ACT is renewing calls to scrap the Human Rights Commission as it joins a reported “march of shame” to Geneva criticising New Zealand’s commitment to indigenous rights and calling the Coalition Government “racist.”

Commission “shared leader” activist Julia Whaipooti will address the 17th annual session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Geneva.

She claims New Zealand is backsliding on its Te Tiriti and international human rights obligations regarding indigenous people.

She will also support the National Iwi Chairs Forum’s Aotearoa Independent Monitoring Mechanism, which says New Zealand has its most racist government in years.

ACT Justice spokesman Todd Stephenson said “This has become absurd. Hard-up Kiwi taxpayers are forking out for an activist group to fly to Switzerland and trash New Zealand on the world stage.”

“When the Commission says the Government is backsliding on indigenous rights, it gives examples like the return of local referenda for Māori wards, the disestablishment of race-based health services, and ACT’s legislation to ensure the Treaty delivers its promise of the same rights and duties for all.

“The Human Rights Commission is obsessed with race and identity. It is dismissive of basic individual rights like free speech and the right to be safe from criminals, and it actively campaigns for policies that divide Māori from non-Māori. It is disgraceful that we give it $15 million a year to do this in the name of human rights and with the false credibility of quasi-government status.

“New Zealand can be immensely proud of our record on human rights, including the ways we have redressed past wrongs committed against Māori through the Waitangi Tribunal. The prominence of Māori culture in New Zealand is a drawcard for tourists and trading partners. In trying to smear our hard-won reputation, the Commission threatens our industries and our diplomatic influence.

“If the Commission leadership want to campaign against the government, they should join a voluntary activist group or run for Parliament. New Zealanders shouldn’t be forced to fund their political activism.

“ACT’s heart goes out to members of the audience in Geneva – especially those indigenous people who’ve travelled from non-democratic countries facing very real human rights abuses, who will have to compete for speaking time against the Human Rights Commission’s hysterical tripe.”