Committee Secretariat
Justice Committee
Parliament Buildings
Wellington

[Date]

To: Members of the Justice Select Committee

Submission on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill

By [Name]

I support the intention of the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill. Specifically, I support:

• the Bill's goal of clarifying the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, as this will help establish greater certainty and understanding of their meaning within legislation.
• I also welcome the opportunity to participate in a national conversation about the place of the principles of the Treaty in our constitutional arrangements.

I wish to make the following comments:

Principle 1 - civil government: I support principle 1 because:

• it reinforces New Zealand’s commitment to the core values of a free and democratic society, a system based on political equality;
• it reaffirms that our democratically elected Government possesses the authority to govern, and that Parliament is the supreme authority in the legislative process.

I believe these principles are important because they contribute to social cohesion and foster the country’s stability.

Recommendation: that the text of principle 1 be amended to include the term ‘all New Zealanders’ - i.e. ‘the Government of New Zealand has full power to govern all New Zealanders’

Principle 3 – the right to equality. I support principle 3 because:

• equality is fundamental to human rights, rooted in the principle that every person deserves to be treated fairly and without discrimination;
• equality promotes social cohesion, contributing to the creation of a more harmonious and just society.

Principle 2 - Rights of hapū and iwi Māori: I do not support principle 2, the reason being that the effect of this principle would be to elevate the significant rights granted to hapū and iwi Māori through Treaty of Waitangi settlements over the principle of equal rights for all, particularly in relation to any co-governance and similar arrangements established as a result of these settlements. There is an irreconcilable conflict between co-governance and equal citizenship. Co-governance ‘power sharing’ models have a discriminatory impact on other citizens by significantly diluting their democratic representation in decision-making processes. This is not only undemocratic, but such discrimination is also in breach of the Bill of Rights. Therefore, this situation creates a conflict between Principle 2 and Principle 3.

Furthermore, honouring Treaty settlements should not come at the expense of equality of suffrage. This is a fundamental human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Recommendation: Because of the reasons outlined above, I recommend simplifying the second principle to reflect the Article second of Te Tiriti by reverting Principle 2 to the original ‘existing’ Act policy, as outlined in the coalition agreement and arguably the one Act was elected to advance. The original Act party Principle 2 states: ‘The Government will safeguard the authority of all citizens over their land and property’.

Conclusion

I support Principles 1 and 3 of the Principles of the Treaty Bill but recommend Principle 2 revert to the original Act party Principle 2 – ‘The Government will safeguard the authority of all citizens over their land and property.’

I recommend any principles of the Treaty of Waitangi closely reflect the three articles of the Te Tiriti – (the signed copy of the Treaty), which guarantees:

• the Crown has the right to govern;
• the protection of the property rights of the chiefs, the tribes and all the people of New Zealand (‘…nga tangata katoa o Nu Tirani…’ - Article 2); 
• equality of citizenship.

Ultimately, I recommend that any principles of the Treaty must guarantee that all citizens are treated as equals, irrespective of their ethnicity.

Thank you for accepting my submission.

[Name]