Treaty & Identity

Nation Building in Distant Seas

Speech to the 2003 Knowledge Wave Conference: what sort of leadership, on what issues, does New Zealand need? This speech addresses the importance of both immigration and emigration in keeping New Zealand globally connected; considers the arcane constitutional Glass Bead Game which 25 years of Treatyology has created; muses on New Zealand's dysfunctional national narrative and makes the case for a dramatic re-think on how history is taught in New Zealand schools.  (Full text)

The Treaty of Waitangi and New Zealand citizenship

By the Honourable Bill English, MP Leader of the New Zealand National Party Leader of the Opposition at the New Zealand Centre for Public Law Wellington Full text (7 May 2002)

Quo Vadis New Zealand?

Speech to a Parliamentary Seminar entitled "Has New Zealand Come of Age?"

What sort of a nation state are we in the process of becoming? I have, in a number of recent articles and speeches, remarked that there is no model for New Zealand; that there is no other developed nation in our situation - geographically, economically, politically or culturally. Small, rich countries trying to sort out a post-colonial heritage miles from anywhere just don't exist - except here. Full text (3 August 2000)