zealand sovereignty by 2025.

"What the hell does that mean?" he asked.

Having already led National and ACT to electoral defeats, Dr Brash plans to argue his case from the sidelines this time.

"I'm not going back to Parliament."

Newshub.