People are portrayed as if they are or should be entitled to do what they want provided they do not infringe on the rights of others.

Cues
Rights, democracy, equality, level playing field, birthright, one law for all, property rights.

Examples
•    “Separate seats based on race are the opposite of equality” P. Goldsmith, New Zealand Herald column, April 2009.
•    “Our laws hold that every New Zealander, irrespective of ethnic or cultural identity, enjoys equality in citizenship.” M. Cabiling, New Zealand Herald column, April 24, 2009.

Assumptions
•    Rights belong only to individuals.
•    Rights always compete or conflict.
•    One person’s rights are limited by the rights of others.
•    Rights are expressed in legal practice and can be enforced by law.

Effects
•    Denies the role of the Treaty in setting out certain rights for Māori and for non-Māori.
•    Denies indigenous frameworks for establishing rights.
•    Undermines the United Nation Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which New Zealand has signed.

Alternatives
•    Rights can be collective.
•    Rights can be negotiated.
•    Western notions of rights are only one of many models.
•    Māori rights are transmitted through whakapapa and guaranteed in te Tiriti.
•    Treaty rights apply to both Māori and non-Māori in different ways.
•    Article 3 of te Tiriti o Waitangi provides for the rights of non-Māori.