Sign Labour's submission on the Treaty Principles Bill

Honourable members of the Justice Select Committee,

We reject the Treaty Principles Bill, the division it has caused and what it is costing our country.

Since 1975, a set of principles based on the English and Māori versions of Te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi have been set into law. Over time, and under successive Labour and National Governments, these principles have strengthened and race relations in New Zealand have improved, but there is still a lot of work to be done by the Crown to address the effects of colonisation and its many historical breaches of Treaty.

David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill undoes these decades of work. Decades of moving forward as a nation, to right the wrongs of the past. It seeks to have the Treaty Principles replaced with Seymour’s interpretation of the principles – ones that are based on outdated and incorrect perspectives that do not reflect the spirit or words of the Treaty.

Christopher Luxon has allowed six months of divisive debate. He failed at the negotiating table, and has failed to show leadership – opening the door to racism and disinformation. Labour’s position has been that this should not have been allowed to happen at all.

Tens of thousands of New Zealanders joined the hikoi to Parliament opposing this Bill. Several hundred thousand signed a petition against it. Almost 20,000 signed Labour’s open letter to the Prime Minister asking him directly to please kill the Bill.

The list of people who are against this Bill is a long one, and includes people with expert knowledge of the Treaty including historians, former Race Relations Commissioners, King’s Counsel, clergy, government officials, and current and former MPs from every party except ACT.

They all say the same thing: this Bill should never have been introduced. It is in breach of the principle of good government, is not evidence-based, has not been adequately tested or consulted on, and fails regulatory standards.

Our submission is that the Treaty Principles Bill should not proceed.