Latest news with #TreatyPrinciplesBill
Sky News AU
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
David Seymour sworn in as New Zealand's Deputy PM
Acting Party Leader David Seymour is New Zealand's new Deputy Prime Minister. The 41-year-old was sworn in Auckland on Saturday. He takes over from New Zealand First Party Leader and Foreign Minister Winston Peters. The mid-term change is part of a three-party coalition agreement. Mr Seymour will become the country's 19th deputy. His party was the architect of the controversial and now-defeated 'Treaty Principles Bill' that sought to change how the country's founding document was legally interpreted. It sparked mass protests, including an infamous haka in Parliament by Māori Party MPs during the bill's first reading, which temporarily shut down Parliament last year.
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Penalty proof Maori MPs facing disproportionate scrutiny
When Judith Collins accused Te Pāti Māori MPs of a "lack of civility" for their haka in Parliament she drew 185 years of colonial racism down upon their heads. It was grotesque. And entirely expected. Collins, who chaired the privileges committee, argued that their decision to impose the harshest penalty in the Parliament's history against Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer was based on "fairness". It was vengence, not fairness. Her public statements about Te Pāti Māori and the excessive sentence belong to a colonial bias that maliciously targets the Māori presence in the House. The government has well-signalled its intention to force a confrontation with Māori in the Parliament. At every opportunity, the government has chosen the worst behaviour and the most offensive route. When Maureen Pugh refused to allow a karakia from a rangatira after the passing of Whakatōhea Claims Settlement legislation, the Speaker was unapologetic and defensive, relying on their own rules to justify this insult to kaumatua. The Treaty Principles Bill was another way to do the same thing — threaten Māori people and their Māori MPs with a legal tool to eliminate te Tiriti rights, justified on the basis of "process". The Parliament, in the grip of the coalition government, has been anything but civil where Māori are concerned. It was right then for Te Pāti Māori to reject the privileges committee request to appear without collective representation or tikanga expertise. There was no civility to be found among the government members of that committee. The MPs would only have used the opportunity to harass and denigrate the MPs, their representatives, their communities and tikanga Māori. The problem that incites the government MPs to such tumult is that Te Pāti Māori are not sorry. They are not sorry for expressing tikanga in the Chamber. They are not sorry for being Māori. That act of defiance infuriates and embarrasses the government. The haka humiliated the coalition. It has now been watched over 700 million times across the globe. That single act of indigenous strength has led literally millions of people to support Māori cultural expression that challenges colonial violence. For government this is abhorrent. Māori must comply, must concede, must assimilate, and must make no fuss. If we are to perform our culture it can only be in accordance with the rules they set to tame and domesticate it. If we insist on being Māori, we are treated like criminals. The privileges committee has done exactly that in its ruling. It has declared that being and expressing Māori in the Parliament is a crime, weaponising the Parliament's rules against Māori MPs. Māori MPs now face disproportionate scrutiny and excessive punishment for an act of cultural resistance. The privileges committee does not operate in a vacuum. New Zealand's political landscape has seen a rise in anti-Māori rhetoric, particularly from right-wing factions. By leading the committee's biased enforcement of the privileges committee rules, the government drives a culture where Pākehā MPs are held to different, lower, standards and Māori MP's are disproportionately punished. What a familiar story. The lack of integrity in the committee's process means that Māori MPs are judged not the rules, but by a Pākehā-dominated interpretation that reinforces inequities. If Parliament refuses to address this, it further erodes respect for an institution already, and rightly, considered a relic of colonial power. Next week, when the House resumes, we will see whether the Parliament as a whole is prepared to pull back on its rules-based racism. That is one of the constitutional struggles here. The privileges committee's historical practice of reasonableness and collegiality was captured by the coalition government's political agenda, exposing a deeper hypocrisy in New Zealand's democracy. The committee became a tool for the government's political retribution. New Zealand's political institutions are rooted in colonialism. The privileges committee, in overseeing parliamentary conduct, still operates as if Māori should not exist. First the Parliament needs to reject the vicious recommendations of the privileges committee. The rules governing the privileges committee now also need an overhaul. The government should not be able to use it for vengeful purposes. A bare majority should never be enough for a censure recommendation. Tikanga Māori needs to be safeguarded against the racial bias we have witnessed. Without some change, the committee will continue as an arm of the state's assimilationist agenda, punishing those who dare to be Māori in that place. ■Metiria Stanton Turei is a senior law lecturer at the University of Otago and a former Green Party MP and co-leader.
Scoop
3 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Democracy Denied: Te Pāti Māori Slam Govt For Silencing Māori And Tangata Tiriti On The Regulatory Standards Bill
Press Release – Te Pati Maori The system is broken-again. It couldnt handle the tidal wave of Mori opposition last year, and its collapsing under the same pressure now said Te Pti Mori co-leader Rawiri Waititi. Today, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi slammed the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee's refusal to extend the public submission period for the Regulatory Standards Bill, calling it a deliberate act to silence whānau, hapū, iwi, and community voices. Waititi had urged the Committee to extend the submission period by four weeks, citing both procedural fairness and technical failures- after the submissions portal repeatedly crashed on day one, echoing the same systemic failures experienced during last year's Treaty Principles Bill. 'The system is broken-again. It couldn't handle the tidal wave of Māori opposition last year, and it's collapsing under the same pressure now' said Waititi. 'This is already one of the most unconstitutional bills ever put before this House. Rushing it through only adds insult to injury- it's not just bad law, it's a bad process.' This morning, Government members on the Committee voted down every attempt by Te Pāti Māori to extend the submission deadline or retain the standard six-month review process. They have instead locked in a shortened four-month timeframe and a hard deadline of 23 June 2025. 'Make no mistake- this is legislative sabotage. The Government is not only advancing the most dangerous bill in Aotearoa's parliamentary history, they're doing it with their foot on the gas and their hand over our mouths.' 'We are not surprised- we've seen this playbook before. But we are not powerless. We know how to mobilise. We know how to fight back.' Waititi issued a national call to action: 'There are still 25 days left. Flood the system. Overwhelm it with our voices. Let them choke on the very democracy they're trying to dismantle. 'Rally your whānau, your hapū, your iwi, your communities. Let's shut this bill down the way we shut down every other attempt to erase us. Submissions are our weapons- use them' concluded Waititi.
Scoop
3 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
National Caves To ACT To Ram Through Regulatory Standards Bill
Press Release – New Zealand Labour Party The Prime Minister failed to show leadership on the Treaty Principles Bill and hes failing again. Christopher Luxon is clearly too weak to stand up to David Seymour. Once again National has caved to ACT by today agreeing to shorten the select committee process for the Regulatory Standards Bill. 'The Regulatory Standards Bill puts corporate interests ahead of our communities, environmental protections, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi,' Labour regulation spokesperson Duncan Webb said. 'The Prime Minister failed to show leadership on the Treaty Principles Bill – and he's failing again. Christopher Luxon is clearly too weak to stand up to David Seymour. 'For a Bill that claims to attempt to embed 'good law-making', it is staggering that National would agree to cut short the public's chance to have their say. 'Under the Regulatory Standards Bill, laws that would keep people healthy and safe, like requiring landlords to heat homes, or limiting the sale of vapes, would be at the whim of whether David Seymour thinks they're a good idea or not. 'It is unbelievable that the Government is cutting short the time the public will have to weigh in on such a consequential Bill. 'Today, the Government voted to shortcut the select committee process from six months to four months, all because David Seymour wants this wrapped up before the end of the year. They also cut short the public submission period from six weeks to four. 'Luxon needs to start standing up to the extreme voices in his Government, but instead he's bending over backwards to accommodate them,' Duncan Webb said.
Scoop
3 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
National Caves To ACT To Ram Through Regulatory Standards Bill
Once again National has caved to ACT by today agreeing to shorten the select committee process for the Regulatory Standards Bill. 'The Regulatory Standards Bill puts corporate interests ahead of our communities, environmental protections, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi,' Labour regulation spokesperson Duncan Webb said. 'The Prime Minister failed to show leadership on the Treaty Principles Bill – and he's failing again. Christopher Luxon is clearly too weak to stand up to David Seymour. 'For a Bill that claims to attempt to embed 'good law-making', it is staggering that National would agree to cut short the public's chance to have their say. 'Under the Regulatory Standards Bill, laws that would keep people healthy and safe, like requiring landlords to heat homes, or limiting the sale of vapes, would be at the whim of whether David Seymour thinks they're a good idea or not. "It is unbelievable that the Government is cutting short the time the public will have to weigh in on such a consequential Bill. 'Today, the Government voted to shortcut the select committee process from six months to four months, all because David Seymour wants this wrapped up before the end of the year. They also cut short the public submission period from six weeks to four. 'Luxon needs to start standing up to the extreme voices in his Government, but instead he's bending over backwards to accommodate them,' Duncan Webb said.
