You may have seen me submitting on behalf of Hobson’s Pledge at select committees. I’m the newest trustee and I’m writing to you because it’s always good to write and share some good news – and I have good news!
A few nights ago, Parliament struck down a regulation that said tikanga must be taught as part of every core legal course for students and aspiring lawyers.
I am particularly pleased to share this news with you as it is something Hobson’s Pledge has been involved in and also because I added my voice into the original complaint alongside Gary Judd KC. I am a lawyer myself and I care about what my future colleagues are taught at university!
This is a small but still significant win and our thanks goes to National MP Joseph Mooney, who moved what is called a disallowance motion – that is, a motion in the Parliament to strike down regulation. That this motion was successful is very encouraging.
As background to understand why this happened, last year, Gary Judd KC filed a complaint to the Regulations Review Committee of Parliament regarding the Professional Examinations in Law (Tikanga Māori Requirements) Amendment Regulations 2022. This committee of MPs reviews regulations to ensure they are fit for purpose and reflect the intention of the legislation that enabled such regulations to be made.
These new legal regulations, passed by the New Zealand Council of Legal Education, required all law students and aspiring lawyers to complete a compulsory course in tikanga Māori—Māori laws, beliefs, and philosophy—alongside the truly core legal subjects like contract law, criminal law, and torts.
In my view, the New Zealand Council of Legal Education, like so many of our public institutions, has been quietly captured by Treatyist ideology—stacked with judges, law deans, and insiders who think it’s their place to impose their values and worldview on others through law and policy.
I was inspired by Gary’s brave move and joined him to argue that the regulations violated fundamental rights under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act—including freedom of thought, conscience, belief, expression, and academic freedom. Gary and I appeared before the Regulations Committee in October last year and argued this case.
In effect, the regulation mandated a cultural indoctrination course as a precondition to joining the legal profession. While the Committee ultimately dismissed the majority of our complaint, it did find that one provision—the requirement that tikanga be compulsorily assessed within every core legal subject—was an unusual and unexpected use of regulatory power.
That part of the regulation was formally disallowed in Parliament last evening, thanks to Joseph Mooney MP moving the motion. Former Hobson’s Pledge trustee and now New Zealand First MP, Casey Costello, also spoke powerfully in the House, stating what many know to be true: tikanga is not law. And she’s right.
It’s a small victory, but a victory nonetheless—and it proves that when we stand up for what’s right, victory is possible. It reminds us why Hobson’s Pledge exists: to oppose the creeping racialisation of law and policy, and to stand for a New Zealand where every citizen is treated equally—where no one gets to force their cultural practices and beliefs on any other person. I am encouraged, and I hope you are too.
Sincerely,
Thomas Newman
Trustee
Hobson’s Pledge