More than 40,000 people made their thoughts about the Government’s Treaty Principles Bill clear in Wellington this week. Now, the whole country is being invited to share their views on the proposed legislation.
Around the same time the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti reached Parliament on Tuesday, the Justice Select Committee officially called for public submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill.
What happens over the coming weeks and months will shape how the contentious bill looks at its next reading. 1News explains how.
1News political editor Maiki Sherman reports from Parliament as tens of thousands of people converged for Hīkoi mō te Tiriti. (Source: 1News)
Firstly, what is a select committee – and who’s on them?
Select committees are made up of several MPs from different political parties.
The committees’ memberships are supposed to be proportional to the party membership in the House of Representatives. The current Justice Select Committee, for example, consists of three Labour MPs, one Green Party MP, one Te Pāti Māori MP, one ACT MP, one NZ First MP, and four National MPs, including the committee’s chairperson, James Meager.
Select committees usually meet on the Wednesdays and Thursdays of sitting weeks at Parliament to consider topics that need further information and scrutiny. These include proposed new laws, like the Treaty Principles Bill, petitions, and Government spending.
Select committees then make recommendations about those issues.
How does the public get involved?
Select committees invite the public to make submissions. A list of what’s available for submissions is on Parliament’s website.
While submissions are written, people can also ask to speak to a select committee in person or by phone or video conference to elaborate on their opinions or recommendations. Those oral submissions could be live streamed.
Written submissions will be released and made public by publishing them on the Parliament website, although it can be several months before they appear online. For that reason, people making individual submissions shouldn’t include any personal details in the submission itself. (Contact details are entered separately online.)
Parliament’s website has a guide to writing submissions. It says people should include their general position on the item of business and then clearly spell out what they think the select committee should do or change. It also says to include facts and figures to back up comments – and include sources for those.
Written submissions can be made in English or te reo Māori (which will eventually be translated into English).
Individuals and organisations have until January 7, 2025 to make a written submission on the Treaty Principles Bill.
The Justice Select Committee is yet to make further decisions about hearings around the Bill but said it intends to wrap those up by the end of February.
1News’ Te Aniwa Hurihanganui reports from the capital as Hīkoi mō te Tiriti arrived. (Source: 1News)
What happens to submissions?
Advisers read and analyse all the submissions and present their findings to the select committee in a departmental report.
The select committee then works on the bill and makes a report to the House of Representatives with any recommended changes. Both the departmental report and select committee report are published online.
The bill then has its second reading in the House. It’s at this point of proceedings that the Treaty Principles Bill is expected to fail, as ACT’s coalition partners have not committed to supporting it beyond the first reading.
People can keep up with any bill’s progress via its page on Parliament’s website.