Stage set for Treaty Principles Bill showdown
The controversial proposed legislation has been introduced to parliament just a week out from its first reading.
Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Friday, November 8.
In today’s edition: Tributes flow for Sir Robert “Bom” Nairn Gillies, outgoing US president Joe Biden speaks for the first time since election night, and The Spinoff’s Joel MacManus heads for Auckland on his very long commute. But first, the Treaty Principles Bill has been tabled in parliament ahead of its first reading.
Few surprises
David Seymour’s controversial Treaty Principles Bill has finally been made public – and we’ve had our first glimpse at the protest action that awaits it. The draft of the legislation was introduced to parliament yesterday, reported RNZ’s Russell Palmer, confirming minor changes to what had initially been announced. The second principle, explained the bill’s architect David Seymour, has been narrowed "to provide that the rights of hapū and iwi differ from the rights everyone has a reasonable expectation to enjoy only when those rights are agreed to as part of a Treaty settlement”. Seymour said this had occurred because the previous wording was “too broad".
The Waitangi Tribunal released the second part of its interim report into the bill earlier this week, in time for the bill’s tabling at parliament, saying that should it pass it would “be the worst, most comprehensive breach of the Te Tiriti in modern times”. As has been widely established, the bill will be backed by all three coalition parties through first reading – set down for next Thursday – and enjoy the standard select committee period. That’s despite the fact National has pledged not to endorse the bill any further, effectively killing it sometime in early 2025.
Challenges in the House…
While the bill has now been introduced to parliament, that’s all that has happened so far. Simeon Brown, the acting leader of the house, told TVNZ’s Breakfast it was a “technicality” that would allow the public to have a first look at the bill. The real fireworks will begin when parliament has the opportunity to debate it. Nevertheless, Te Pāti Māori attempted to raise the matter at the start of question time yesterday, reported the Herald’s Julia Gabel. Multiple attempts by the party to raise points of order on the bill were shut down, but not before those in the public gallery audibly objected. Iwi leader Helmut Modlik – who recently went toe to toe with Seymour in a debate on the bill – and six other senior members of Ngāti Toa walked out of the public gallery.
In question time the day prior, as noted here in the Hansard, Green Party MP Teanau Tuiono challenged the prime minister on why the bill was being put through a full select committee process only for it to be ditched at the end. Christopher Luxon responded: “[It] is a chance for the public to engage with the process”. Unfortunately for the government, and the prime minister in particular, it means next year’s Waitangi Day will be very uncomfortable.
…And outside
There wasn’t just discontent within parliament, but outside it. A number of protesters also gathered on parliament’s forecourt in opposition of the bill, while others marched through David Seymour’s Epsom electorate, reported RNZ’s Te Manu Korihi. One protester claimed that the introduction of the bill this week was out of fear from a forthcoming hīkoi set to leave the tip of the North Island next week and weave its way down to Wellington, though Seymour, speaking to The Platform, dismissed this.
Initially intended to coincide with the treaty bill’s launch, the hīkoi will now serve as a response to the first reading. Organisers told Te Karere that the protest wasn’t against the bill, but “for Te Tiriti”. In an interesting feature this morning, RNZ’s Ella Stewart goes inside the movement – Toitū te Tiriti – pushing for protest against the coalition government. The group has been responsible for several large scale rallies across the country over the past 12 months, and has organised next week’s hīkoi as well. Spokesperson Eru Kapa-Kingi said: "As soon as this coalition government came in it sparked a fire in me and also in the people that I spend a lot of time with, particularly discussing our rights and our liberation as a people."
‘Plenty in the pipeline’
All three opposition parties released a joint open letter in a last ditch appeal to the prime minister to scrap the bill entirely. As noted by Marc Daalder, writing for Newsroom Pro (paywalled), it’s relatively rare for parties to join together and shows the opposition wants the Treaty Principles Bill to be an issue “above politics”. That message is unlikely to be heeded by the government.
Though the government’s commitment remains only to support the bill to first reading, Seymour and Act appear equally as dedicated to trying to take it further. In an email sent to party supporters yesterday, Seymour said they would soon hear more about Act’s planned campaign in support of the bill. “Needless to say, there's plenty in the pipeline,” he added.
Newsroom’s Fox Meyer reported that Seymour’s plan appears to be to normalise the idea of the bill, with the Act leader himself admitting it can take multiple attempts for something to progress through parliament. Matthew Hooton, writing for the Herald, said as much in a piece earlier this year. By securing a select committee process, there are months in which the public will have a chance to have their say. Should that response fall even somewhat in favour of the bill, then Seymour will have political capital with which to campaign on in 2026. “Act candidates would travel the country holding up copies of the defeated bill,” wrote Hooton. By introducing the bill, even if it is destined to fail, he has opened a conversation he believes worth having – even if it goes nowhere in this term of parliament.
On the flipside, argued Liam Rātana for The Spinoff earlier this year, it could backfire. “Far from solidifying its political standing, the party risks alienating mainstream voters and shifting towards the political fringes, tainted by divisive, hard-right rhetoric,” he wrote.
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Tributes flow for Sir Robert ‘Bom’ Nairn Gillies
Sir Robert “Bom” Nairn Gillies, the last surviving member of the 28th Māori Battalion, the most-decorated New Zealand battalion from World War II, has passed away at 99 years old. Writing for The Spinoff, Liam Rātana said that Gillies, who was born in Hastings in 1925, was known for his humility, strength, and his deep sense of loyalty to the men he fought alongside.
His journey to enlist in the Māori Battalion was a determined one – Bom was just 17 when he first attempted to join, giving a false date of birth and trying three times before being finally accepted. For Bom, the pull of war was mixed with youthful curiosity and tales from older generations: “We’d never been out of town… Never even been to Mamaku,” he told Te Ao with Moana in 2022. “We wanted to see the world.”
Among the tributes was former defence minister Peeni Henare, reported Waatea News, who called Gillies a “remarkable” man. “New Zealand is a better place because of the service and advocacy from people like Ta Robert. His contributions will be remembered not only for their military significance but also for the impact he had on Te Ao Māori,” Henare said. Foreign affairs minister Winston Peters said he had known Gillies for more than five decades and all of New Zealand “should… be proud of his service to our nation”.
Listen: The cost of prison
Our prisons are bursting at the seams. They cost at least $2 billion per year to run – and that’s before we consider the longer-term and wider-reaching costs to our health, education, housing, justice and welfare systems.
University of Auckland indigenous studies professor Tracey McIntosh joins Bernard Hickey on When the Facts Change this week to interrogate the reasons why we, as a society, persist with ever-larger and ever-more-damaging institutions that are failing to reduce crime rates or recidivism (and, in fact, may actually be increasing them).
Listen below or wherever you find your podcasts.
Catch up on The Spinoff’s Travel Week
Alex Casey recounts her greatest trip: a reverse honeymoon that ended with a secret wedding.
Claire Mabey presents an A to Z of iconic books matched with iconic holiday locations.
Joel MacManus has made it the North Island – and will today take our country’s longest train trip.
Click and Collect
For Herald Premium subscribers (paywalled), Claire Trevett looks at how Christopher Luxon will handle Donald Trump, and how it compares to the relationship the president had with Jacinda Ardern. And for The Post, Thomas Manch asks what the new Trump administration will mean for New Zealand’s alignment with the US.
Sticking with the US election, outgoing president Joe Biden has spoken publicly for the first time since the election, telling supporters: "A defeat does not mean we are defeated."
In news I absolutely did not see coming: local cult horror film Black Sheep is getting a sequel after 18 years (I have great memories of watching the original while I was, to be quite honest, too young).
Kāinga Ora has confirmed about 10% of its work force will be made redundant.
Vic Books closed down in January 2023, but its website and Twitter handle have risen from the dead. Claire Mabey asks: what’s going on? Gabi Lardies investigates whether a “new” Elemeno P song marks a huge change in direction, unfettered use of AI, copyright infringement – or an upload error. The Democrats are left reeling as Trump claims a decisive victory, explains Catherine McGregor in an extract from The World Bulletin. For this week’s Help Me Hera: My male flatmates keep asking me out and I hate it.
That’s it for another week (it felt really long to me, I’m gonna blame America for that). Thanks for reading and see you back here on Monday.
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Alex Casey’s tale of her wedding was the story I didn’t know I needed today. So many happy tears & some laughter too - a beautiful way to start the morning.
In a world that has seen murder carried out daily in Gaza and the Lebanon, a labour Prime Minister introducing sweeping changes affecting some of the most vulnerable citizens, a convicted felon elected to the Presidency of the USA who is to say that Seymours dreadfully racist attempt to rewrite Te Tiriti o Waitangi won't become law. Truth, honesty, empathy and the adherence to the rule of law seem to be commodities that no longer are the bedrock of a cuvilised modern society (that's if they ever were in the furst place). I am appalled by the callous nature our western democratic governments operate.