The Government’s Treaty Principles Bill has passed its first reading in Parliament, with ACT leader David Seymour’s legislation facing heated opposition.
MPs who opposed the Bill described it as being “divisive”, a “wrecking ball” to Crown-Māori relations, and “amounting to a dictatorship of the majority”.
Labour MP Willie Jackson was booted from the debating chamber after he called Seymour a “liar”, and later a haka led by Te Pāti Māori saw proceedings suspended before the vote could be finished.
Once MPs returned to an empty public gallery, the Bill passed its first reading and will go to select committee.
Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who started the haka, was suspended from the House. This means she will not be able to return to the House until 4.35pm tomorrow and will also have her pay docked for the 24-hour period.
As politicians debated the Bill for the first time, labels “liar” and “disgrace” were hurled at the ACT Party. (Source: 1News)
In tabling his bill, Seymour said it was time to “break this Parliament’s 49 years of silence” on Treaty principles.
“The purpose of this bill is to break this Parliament’s 49 years silence to define the principles in law so it’s crystal clear what the Treaty means to modern New Zealanders.
“It commits to protecting the rights of everyone, including Māori, and upholding Treaty settlements. It commits to give equal enjoyment of the same fundamental human rights to every single New Zealander.
“The Bill does something else, and that’s the answer. It democratises the principles of the Treaty. It gives everyone a say. The commencement clause says the principles of this bill only come into force if a majority votes for it to do so in a referendum.
“The principles we know today have been created by a small number of New Zealanders, even though we all have to live within them.”
He added: “I believe that all New Zealanders deserve tino rangatiratanga — the right to flourish, as you would like to live, because all human beings are alike in dignity. Thus, the Bill does not extinguish any right. It does not take from anyone.
“It reinforces the rights of the Treaty as universal human rights.”
Seymour added: “The division that you are seeing was not caused by this bill. It’s been built up over decades during which New Zealanders have come to regard themselves as based on ancestry or one side of a partnership instead of New Zealanders.
“What’s worse, successive governments have encouraged that division. The division is there whether this bill is here to reveal it or not, and we cannot afford to ignore it any longer.”
Speaking to media today, National Party leader and PM Christopher Luxon gave his strongest repudiation of the legislation yet, calling it “simplistic”, while “negating 184 years of debate and discussion”. He earlier said it was a “divisive” bill.
However, Government parties remain steadfast in their support for the legislation to a first reading and a six-month justice select committee process.
Luxon has said the Bill will be voted down by National MPs at a second reading, killing the prospects of ACT’s proposed national referendum on the issue.
“You do not negate, with a single stroke of a pen, 184 years of debate and discussion — with a bill that I think is very simplistic.”
MPs from across the political spectrum speak on the Bill
MPs from each party gave speeches during the Treaty Principles Bill’s first reading.
Labour MP Willie Jackson accused Seymour of “bringing out the worst” in New Zealanders with the Bill and that he was trying to rewrite the Treaty and turn over 50 years of principles and partnership.
“I denounce the foul attempt to rewrite the constitutional framework of this nation, simply because the Prime Minister is too weak to stop the dangerous extremism of the ACT Party.”
Jackson described the select committee process of the Bill as a “six-month hate tour” and that Seymour was the “most dangerous politician” in the country.
He ended his speech with the following statement aimed at Seymour: “You fuel hatred and misinformation in this country. You bring out the worst in New Zealanders. You should be ashamed of yourself, and you are a liar.”
He refused to withdraw and apologise and was removed from the House by the Speaker.
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said the country does not have equality and Māori get unfair outcomes because of “unequal treatment” she said begun with the Crown’s actions to dishonour Te Tiriti.
“Te Tiriti is why and how each of us are on this whenua, it tells us so much about who we are, how we got here, and where we go, how we treat each other and our planet.”
She said Te Tiriti was a “gift” and a “blueprint of an Aotearoa that respects people and the planet”.
“This Parliament was built on a legacy of deceit, dehumanisation and domination, and today, all 123 Members of Parliament will vote to either further entrench that utterly shameful legacy, or to be honest and to do something about it.”
Any MP could call for a conscience vote to “put the country above partisan politics”, Swarbrick said, asking MPs if they were here to hold onto power at any cost or were here to do the right thing.
“If you wear the mask for a little while, it becomes your face.”
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said it was appropriate to debate what the Treaty means but that the Bill was a “crude way” to handle a sensitive issue.
“It would risk increasing divisions in our country rather than reducing them.”
He reiterated that National would support the first reading of the Bill but no further, saying the better way to address the Treaty in democracy was issue by issue.
“This is not a topic that lends its way to a neat, tidy, single solution.”
New Zealand First MP Casey Costello said her party wanted “clarity and certainty” on the Treaty.
“We are not a people who should fear debate, ideas or difference of opinion. Democracy is weakened by a censorious approach. Democracy is chilled if the highest court in the land is stifled.”
Costello said there was nothing to fear through challenging ideas or positions.
“We are a healthy enough democracy to survive contentious debate.”
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi accused Seymour of “euthanising” Te Tiriti and compared the ACT Party to the Klu Klux Klan.
“This Parliament means nothing in Aotearoa without Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the only reason this Parliament exists in Aotearoa is because our tīpuna consented to it.”
Waititi re-iterated Te Pāti Māori’s desire to create a Māori Parliament and said the National-ACT-NZ First coalition “must be a one-term Government”.
“Tino rangatiratanga through self-governance is our ultimate goal. But there are steps we must take to get there.”
He finished his speech by telling Seymour, “see you next Tuesday”, referencing the arrival of the hīkoi next week.
Social Development Minister Louise Upston said the Bill was a “simplistic approach to a very complex issue” and that she was proud of National’s approach to dealing with Treaty issues.
“It is a harder approach, but it is the right approach because it will deliver enduring solutions.”
She said MMP was a “complex environment” and that parties were required to make compromises to form a government.
“National will uphold the coalition agreement with ACT and support their Treaty Principles Bill at first reading, allowing it to go to select committee. However, we will vote against it at the second reading, as this bill does nothing to help.”
Labour MP Duncan Webb said the Treaty Principles Bill took a “wrecking ball” to Crown-Māori relations.
“This is a damaging piece of legislation that this Government, Christopher Luxon, is taking a wrecking ball to the work that has been done by successive governments over the past 50 years since the Waitangi Tribunal was established,” he said.
“This bill would amount to the dictatorship of the majority. This Parliament can and has passed racist laws in the past, and Māori are still paying the price, and we all are still paying the price. We’ve come a long way since those laws were passed or so we thought.
“We’ve recognised this House does not have an unfettered mandate to violate the rights of others, but this bill demonstrates that some people still think that because Parliament is sovereign, because the power exists, there’s a mandate to expropriate, rewrite and revisit. They think their power is unfettered, unbridled and unconstrained, but it’s not.”