Bill to reinterpret founding treaty with Maori would make New Zealand a ‘laughing stock’, MPs told
Bill to reinterpret founding treaty with Maori would make New Zealand a ‘laughing stock’, MPs told
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Introduced to parliament by a minor coalition party, the treaty principles bill seeks to abandon a set of principles that guide the relationship between Māori and ruling authorities. A marathon public hearing into a bill that seeks to radically reinterpret New Zealand’s founding treaty between Māori tribes and the British Crown began on Monday amid widespread outcry the proposed changes are unconstitutional, socially divisive and an attack on Māori rights.
The treaty principles bill, which was introduced to parliament by the minor coalition Act party, seeks to abandon a set of well-established principles that guide the relationship between Māori and ruling authorities in favour of its own redefined principles.
The Act party argues that Māori have been afforded different political and legal rights and privileges compared with non-Māori because of the principles that have flowed from the Treaty of Waitangi – New Zealand’s founding document that is instrumental in upholding Māori rights.
The proposal has sparked strident criticism from lawyers, academics and the public, who believe Act’s principles will weaken Māori rights and remove checks on the crown. It has prompted mass meetings of Māori leaders, and the largest ever protest on Māori rights.
Sir Edward Taihakurei Durie, a former high court judge who helped established the Waitangi Tribunal – an institution set up to investigate breaches of the treaty – told the committee the bill erased 50 years of the tribunal’s work to help develop the principles.
