What the Court of Appeal’s latest ruling means for the future of the Waitangi Tribunal
The children's minister could have been legally brought before the tribunal after all.
Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Tuesday, May 14.
In today’s edition: A plan for overnight parking charges in Auckland sparks a war of words, some Tuesday reading picks, and the plan to revive charter schools takes a step forward. But first: why the children’s minister could have been brought before the Waitangi Tribunal after all.
The end of a lengthy court battle
The Court of Appeal has ruled that the children’s minister, Karen Chhour, could have been legally brought before the Waitangi Tribunal, countering a previous decision by the High Court. If you missed all of this, Carwyn Jones wrote a handy explainer for The Spinoff last month. In short, the Waitangi Tribunal had issued a summons to Chhour in response to the government’s proposal to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act, a provision introduced in 2019 that requires the agency to recognise the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. The High Court blocked this, arguing it wasn’t necessary. But yesterday, there was a significant development.
What the Court of Appeal ruled
As Newsroom’s Marc Daalder explained, the Court of Appeal overrode the decision. While the High Court had argued that the summons infringed on the “principle of comity” – basically, mutual respect between the executive, parliament and the judiciary – the Court of Appeal disagreed. Despite this, Chhour will likely avoid appearing before the tribunal, wrote Isaac Gunson at Te Ao Māori News, because the government’s proposed legislation has now made it to parliament.
In a media statement, Labour’s Carmel Sepuloni said the latest court ruling was further evidence the coalition should drop its proposed repeal. “National need to do the right thing and step in to stop the repeal of Section 7AA. They cannot allow Act to continue running rampant and belittling both the mana of the Waitangi Tribunal and the rights of tamariki Māori,” she said.
Where the heated opposition comes from
Section 7AA was introduced in 2019, less than a month after the issue of Māori children being taken from their parents became a nationwide talking point, largely because of a Newsroom investigation by Melanie Reid. But the troubles facing Māori children living in state care are nothing new, as Aaron Smale examined in this North and South feature. He argued that the erasure of section 7AA amounted to a “political stunt to prove to a Pākehā electorate that there’s one law for all” and that “the scrubbing of a few words from one statute will not so easily erase the history behind it or the legal implications that have been the subject of significant court judgements”.
Opponents of the repeal argue there will be significant ramifications. Sepuloni, in her statement, referenced a recent Waitangi Tribunal report that she said demonstrated why the proposed repeal may “mean harmful ramifications for Māori children”. The tribunal’s precise claim, as Glenn McConnell at Stuff reported, was that the repeal of section 7AA may cause “actual harm”, while former NZ First MP Tracey Martin, who was children’s minister in the Labour-NZ First coalition at the time the provision was implemented, told Tova O’Brien that children would be “worse off” if the government pushed through with its plans. Writing for The Spinoff earlier this month, Luke Fitzmaurice-Brown noted that while political parties are free to promise whatever they want, once they take office their actions must be guided by Te Tiriti.
Where this leaves us
Otago University law professor Andrew Geddis told The Bulletin that the Court of Appeal’s ruling was significant – not for what it means in this instance, but for the future of the Waitangi Tribunal. “Had the High Court's decision stood, the tribunal’s power to require ministerial engagement would have been undermined. Future ministers could have largely ignored requests for information, effectively saying ‘I don't care if you then think the worst of me’,” Geddis said. “Now, they know that they have to provide answers to the tribunal's requests for information – for if they don't do so voluntarily, then they can be legally made to do so." This is likely to irk some government ministers, specifically David Seymour and Shane Jones, who both publicly criticised the tribunal last month in a move that some argued was a breach of the cabinet manual. PM Christopher Luxon said the ministers’ criticisms were “ill-considered”.
As for the repeal of 7AA, the coalition will soon be getting to work. The bill was officially introduced to parliament yesterday, during a recess period. Te Pāti Māori’s Mariameno Kapa-Kingi called this a “sneaky move”. Act’s Todd Stephenson, meanwhile, responding to the Court of Appeal ruling, said the Waitangi Tribunal had become “increasingly activist”.
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Parking plan sparks war of words
There were a few transport stories floating around yesterday. Let’s start in Auckland, where a plan to introduce overnight parking charges in the CBD has ruffled feathers. As the Herald’s Bernard Orsman wrote, mayor Wayne Brown has reprimanded AT boss Dean Kimpton over the plan, saying while he was alerted to the possibility of increased parking fees in late April, that was a “very careful version of the truth” and he’s “not happy” with the way it’s played out. Simon Wilson has written more about this as well (paywalled).
Transport minister Simeon Brown, meanwhile, briefly waded into this in support of the mayor. But his main job yesterday was unveiling new roading projects around the country, and a rebrand for Labour’s NZ Upgrade programme. The Post has all the details here.
All Black captain Sam Cane announces impending retirement
Sam Cane confirmed yesterday he’ll be heading to Japan for a three-year contract with Suntory from next year. Cane has been captain since 2020 and has played 95 tests for the All Blacks. RNZ’s Felicity Reid broke down the news on Checkpoint last night, noting that Cane would be eligible for selection for the All Blacks later in the year before heading to Japan, but wouldn’t be captain. Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan told the Waikato Times he’d known about Cane’s plans for a “wee while”. As for who could be in line to replace Cane in the top role, Planet Rugby named the two obvious candidates as Ardie Savea or Scott Barrett. Nathan Rarere on Morning Report had more analysis of this moments ago.
The drums are beating for a big tech levy for NZ – how would it work?
Former NZ Herald editor Gavin Ellis and SPADA president Irene Gardiner join Duncan Greive on The Fold to discuss a bold new idea: a joint levy to fund journalism and culture.
Click and Collect
TVNZ’s Fair Go aired its final show last night. The Spinoff’s Tara Ward reflects on the end of the “plucky little battler”.
Another great headline from the US presidential race: “Trump praises fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter during rally speech”.
National’s Tama Potaka encouraged DOC to use te reo “everywhere and anywhere”, seemingly contradicting his government’s position on the public service using English.
The Block NZ has officially been cancelled, even though work was under way to get properties ready for a new batch of contestants.
The government’s plans to revive charter schools will take a step forward today, reports Stuff.
The Spinoff is looking for a new staff writer – could it be you?
Rachel Judkins reports on how the decline of postal services will hurt rural communities. 'Eat the bugs': Byron Clarke explains the latest bizarre global conspiracy. Shanti Mathias commiserates with everyone else who didn't see the aurora. A record-breaking year of political donations is no reason to celebrate, argues Max Rashbrooke. And here's everything new on streaming services this week.
What you should be reading
The Spinoff’s Madeleine Holden gives you her top feature picks of the week.
There have been some great reads on The Spinoff recently, especially Hera Lindsay Bird rounding up some horrifying property manager tales after housing minister Chris Bishop scrapped the Residential Property Managers Bill, and Anna Rawhiti-Connell giving us the line of the week – "9pm is for sleeping and fear" – in her satisfying tirade against late movie times.
Further abroad, I was fascinated by this Q&A on the decline of the lunatic asylum and the perils of psychiatric deinstitutionalisation in the always fascinating Damage magazine.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow, have a great day.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.
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What a way to learn that Hannibal Lecter died