Submission on the Principles of The Treaty Of Waitangi Bill

As the hours tick down to the close of the submission time on David Seymour’s forlorn Bill. I decided to throw my hat in the ring regardless. The Bill itself may well be dead in the water but the discussion may well have only just begun. So here is my offering…

To members of the Justice Committee,

This submission is against the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill.

In principle, the idea of a Treaty Principles Bill is potentially useful IF and only if it enshrines in Law EQUALITY under the Law, AND also makes clear to who that Law applies. I.e. any human being in the territory of New Zealand, – that is any person, male or female, of any Race or Religion, of any rank or standing, whether a citizen of this country or any other.

David Seymour has said, “We need an understanding of our founding document that’s actually unifying rather than divisive.” The Bill’s original intent was to clarify the treaty and protect the right of all New Zealanders to equal treatment under the Law. However, Principle 2 of the Bill now appears to completely torpedo that original intent.

Referring to the “rights” that Hapu and Iwi Maori had under the Treaty of Waitangi/te Tiriti o Waitangi at the time they signed it, do we not know what “rights” Iwi and Hapu had under the treaty when they signed it? It was 185 years ago. Are we still trying to work out the answer to that question? Leaving this question unresolved leaves the door open to continued wrangling and potential graft in the settlement of claims in the Waitangi Tribunal.

The Bill as it stands still leaves the path open to argument over;-

• the meaning of the treaty,
• whether or not sovereignty was ceded at all
• and whether sovereignty was ceded by some tribes and not others.

If this bill were to become Law there is the very real possibility that precisely the opposite intent of the Bill will be realised, that unequal treatment be enshrined in Law via treaty settlements.

Guilt And Grievance

Ours is a young country, we have the records of our history. There should be no doubts about what has transpired in our early history. Yet it seems that interested parties have found it profitable to obfuscate our past.   I believe a thorough and honest appraisal of the early settlement period of our history could provide a sound basis for mutual respect between Maori and non-Maori descended New Zealanders. It is imperative for social harmony and the future prosperity of all New Zealanders that we reject the contrived culture of Guilt and Grievance that has been imposed on all of us for a host of nefarious reasons.

Recommendations

The Treaty Of Waitangi Act 1975 should be repealed in its entirety. New Zealand is now a modern multicultural democratic state, with more than 160 ethnic groups represented. To continue down this road of racial separatism can only be destructive to national cohesion and harmony.

The Waitangi Tribunal is now 50 years old, it has long since ceased being a useful instrument of legal redress and should be disestablished.

The Treaty of Waitangi is a document of historical importance to New Zealand. It established the conditions for the settlement of the country and a legal basis for the establishment of law and order in the new colony. However, it was not a constitutional document as such. A true constitutional document is the Constitutional Charter of New Zealand of 16 November 1840. It is this document that should be recognised as the foundational constitutional document of New Zealand, not to replace the Treaty of Waitangi but simply to put it, and all of our history in the proper perspective.

Two Treaties. The document currently accepted as the English version of the Treaty of Waitangi is the version penned by James Freeman after the 6th Feb 1840 and it does not match the Maori Language version that was actually signed. The true final English language draft is the “Littlewood Document” and it should be recognised as such.