PM Christopher Luxon’s cunning move on David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill - Editorial

Opinion

Editorial:

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s decision to appoint David Seymour as an associate justice minister in charge of Act’s Treaty Principles Bill is an astute move that will go some way towards taking National out of the Māori firing line.

Luxon has seen the anger and angst Act’s flagship bill has created and has distanced himself and his party from getting into an early slugfest with Māori. Seymour will now have to defend his proposal, which is already facing tough opposition from National and NZ First MPs and Māori.

National has its own agendas, such as dumping the Māori Health Authority, Three Waters, changing the names of ministries back to English, slashing public service numbers and trying to reverse the cost of living.

The Treaty principles review is one scrap the party didn’t need. It only agreed to support this bill to secure the coalition deal with Act and NZ First - its coalition compromise.

Now, it’s up to Seymour to advance his bill past the select committee stage. That’s as far as National and NZ First have said they will support it.

Seymour has spun that to mean National could still support this past select committee - but only a mad gambler would take that bet on.

If Quentin Tarantino was directing this drama, it would be Kill (the) Bill Volume 3.

Seymour will be wondering how his calls for an open conversation about Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles could be handed back to him. Will it be to make it float or to watch it go down the gurgler at the select committee stage?

Opposition MPs are calling on Luxon to euthanise Seymour’s bill now, saying it has already encouraged extremist views and anti-Maori sentiment and wasted taxpayer money.

The bigger issue is that New Zealanders need an open discussion on Te Tiriti but the way Seymour is delivering the message is seen as divisive.

So this bill will be kicked down the road and put in the not-now basket, but there will come a time when we need to have a genuine conversation about the Treaty of Waitangi.

New Zealand was founded on a bi-cultural platform but how does that work today with our multi-cultural society? That’s the real dilemma we should face.