Summarised by Centrist
Former MP and columnist Dr Muriel Newman is calling for “colour blindness and freedom from indoctrination”. She argues that the previous Labour government left a legacy harmfully preoccupied with “te Tiriti o Waitangi” – describing it as being “weaponised.”
Newman writes that the Critical Social Justice (CSJ) agenda left in place by six years of Labour needs to be “unwound.” She says NZ is experiencing a “wider malaise infecting our society”. Institutions from Victoria University of Wellington to government departments are infected by CSJ advocates pushing identity politics centred on gender, race, and sexuality.
“Their aim is to transform government organisations into agents of ideological change,” Newman writes, essaying on six years of Labour’s “increasingly authoritarian restrictions on our freedoms and democratic rights.”
According to Newman, unwinding their agenda will be a major challenge for the new government. Such events like the recent postponement of a university “freedom of speech” panel discussion is “indicative of the enormity of the problem we face.”
Why are activist groups “calling the shots” and “holding large institutions to ransom,” asked Newman.
Since Chris Hipkins was Minister of Education, Newman reckoned that instead of academic excellence and achievement being the primary focus of education, it became Māori rights and the Treaty.
