All march at same pace on Treaty, says Dame Silvia

Dame Silvia Cartwright says the place of the Treaty in NZ's constitutional set-up is of great importance. Picture / Richard Robinson

The Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright, last night cautioned against haste in any constitutional reform involving the Treaty of Waitangi.

She said all New Zealanders needed time to reflect on it, and she compared it to a journey.

"As any good tramper knows, it is no good if a few eager-beavers take off ahead while others get left behind. The same can be said of significant constitutional change.

"If we are to make changes to our constitution to reflect the role of the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand society, it is important that all New Zealanders walk together at more or less the same pace."

Dame Silvia made the comments in a speech entitled "Our Constitutional Journey" to the Legal Research Foundation at the Northern Club in Auckland.

She said that since the 1970s there had been a consistent call from Maoridom for constitutional change to give greater effect to the Treaty of Waitangi.

The place of the Treaty in constitutional arrangements was one of the most important questions facing the country.

"It is not an issue that we can address with hasty reforms. It is something that all New Zealanders need time to reflect on, and discuss."

Dame Silvia, whose term ends on August 4, said the move to the MMP electoral system had given rise to talk about broader constitutional change.

She spelled out her expectations of what would happen if it became clear the Government lost the numbers on matters of confidence to govern mid-term.

And she made it clear that the Governor-General should not dissolve Parliament for an election simply because the Prime Minister wanted one.

The Governor-General would first have to be satisfied that another government could not be formed from other existing parties and that the majority of the House wanted an early election.

The Governor-General would depend on the political parties in the House to clarify within a reasonably short timeframe whether the caretaker Prime Minister could re-establish his or her support, "or whether an alternative administration can be identified from the existing Parliament".

During that period, the caretaker convention would rule - "that is, it requires the support of the majority of the House."