#56 - Paul Moon ONZM - Colonisation, The Treaty & History: Learning From, and Making Sense of The Past

Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This is a quote from Machiavelli about the importance of understanding our history.

Aotearoa New Zealand, like all nations, must grapple with its past if it intends to avoid repeating its mistakes. With the introduction of Act Party's Treaty Principles Bill, the discussion around Te Tiriti has come to a head. On one side of the argument, the current interpretation of te tiriti has gone too far, on the other, not far enough.

To understand this further, I wanted to learn more about New Zealand's history: how colonisation occurred, the context with which te tiriti and the treaty were signed, and the implication of what happened in the 1800s and how this affects people today.

So on this episode I bring you Professor Paul Moon, Officer of NZ Order of Merit. Paul is a historian and professor at Auckland University of Technology who has devoted his career to researching New Zealand History, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and British Colonisation. He is an avid author and written many books on early NZ history and biographies of both British settlers and Maori rangatira.

I also speak to Paul about the recently developed NZ history curriculum as well as the state of our Universities and academia. Are we creating environments for freedom of thought, exploration and expression? Or has challenging the orthodoxy become a social faux-pas?