Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour is defending the government’s approach to Māori education and legal reform, saying it’s about giving people more choice and clarity.

ACT’s tertiary education spokesperson, Dr Parmjeet Parmar, has written to the University of Auckland’s Vice-Chancellor and Council, calling for financial compensation for students who were required to take a compulsory tikanga Māori course.

The course was made optional following a petition with more than 3,000 signatures.

Seymour says the push for changes to the compulsory paper are not about erasing Māori culture, but about respecting individual freedom.

“Well, I think all of us come from a background where many strands make up our identity, and each of us are trying to make the best piece of the time we have on Earth. I don’t think it’s necessary to say that one person lacks competency. Each person has a background that’s important to them,” says Seymour.

Last week, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith told a Law Association breakfast that the government would legislate “over the top” of court decisions involving tikanga and Treaty obligations to maintain legal clarity.

Seymour questions the role of tikanga Māori in the legal system, arguing that laws should be clear and accessible to everyone.

“One of the key principles of the rule of law is that you have to be able to access it, understand it, and choose how to behave and know how you can defend yourself against charges of wrongdoing. All of that is very difficult to do if, as the Supreme Court have said, tikanga is something that can only be known to a few people and not written down,” says Seymour.

Seymour says the government’s focus is on practical solutions that work for all New Zealanders.

Critics like former Immigration Minister Tuariki Delamere argue the threat of changes undermines legal precedent set in the Ellis v The King ruling, which confirmed tikanga Māori as part of New Zealand’s common law and applicable to all, not just Māori.