> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # "Ideology In A Suit, Contempt In A Cabinet Room" - 19 October 2026 - URL: https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/ideology-in-a-suit-contempt-in-a-cabinet-room/ - Published: 2026-10-18T21:20:18.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-18T21:28:35.000Z - Description: The Minister Was Told Twice, And Twice She Carried On - Author: Ivor Jones The Māori Green Lantern ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/10/The_Tiriti_and_Tamariki_Audit_-_Slide_1.png) Kia ora whānau. I'm Ivor Jones, The Māori Green Lantern, and this essay is for you. The Waitangi Tribunal has found that Erica Stanford's curriculum rewrite was "essentially ideological". It found the Crown breached Treaty principles to push it through. She has not stopped. She has pointed at a set of test scores her own evidence cannot explain, and called it vindication. [A whirlwind of education changeErica Stanford has had more impact on the school system than any education minister in decades.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/icon/favicon-32x32.bc7fe925-c0cabdfc-4f50-400c-8e96-9182e1313ae9.png)RNZRNZ | Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/thumbnail/4JIB2W2_Image_3_jfif-75e96aaf-5308-4771-8bd9-bee6f407e59c.jpg)](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/education/1996231/a-whirlwind-of-education-change?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) ### What You Will Find Here ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/10/The_Tiriti_and_Tamariki_Audit_-_Slide_3-1.png) This essay does seven things. - It sets out what the Tribunal found. - It tests the Minister's test-score claims against the study they come from. - It measures the government's reforms against Tika, Pono and Tikanga. - It gives three examples for the Western mind. - It answers the best counterargument. - It links to my earlier essays on this kaupapa. - It ends with why I will not be voting this coalition back, and why I will be voting Green. If you want to use this information in your daily life, click through, because there is a wealth of it here. There is an audio podcast that lays out this kaupapa in detail, and a short video that explains it quickly. For long-form readers, there is a 3000-word cited essay waiting for you. This is a repository for our mokopuna to look back on and say: at least we knew that The Māori Green Lantern, amongst a few, was warning us. --- ## The Measuring Stick: Tika, Pono And Tikanga ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/10/The_Tiriti_and_Tamariki_Audit_-_Slide_2.png) Tika asks whether the process was right. Pono asks whether it was honest. Tikanga asks whether the system preserved people's mana, recognised their whakapapa, respected their wairua, involved their whānau, and returned them to wellbeing. A system that passes all three builds mauri, the life force of a community. One that fails them drains it. I used the same measure in [The Curriculum They Stole In Broad Daylight](https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/the-curriculum-they-stole-in-broad-daylight-19-september-2026/). In this essay I apply it to the whole programme [RNZ's education correspondent calls](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/education/1996231/a-whirlwind-of-education-change?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) "a whirlwind of education change". --- ## What The Tribunal Found ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/10/The_Tiriti_and_Tamariki_Audit_-_Slide_4.png) In May, the Tribunal's [stage one report](https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/news/tribunal-releases-report-on-proposed-changes-to-the-education-and-training-act?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) examined the Crown's plan to weaken Treaty provisions in the Education and Training Act. It found [breaches of partnership and active protection](https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2026/05/19/the-prime-minister-rejects-scathing-waitangi-tribunal-report-presses-on-with-treaty-reforms/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz). The Prime Minister rejected it and pressed on. In September, the [stage two report](https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/news/tribunal-releases-report-on-the-reform-of-the-national-curriculum?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) found the Crown breached a number of Treaty principles in developing its "knowledge-rich" curriculum. [RNZ reported](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-ao-maori/1437040/school-curriculum-rewrite-ideological-crown-breached-multiple-treaty-principles-waitangi-tribunal?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) Judge Rachel Mullins finding the Minister's approach "essentially ideological". She said Stanford "surrounded herself with supporters of that position", including an advisory group with members "either unenthusiastic about or outwardly hostile to mātauranga Māori". Mullins said the changes went ahead despite the opposition of Māori and the education sector, and despite the lack of solid evidence that a knowledge-rich approach will reduce inequity. That is two reports, about four months apart. The government made no pause and no change of course. [The Press reported](https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/361064885/minister-rejects-urgent-waitangi-tribunal-request-pause-curriculum-roll-out?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) that the Minister rejected the Tribunal's urgent request to pause curriculum roll-out and said her agenda would continue. --- ## The Victory Lap That Isn't ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/10/The_Tiriti_and_Tamariki_Audit_-_Slide_5--1-.png) Then the maths results arrived, and the Minister took a lap. She told the Herald the reforms "100%" influenced the results. Her [own release](https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/its-all-adding-more-maths-gains-kiwi-kids-0?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) called it a turnaround. Read what the NZCER actually said, as [the NZ Herald reported](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/uplift-in-math-results-described-as-broad-and-encouraging-but-can-it-be-sustained/CBO44FUUMRGY3M4ZVRVVDNNPQQ/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz). The 2026 maths score was about one-third of a year ahead of 2024\. The recovery began in 2023, before the daily hour in 2024 and the maths plan in 2025\. The report said those changes "cannot explain the beginning of the recovery, although they may have helped sustain it". The author, Dr David Coblentz, said the study shows when and how achievement changed, not why. That "requires significantly more research". Reading comprehension started falling in the mid-2010s and "has never fully recovered". NZEI Te Riu Roa's Ripeka Lessels said true progress requires tracking the same cohort over time. RNZ's own reporting on the wider data is that [evidence is sketchy](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/education/1996231/a-whirlwind-of-education-change?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) at a nationally measurable level. So the Minister demands evidence from everyone else, then claims certainty the evidence won't give her. The same Minister, when told by the Tribunal that she lacked evidence, kept going. --- ## The Deep Dive Podcast New Zealand s School Reforms Under Fire 0:00 /1235.696327 1× Listen to a lively conversation between two hosts, unpacking and connecting topics in the sources of this essay. I apologise in advance for the AI's very harsh pronounciation of reo. Please dont shoot me, :). ## Youtube Video Like video? Here is a short video suppporting the essay. Again, don't shoot the messenger please because of AI's pronounciation. :) --- ## Tika, Pono And Tikanga On The Record ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/10/The_Tiriti_and_Tamariki_Audit_-_Slide_6.png) **Tika.** A process the Tribunal found ideological, with advisers it found hostile to mātauranga Māori and a decision it found made over the opposition of Māori and the sector, is not a right process. The [Ministry's own release](https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/information-releases/issue-specific-information-releases/education-and-training-amendment-bill-no-2?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) lists the removal of the explicit board duty to give effect to Te Tiriti. RNZ reports more than half of the country's schools publicly opposed it. Others stayed quiet because they feared looking "political". ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/10/The_Tiriti_and_Tamariki_Audit_-_Slide_7.png) **Pono.** The Minister says she follows the evidence. The Tribunal says she lacked it. The study she cites says it cannot tell us why scores rose. In my [Curriculum Con essay](https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/the-curriculum-con-how-a-white-supremacist-neoliberal-regime-tried-to-bury-te-tiriti-in-a-filing-cabinet-and-got-caught-digging-the-grave-23-july-2026/) I traced how the Treaty was cut from the curriculum document and then put back, only after documents showed what had happened. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/10/The_Tiriti_and_Tamariki_Audit_-_Slide_8.png) **Tikanga.** Whose mana was preserved? Not that of the iwi, hapū and educators the Tribunal says were overridden. Whose whakapapa was recognised? Not the one the histories curriculum was meant to carry. Whose whānau were involved? Subject associations told RNZ they could see no sign of their input in the drafts. --- ## Three Examples For The Western Mind ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/10/The_Tiriti_and_Tamariki_Audit_-_Slide_10.png) ### Example One: The Duty That Was Deleted > Imagine a council required by law to build a footpath to a school, and then the law is changed so the council "may consider it". The footpath might still get built, but nobody can make anyone do it. That is what happened to schools. The Act required boards to work to achieve equitable outcomes for Māori students. The [Ministry's guidance on the Act](https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/legislation/education-and-training-act-2020/te-tiriti-o-waitangi?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) set out what that duty meant: local tikanga in plans and curriculum, access to te reo, and equitable outcomes. The gap that duty was meant to close is real. In 2025, [41% of Māori leavers](https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED2607/S00030/more-than-10000-teens-left-school-in-2025-with-no-qualifications.htm?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) had NCEA Level 3 or above, against 59% of all leavers. That is an 18-point gap. At Level 2 it is 63% against 78%, a 15-point gap. Removing the duty does not cause that gap, but it removes a lever meant to narrow it. In tikanga terms: mana is diminished, because a legal obligation becomes a favour. Whakapapa is unrecognised, because Te Tiriti is no longer written into a school's governance. The solution is to restore the board duty in law, which is what the sector told RNZ it wanted. The Greens, per [their Tiriti page](https://www.greens.org.nz/te%5Ftiriti%5Fo%5Fwaitangi?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz), called on Luxon to abandon the amendments. ### Example Two: The Curriculum Written Without You > Think of an architect who designs a house for a family without meeting them, then consults a few neighbours afterwards. The house might be sound, but it was not designed with the people who will live in it. That is how the Tribunal describes the curriculum process. The Ministry's own data shows who is most at stake. In 2023, only [12% of Māori Year 8 students](https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-transforms-maths-education?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) met the maths benchmark, against 22% overall. That is a 10-point gap, and it means 88% of Māori Year 8 students were not at benchmark. Mullins found the changes were pushed ahead despite the lack of solid evidence they would reduce inequity. In tikanga terms: whānau were not involved in the design, and wairua is disrespected when mātauranga Māori is treated as a problem to be managed. The solution is genuine co-design with iwi and Māori educators, with the power to say no. My [Seven Parties essay](https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/seven-parties-walked-into-the-light-this-is-why-six-of-them-should-not-come-back-3-october-2026/) shows what the parties offer on that front. ### Example Three: The Lunch That Shrank > Picture a marae kitchen told to feed the same number of people with a third less budget, using a menu written in Wellington. That is what happened to school lunches. The programme's budget was cut by about [$107m of $323m](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12539167/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz), which is 33%. The average cost per meal is now [$3.58](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics%5Felection-2026/1066090/greens-vow-to-restore-original-school-lunch-programme-include-more-schools?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz). The Health Coalition reports Ministry monitoring found [only half of 2025 lunches met nutritional standards](https://www.healthcoalition.org.nz/substandard-school-lunches-our-tamariki-deserve-better/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz). The Greens want to restore $6.50 a meal, which is $2.92, or about 45%, more than now. In tikanga terms: manaakitanga is the heart of it. A lunch that fails nutrition standards is hospitality that fails the guest. The University of Auckland researchers who evaluated the programme found it [rated very well](https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2025/10/24/free-school-lunch-evaluation-raises-concerns-about-funding.html?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) and recommended making it permanent. The solution is permanent funding, and the Greens' [policy](https://www.greens.org.nz/green%5Fparty%5Fannounces%5Fplan%5Ffor%5Ffree%5Fand%5Fnutritious%5Fschool%5Flunches?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) is to do that and expand it to about 400 more schools and 150,000 more children. --- ## The Best Counterargument ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/10/The_Tiriti_and_Tamariki_Audit_-_Slide_9.png) The strongest defence of this government is not nothing. Attendance is up, according to RNZ. Maths and reading vocabulary have improved. Stanford told the Herald the credit goes to teachers, and The Post reports she says the Tribunal [reviewed an early draft](https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/361086351/erica-stanford-says-her-reforms-help-maori-students-educators-call-it-regression?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz), not the final curriculum. On lunches, Seymour says on-time delivery is near 100%, complaints fell by more than 92%, and continuing as-is saves $122m in 2027. I accept the gains. They are good for tamariki. But the Tribunal's finding is about process, and a finished curriculum cannot retrospectively consult the people who were not consulted. The gains do not need the Treaty deleted from school governance. RNZ reports that teachers would keep most of the reforms and want only two things reversed: the Treaty duty and the Teaching Council changes. --- ## Why This Coalition Must Not Return ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/10/The_Tiriti_and_Tamariki_Audit_-_Slide_12.png) The election is on Saturday, 7 November. [Enrolment closes](https://vote.nz/2026-general-election/about/overview?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) at midnight on Sunday, 25 October, and voting opens on 26 October. That is eight days from now. Here is my case for not returning National, ACT and NZ First to power. - They were told twice by the Tribunal that they breached Te Tiriti, and kept going. - They deleted the board duty, while the Tribunal found the Crown's process failed partnership and active protection. - They claim evidence for their reforms that the study's own author says it cannot give. - They cut school lunches by a third and left only half of meals meeting standards, according to the Health Coalition. - ACT and NZ First, as I reported in my earlier essay, plan to wind up or abolish the Tribunal. I stand by that account, but check the parties' own policy pages. --- ## Why I Am Voting Green ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/10/The_Tiriti_and_Tamariki_Audit_-_Slide_13.png) Labour has also promised to freeze the curriculum overhaul and [reinstate the board duty](https://newsroom.co.nz/2026/04/28/labour-vows-to-reinstate-school-boards-treaty-obligations/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz). That is a real commitment, and I have said so before. But the Greens go further. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/10/The_Tiriti_and_Tamariki_Audit_-_Slide_11.png) They are the party with a lunch policy that restores and permanently funds the programme. Their [Tiriti stance](https://www.greens.org.nz/te%5Ftiriti%5Fo%5Fwaitangi?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) is that the Tribunal has been clear the Crown breached its obligations. And their [Northland candidate](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/election-2026-mike-findlayson-northland-green-party-candidate/7ZIFTAZSQNF7FKZEHJ6LXEMERM/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) told the Herald they would back a permanent curriculum council and entrenching Te Tiriti. That is a candidate's answer, not the party manifesto. As I set out in [Seven Parties Walked Into The Light](https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/seven-parties-walked-into-the-light-this-is-why-six-of-them-should-not-come-back-3-october-2026/), the Greens also carry a redistribution package that includes a wealth tax. This is my opinion, openly stated. Party vote Green, and vote with your mokopuna in mind. --- ## Koha Consideration ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/10/The_Tiriti_and_Tamariki_Audit_-_Slide_14.png) You might ask who is supporting The Māori Green Lantern to trace a Tribunal report, a test-score study and a school lunch budget into one essay for you. The answer is you do. This mahi is supported through koha and nothing else. There are no corporates behind it. Every koha tells the Crown, and anyone who prefers these questions stay unasked, that whānau will support the accountability they won't provide. It is rangatiratanga in practice. Kia kaha, whānau. Stay vigilant. Stay connected. If you can, consider a koha so this voice continues. If you can't, no worries. Subscribe or follow at themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz, kōrero, and share with your whānau and friends. That is koha in itself. Four pathways exist: - **Koha platform:** [Koha — Support This Mahi](https://app.koha.kiwi/events/the-maori-green-lantern-fighting-misinformation-and-disinformation-ivor-jones?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) - **Subscribe to receive essays and support the mahi:** [Subscribe To The Māori Green Lantern](https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/#/portal/support) - **Bank transfer:** Ivor Jones, account number 03-1395-0099387-000 - **Facebook:** [Subscribe On Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/Themaorigreenlantern/subscribe/) --- ### Disclaimer This essay expresses my **opinion** as Ivor Jones, The Māori Green Lantern. It combines linked reporting and public records with analysis, cultural interpretation and forceful political criticism. Descriptions such as “white supremacist” or “neoliberal” express my assessment of policies, structures and their effects; they are not Tribunal findings or claims about every individual’s beliefs or intentions. Allegations and disputed claims should not be read as established facts. Political recommendations are my own, not endorsements on behalf of any iwi, hapū or Māori organisation. I welcome evidence-based corrections.