Note: This video featuring speakers such as Finlayson, Waring, Kelsey and Little is a long one - 35 minutes.
In the first 9 of 80 hours that the Justice Select Committee will spend on Treaty Principles Bill public hearings1, from a smidgeon of the 343,000 record submissions2, in a months and months long process, conservatively costed at $6m plus3 - excluding submitters, three important points were revealed:
1. Government directs officials to look into the referendum option for the Treaty Principles Bill
Government has directed its officials to investigate - in parallel to the TPB process - a referendum for the Treaty Principles.
Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Law Professor, notes the Coalition may be positioning for a citizen initiated referendum4 - and irrespective of the reasons, she notes that’s an issue.
If, for example, Hobsons Pledge forms the numbers to initiate it, it could become a 2026 election referendum - unless a super majority of MPs from National and NZ First block it.
Party leaders Luxon and Peters have ostensibly denied they will support the Bill past second reading - yet their actions have gone above and beyond the Coalition agreement to give ACT & Hobsons Pledge 6 months of maximum publicity (“advertising”) for the Bill and its “disingenuous” and “novel”5 narrative.
Significantly, the government also sacked half of the Waitangi Tribunal members this month - removing NZ’s most respected mātauranga Māori experts from the Judiciary.
I did a quick profile of some of the new members on the evening of the announcement.
The upshot is it looks like a significant stacking of the deck, while removing strong, qualified experts.
And now, this revelation looks very much like more bad faith on the Government’s part.
2. If the “dangerous” Regulatory Standards Bill is legislated, it will remove the Treaty of Waitangi - and environmental & community considerations - from law making priorities.
And there’s more!
The RSB’s implications are stark, and as outlined by Melanie Nelson and Jane Kelsey, it will effectively concretize the principles of individual and property rights etc. over social safeguards, community interests, environment and Te Tiriti.
But - as usual - there is more.
Much more.
The legislative assault to eradicate references to the Treaty of Waitangi is comprehensive and full-on.
And that works in concert with other law changes NACT1 are making.
So, what else is there?
And how might it all play out?
Well —
Think of a billionaire, or maybe a foreign company, that wants to build sprawling structures on our sensitive environmental land, that impinges on the landscape, and public views. Where now they may fall foul of our courts, laws, and/or Councils, in future, they can be protected in their individual and property rights - thanks to laws passed under the principles of the “meta-regulation” Regulatory Standards Bill.
Or, say an Australian magnate purchases sensitive land - thanks to this Government’s relaxing of the Overseas Investment Act - and mines it irrespective of local and conservation impacts.
Chris Bishop’s Fast-Track Law can help too - by accelerating the mining magnate’s plans - bypassing scrutiny by councils, communities and other civil authorities with ease - and strengthening their legislative protections.
These bills could all partner well with the Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill too. In its current form, it could be leveraged to criminalize peaceful environmental protestors. For example, an Otago community group decides to protest mining operations, but they are jailed for their peaceful efforts after being accused of unknowingly being under foreign inteference and putting NZ’s economic security at risk.
And say, in future, another government is voted in and attempts to cancel contracts approved under existing laws e.g. housing development on flood plains.
Well, New Zealand can expect to pay a heavy price for trying to renege on contracts signed under NZ laws specifically designed to protect these operators.
The price would not only be financially and reputationally heavy, but put us in murky legal territory
This Government is also systematically removing long standing laws that reference Te Tiriti e.g. Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act.
As of October 2024, Newsroom’s Laura Walters reported that an additional 28 laws that reference Te Tiriti o Waitangi have been earmarked to weaken and remove Treaty clauses e.g. Resource Management Act, Education and Training Act, Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act and the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Act etc.
That project is of course led by Paul Goldsmith, National’s Treaty of Waitangi Minister - a man who ostensibly likes Hobsons Pledge founder Don Brash, thinks colonialism was “on balance, good” for Maori, and tried to have Te Reo Maori scrubbed from official Matariki invitations.
As you might see - it’s a full package, and our right wing Government, has thought of everything.
It almost feels like a replay of some old recycled playbook - brought to you sincerely by Misters Luxon, Seymour, Bishop, Goldsmith, Winston Peters, and Shane Jones.
The Coalition Agreement on the Regulatory Standards Bill is much stronger than for the Treaty Principles Bill:
It uses the words: “pass the Regulatory Standards Act as soon as practicable.”
Seymour knew exactly what he was doing during Coalition Agreement talks: Luxon was either complicit, ignorant or an absolute numpty - the latter having the highest probability at this point.
So the TPB, while significant, is only one course of a large, well designed buffet - attacking Te Tiriti and Maori rights from all angles, while implementing complementary laws —
All of which will most likely benefit the wealthiest of individuals and corporations.6
3. Submissions were strong and thoughtful - with some commentators arguing substantive equality cannot be achieved by ignoring outcomes and inequality
Worthy commentators include Andrew Little, Chris Finlayson, the New Zealand Nursing Organisation, Marilyn Waring, Jane Kelsey with highlights in the video above.
Another worthy point was Tākuta Ferris asking TPB supporter Paul Goldstone if it is Te Tiriti o Waitangi that gives every person the constitutional right to live in Aotearoa New Zealand.
After some serious attempts at diversion, Goldstone concedes it is.7
Followed to its logical place, Te Tiriti / Treaty of Waitangi is what gives this government - and what it grants - legitimacy.
As Chris Finlayson said to Seymour yesterday: “Be very careful what you wish for.”
Because you might just get it.
Cartoons
Treaty Principles Bill Select Committee
$6m is a highly conservative estimate with figures of $10m + seen as more realstic. Seymour however has ignored critics saying ‘you cannot put a price on democracy’. This despite the Treaty Principes Bill being dead on arrival - given National and NZ First signalling they will not support it past second reading.
A citizen initiated referendum requires 10% of eligible voters to sign a petition to commence
Comments by NZ Judiciary: Waitangi Tribunal, August 2024
Note: from the RIS - “The bill is effectively silent about how the Crown will meet its duties under the Treaty/te Tiriti in this space.”
Here’s the dialogue - in the main video it’s @ time stamped 27:37
TF: Do you think Te Tiriti o Waitangi gives every person in the country the constitutional right to be here?
PG: <pause> Um, yes it creates the document that creates the Government of New Zealand
TF: But does the constitutional right come from the Treaty?
PG: Well, the Treaty is the foundational document of creating the Government of New Zealand
TF: But the constitutional right comes from the Treaty?
PG: Well, actually the constitutional right for me to be a New Zealander is that I was born here.
TF: I didn’t say New Zealander, I said ‘in the country’.
PG: Um well, yes, if it’s…. <trails off>
TF: Kia Ora, thank you.
Share this post