Add your voice to our submission opposing the Treaty Principles Bill. We strongly recommend also making a unique submission. It is important that the government hears your voice. You can find our guide here.

Important note: Your name will be published to the Parliament website. Other contact details you provide on this page will not be made publicly available. Select Committee staff may use the information you provide to contact you about the submission process. Information you provide may also be used to inform improvements or changes to select committee processes. 

Our Submission 

We strongly oppose the Bill and call on the Select Committee to recommend the Treaty Principles Bill not be referred to a second reading.  

The Waitangi Tribunal released The Treaty Principles Urgent Inquiry and Interim Report which found that if enacted, the Bill would reduce the constitutional status of the te Tiriti, remove its effect in law as currently recognised in Treaty clauses, limit Māori rights and Crown obligations, hinder Māori access to justice, impact Treaty settlements, and undermine social cohesion.  

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is foundational for the enduring relationship between tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti. 

Now is the time to demonstrate that New Zealanders will not stand for deliberate trampling on our founding document that was designed to create kotahitanga between tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti and uphold tino rangatiratanga for iwi and hapū.  

We oppose this Bill because:  

1. The words of Te Tiriti cannot be rewritten, and it is an enduring part of the constitution of Aotearoa. 
2. The Crown is breaching articles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi as well as Treaty principles of partnership and reciprocity, active protection, good government, equity, redress, and the article 2 guarantee of rangatiratanga. 
3. The Crown is pursuing the Bill without any engagement or discussion with Māori. Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti have spoken out against this legislation, and introduction of this Bill to the House through to second reading ignores their right to lead the constitutional conversation.  
4. It is an attempt to use Parliament's power to change Aotearoa New Zealand's constitutional foundation, based on a legal and historical fiction, and to undermine the role of the courts. 
5. The Government is wasting resources on a Bill that two of the three government coalition parties will not be supporting beyond first reading.  

 Ends