UN Busybody Schooled by David Seymour: New Zealand’s Sovereignty Isn’t Your Playground

Seymour’s response was a masterstroke, defending New Zealand’s right to govern itself without interference from UN bureaucrats who wouldn’t know a Treaty settlement from a parking ticket.

David Seymour, Deputy Prime Minister and ACT leader, has delivered a verbal hiding to a United Nations official who had the nerve to lecture New Zealand on its indigenous rights policies. Albert K. Barume, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, sent a sanctimonious letter from his Geneva perch, whining about the coalition government’s supposed erosion of Māori rights. Seymour’s response was pure gold: back off, mate, you’re out of your depth. And he’s absolutely right to tell the UN to sling their hooks.

Barume’s letter, addressed to New Zealand’s UN representative for distribution to Foreign Minister Winston Peters and the wider government, was a classic case of international busybody syndrome. He’s “particularly concerned” about the Regulatory Standards Bill, claiming it “excludes Māori traditions [tikanga]” and fails to uphold the Treaty of Waitangi’s principles of partnership, active protection, and self-protection. He’s worried the bill threatens Māori-specific laws addressing structural inequalities in land, language, and environmental stewardship. Worse, he reckons it imposes a “monocultural legal standard,” marginalising Māori and ignoring their governance frameworks. Sounds like a serious accusation, right? Except it’s complete tosh, and Seymour didn’t hold back in saying so.

Writing as Minister for Regulation, Seymour called Barume’s letter “presumptive, condescending, and wholly misplaced.” As an indigenous New Zealander himself, he was ropeable at the UN official’s audacity to speak on behalf of Māori, especially about a bill that’s all about ensuring clarity, consistency, and accountability in regulatory processes. Seymour made it crystal clear: the Regulatory Standards Bill doesn’t undermine Treaty settlements or statutory protections for Māori. Barume’s claim that it threatens Māori-specific laws is either a gross misunderstanding or a deliberate attempt to stir the pot. Either way, it’s nonsense.

Let’s take a step back and look at who’s pointing fingers here. Barume hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country with a human rights record that’s less a rap sheet and more a horror novel. The Second Congo War, from 1998 to 2003, left 5.4 million people dead, saw President Laurent-Désiré Kabila assassinated, and earned the grim title of the deadliest conflict since World War II. Genocide, political violence, and chaos are practically national pastimes there. Yet Barume thinks he’s qualified to lecture New Zealand, a country with more indigenous ministers in its cabinet than any other nation could dream of? Pull the other one, mate. Māori aren’t just represented here; they’re leading the charge in government. Compare that to Congo, where dissent often ends with a one-way ticket to a mass grave.

Seymour’s not the only one fed up. This is the second time a UN Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Rights has poked their nose into New Zealand’s business. Barume’s predecessor sent a milder letter last year, but clearly, the UN hasn’t learned its lesson. Seymour’s sign-off was a masterclass in telling them where to go: the Special Rapporteur’s meddling is “an affront to New Zealand’s sovereignty.” He’s spot-on. We don’t need or want lectures from a body that can’t even grasp our historical, cultural, and constitutional context. New Zealand’s been sorting its issues through debate, not bloodshed, for generations. Barume might want to take notes for his own country before preaching to us.

Barume also got his knickers in a twist over the coalition’s stance on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The NZ First and National agreement confirms that UNDRIP has no binding legal effect on New Zealand - a position even the Key Government, which signed up to it, held firm on. That hasn’t stopped dreamers pushing for things like He Puapua, Labour’s pie-in-the-sky report that floated ideas like a separate Māori parliament. Barume’s “concerned” about this too. Honestly, what does he expect? That we’ll upend our democracy to appease a non-binding UN document? Or maybe he’s suggesting we take a leaf out of Congo’s book and settle disputes with an armed insurrection? No thanks, Albert. We’ll stick to our way of doing things.

Seymour’s response was a masterstroke, defending New Zealand’s right to govern itself without interference from UN bureaucrats who wouldn’t know a Treaty settlement from a parking ticket. The Regulatory Standards Bill is about making laws clear and fair, not sidelining anyone. If Barume thinks that’s a problem, he should focus on cleaning up his own country’s mess before wagging his finger at us. New Zealand’s doing just fine, and we don’t need lessons from a place where human rights are more aspiration than reality. Seymour’s told the UN to bugger off, and good on him for it. Barume can take his condescending letter and file it where the sun doesn’t shine.