Since New Zealand’s right-wing coalition government took office a year ago, its policy direction for Māori has dominated headlines, but one proposal in particular has faced strident backlash: the Treaty Principles Bill.
The bill was introduced by the minor libertarian Act party to parliament on Thursday. It seeks to radically alter the way the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document and which upholds Māori rights, is interpreted.
What is the bill proposing and why has it prompted widespread criticism?
What is the Treaty of Waitangi?
The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 by the British Crown and more than 500 Māori chiefs to establish a nation state. The treaty covers issues including land and cultural rights and Māori relations with ruling authorities. While not a legal document, some treaty principles have been developed and included in legislation.
There is an English and a Māori version of the treaty. These documents contain fundamental differences that have long plagued the application of the treaty and how it is interpreted. To help address this, over the past 50 years, lawmakers, courts and the Waitangi Tribunal – an institution that investigates breaches of the treaty – have looked to the wider intention, or spirit, of the treaty, in order to define its principles. The treaty principles are not set in stone and are flexible.
The principles can act as a mechanism to help the government fulfil its obligations to Māori under the treaty, says Carwyn Jones, a lead academic in Māori law at Te Wānanga o Raukawa, an Indigenous tertiary education provider.
The principles were used in efforts to revitalise the Māori language, including making it an official language, and were used to establish a Māori Health Authority to reverse poor health outcomes for Māori, which the coalition government dismantled this year, he says.
“If those principles are redefined – and significantly weakened – [there] will be fewer legal mechanisms for Māori to have their rights recognised,” Jones says, adding that that will lead to social disruption.
What does the Treaty Principles Bill propose to do?
The bill is one of Act’s flagship policies, and seeks to get rid of the well-established principles in favour of its own, redefined principles.
The party believes the current principles have distorted the original intent of the treaty and created a twin system for New Zealanders, resulting in Māori having different political and legal rights and privileges compared with non-Māori. The party has regularly called for an end to “division by race”.
Act’s leader, David Seymour, has cited co-governance (shared decision-making power between Māori and the Crown) and the establishment of quotas, designed to remedy under-representation of Māori in public institutions, as “contrary to the principle of equal rights”.
Seymour says the bill “provides an opportunity for parliament, rather than the courts, to define the principles of the treaty, including establishing that every person is equal before the law.”
Why has this stirred controversy?
Critics of the bill believe Act’s proposal fundamentally undermines the treaty and the way it is interpreted, which will have grave effects on Māori rights and drive anti-Māori rhetoric.
There has been significant public backlash to Act’s proposal, including protests and nationwide meetings of Māori leaders. A hīkoi (protest march) against the bill is scheduled to descend on parliament on 19 November – a day after the bill was originally set to be introduced. The bill was unexpectedly brought forward this week.
A Waitangi Tribunal report, provided to the Guardian, said “if this bill were to be enacted, it would be the worst, most comprehensive breach of the Treaty … in modern times”.
“If the bill remained on the statute book for a considerable time or was never repealed, it could mean the end of the Treaty.”
The Tribunal said the redefined principles would limit Māori rights and Crown obligations, hinder Māori access to justice, undermine social cohesion, reduce the constitutional status of the treaty, and was in breach of the current principles.
The bill was based on flawed policy rationales, was “novel” in its interpretations and was fashioned on a disingenuous historical narrative, it said.
Is the bill likely to pass?
Act negotiated the inclusion of the bill into its coalition agreement with the major centre-right National Party, however, National committed only to supporting it through its first reading and the select committee process.
The third coalition partner, the populist New Zealand First party, has also ruled out supporting it beyond these stages.
In a joint statement on Thursday, the Labour, Green and Te Pāti Māori (the Māori Party) opposition parties, called on prime minister Christopher Luxon to block what they called a “divisive” bill that was “pandering to a dangerous, reactionary fringe”.
Seymour has called on his coalition colleagues to respect the democratic process and make up their minds once the public has had its say, but at this stage, the bill will probably be voted down.
Despite that, many are angered over how the bill has reignited debate over the treaty, Jones says, adding that he believes it has stirred up anti-Māori views and eroded the Māori/Crown relationship.
This article was amended on 15 November 2024 to remove a reference to David Seymour being the deputy prime minister. Winston Peters is the deputy prime minister.
