Dame Jenny Shipley, haka in the committee room & calls for a referendum.
Iwi leaders did a haka, a young girl performed a karakia, an advocacy group chair called for a referendum, and a former Prime Minister used the word “heartbreaking”.
The Justice Select Committee resumed hearing oral submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill at Parliament on Thursday.
The Bill is very unlikely to become law given National and NZ First have publicly stressed they will not support it beyond select committee.
It proposes replacing the Treaty principles that have been created by the courts and Waitangi Tribunal with three new ones created by Parliament.
Here are some of the key moments from today’s Treaty Principles Bill submissions.
Former Prime Minister Dame Jenny Shipley chose the word “unconscionable” to describe the Bill, the same word used in the Crown’s apology she delivered to Ngāi Tahu in 1998.
“Over seven generations, the actions of the Crown in not honouring what we had committed to, was an unconscionable action.
“I view the fact we have this Bill in front of us, we are proposing a different future in the way in which we treat this delicate and precious, innovative relationship, in a way that we think we can exclude the original partner from having a voice.”
Dame Jenny Shipley submitting on the Treaty Principles Bill to Parliament's Justice Select Committee. Photo / Julia Gabel
Shipley urged the committee to ditch the Bill urgently, saying she could not “overstate the damage I think it is doing”.
“Frankly, I find it heartbreaking that I have lived through a generation where there were giants in Māoridom who as leaders stepped forward and created a vision which we now sit in and inherit today.
“Also political leaders, I think of Matiu Rata and Jim Bolger, Sir Douglas Graham, Doug Kidd, and more recently Chris Finlayson, who worked with some of the giants ... who had the courage to say in the context of the Treaty, the loss of the language, is indefensible.
“[They] worked with other Māori leaders to bring recovery and our generation is now inheriting the success and that is why I take deep offence that where we are starting to try over the last 50 years to rebuild some credibility around this relationship, that we would allow ourselves to be diverted.”
Ngāti Kahungunu: ‘Reject the Bill’
Ngāti Kahungunu chairman Bayden Barber ended his submission against the Bill with a haka.
He told the Herald haka and waiata were a key medium Māori used to convey messages of kotahitanga (unity) and mana motuhake (self-determination).
“You’ve only got 10 minutes so being able to get that message across quite clearly, we use our waiata and our haka. I hope they hear that our ancestors were rangatira, they understood what they were signing and they weren’t signing what this Bill is talking about, that is not the intent or aspiration of our people.
“Tainui were before us, Ngāpuhi after us – and it’s the same message, reject the Bill because it undermines and destroys the intent of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Simple message, but whether they are listening or not, remains to be seen.”
Bayden Barber, chairman of Ngāti Kahungunu, speaking at Omahu Marae. File photo / Warren Buckland
Toitu te Tiriti: Eru Kapa-Kingi
Māori activist Eru Kapa-Kingi, who was part of the team that lead a hīkoi of tens of thousands of people to Parliament in November, told the committee he “could give the most articulate, moving kōrero and it wouldn’t change a thing”.
“That is the reality of advocating for rights of an albeit beautiful oppressed and minoritised people.”
He said the Bill was based on a lie and reflected the void of knowledge and understanding among some New Zealanders.
“We have the indisputable truth on our side,” Kapa-Kingi said.
Eru Kapa-Kingi, spokesman for Toitū te Tiriti. Photo / Alex Cairns
“Having truth on our side is not the same as having power. Power is a numbers game, and numbers can supersede truth, and that is exactly what this Bill does. It is based on a lie.
“If 82 people out of 100 suddenly decide in their minds that the sky is red, good luck to the remaining 18 defending what we all know to be true.”
Democracy Action
Democracy Action chairman Lee Short supports the Bill, saying it provides an opportunity for New Zealanders to have a say on the Treaty principles.
“The general public has never been given such an opportunity before now despite the significant impact the principles defined by the Waitangi Tribunal and our courts are having on our constitution and our rights, including undermining the fundamental principles of democracy and equality of citizenship.
