Laws infected with treaty industry viruses says Peters

By AUDREY YOUNG political reporter

Winston Peters stepped up his attack on the Treaty of Waitangi yesterday, saying it was like a hidden vapour and had seeped into every aspect of New Zealand life.

The New Zealand First leader used the language of disease in a Clevedon speech to describe what he called the treaty industry.

"Like a noxious weed, a malignant growth, this industry thrives on certain conditions that promote its growth," he said.

He said laws were infected with nebulous references to the treaty, creating "endless opportunities for confusion".

"The treaty has become like a hidden vapour, seeping remorselessly into every aspect of New Zealand life.

"The incorporation of these vague and generic references to treaty principles may seem innocuous but, like internet viruses, they are eating away and undermining the legal and constitutional basis of our country.

"Where are the boundaries, the limits, the edges?"

The uncertainty about what the treaty meant had led to "a tsunami of verbiage", "a veritable Niagara Falls of words" about what it did or did not mean.

Treaty Negotiations Minister Margaret Wilson said Mr Peters had been consistent in his attacks on Treaty of Waitangi issues.

"To be fair to him, he has run this argument not just this year but every election year he has been involved in."

She said the principles of the treaty had been defined and provided in answers to Mr Peters in Parliament.

He did not like the answer, she said, because "there is detail about it".

In answer to parliamentary questions, she has referred to the principles of government, self-management, equality, reasonable co-operation and redress.

She said the Government needed to go further than referring to principles and to make them relevant, where possible, to particular circumstances.

For example, legislation might refer to shared responsibility of health boards or proper consultation.

"If you're going to put clauses in with reference to the treaty, people have to know what it means."

Mr Peters would "try to make electoral capital out of this and use the race card in the Tauranga electorate. He may or may not succeed.

"All I know is, we have a principled position which I think is very practical and necessary, one that will preserve and develop harmonious co-existence in our community."

Mr Peters might fear that the treaty caused divisiveness.

"If we don't try to address it in a responsible, negotiated, fair way then it will be divisive.

"Of course I would like it to be more efficient, of course I would like it to be quicker, of course I would like it not to cost as much," Margaret Wilson said.

"That's what I'm slowly but surely trying to address - but it's not done in dramatic headlines."