Toitū te whenua, toitū te tiriti

 Here is my submission to the Treaty Principles Bill:

(with thanks to Peter Sime and his submission. Those phrases/sections with quote marks are from his post, with his permission). 

Kia ora koutou

Part 1: I wish to comment on the Treaty Principles Bill before you.

Ko wai au? Some background:
I grew up knowing I was Māori but embarrassed of that part of my heritage. In our family (of Ngāti Porou, Scottish, Irish decent), we were as proud of our connection to the outlaw Ned Kelly as we were ashamed to be 'part' Māori. As a child, I watched the 'darker skinned' members of my family experience more negative things (attitudes of the teachers/shop store owners/bosses) to me - I used to call myself 'the white sheep in a black family'. Being fairer skinned with green eyes, I was lucky. I was able to leave behind that life, get an education, enjoy a long and successful career as an educator and writer. And, it is as a teacher I have seen the change in the way Māori students (and their families) experience schooling in Aotearoa New Zealand. In the early days, I am as 'guilty' as my pākehā peers of ignoring ngā mea Māori. Although I did study New Zealand history at university in the 80s so I had some appreciation of the 'race relations' and The Treaty of Waitangi.

In the early 90s, I read Michael King's work. Then Berryman and Bishop published their Ka Hikitia findings and many of us embraced the mantra 'what's good for Māori is good for all.' As the years have gone on, I've watched my whānau continue to struggle with negative outcomes associated with being Māori: poor experiences in education, medical (my teina currently has had her cervical cancer return but is on the waiting list for an ‘urgent consult’), inadequate housing. My nieces and nephews and their off-spring have of late, spoken to their mother/grandmother (my teina) about their concerns of not being welcome; of not being valued in this country. My sister said to me: please speak for me; for us. Tell that committee I want my moko to grow up being proud to be Māori.

I began learning te reo Māori myself in 2011 and did more study about Māori experiences politically, educationally, and I studied the Treaty of Waitangi again during my second degree from Otago (graduated 2015). I was determined to understand the original principles created and fine tuned by the finest of minds, Māori mā, pākehā mā. I began to be as proud to be Māori as I am Irish and Scottish.

Today:
I see the introduction of this new bill, Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, like one partner of a marriage coming in with a different relationship agreement or prenuptial but not allowing the other to have a say (and not even wanting anything rewritten).

This Bill represents nothing of the nation I long to see. It will remove the societal progress already made in the past 50 years from the founding document. At a time when people are suffering, he moumou wā, he moumou rauemi, he moumou putea (a waste of time, resources and money). I long for a New Zealand that’s continuing to move in the right direction toward all peoples embracing the uniqueness of what it means to belong and live on this whenua. The attention and noise of this bill has set us back and risks damaging the uniqueness that is our country.

Part 2: recommendations
Recommend to the house that the Bill not proceed. These reasons for this are as follows:

Principle 1 claims “full authority of the Executive Government of New Zealand to govern”. Firstly, it is not clear 'who' is meant for 'Executive Government'; Secondly, it ignores that the Treaty of Waitangi was between Māori and THE CROWN (i.e. the British Monarch). "Finally, this is a denial of the principle of rangatiratanga guaranteed in article two of the Treaty of Waitangi and excludes formal Māori involvement in the decision-making processes affecting their resources and taonga."

"Principle 2(1) limits the application of the rights of Māori to those held at the time the Treaty was signed." This is short-sighted and inequitable. I ask that the committee take care here as if this principle was to be adopted, the question should also be: does that also apply to non-Māori? For example, would it mean that women don't have the right to vote; are owned by their fathers or husbands. All the progress in terms of technology and art created since 1840 would be invalidated and unprotected.

"Principle 3 asserts equal protection for all before the law." But, we already have that. All of us. “Every person has the right to the observance of the principles of natural justice by any tribunal or other public authority which has the power to make a determination in respect of that person’s rights, obligations, or interests protected or recognised by law.” Principle 3 is redundant.

In conclusion, by putting all this time, money, and resources into "seeking to redefine the Treaty in this way, the Crown unilaterally neuters it and expropriates the rights that have been recognised ever since the passage of the Act in 1975." Each of the principles rest on misunderstanding and erroneous framing.

"Further, by proposing a referendum for this constitutional outrage, the Government (as this is a Government Bill) risks social cohesion through engaging in populist politics." The recent “Toitū te whenua Toitū te tiriti” march on parliament shows the strength of feeling of a nation that achieves so much more when united. The Treaty Principles Bill has already caused damage to the relationship between Māori and The Crown. I am concerned for the reversal of excellent educational programmes for students and teachers happening since the new deputy minister of education took office. I'm at the coal face of these changes. This Bill would continue this erosion so that we are back to where things were 50 years ago. We cannot let that happen. The only course of action for the committee is to abandon it immediately.

Instead, let's continue to build a county that will mimic the workings of He Waka Haurua - the double hulled waka. The two hulls (Tāngata Whenua and Tāngata Tiriti) working in their specific way but in tandem, with a shared purpose. Let's ensure the voices of all are given equal status and that the reo, the traditions, the histories and hopes of Tāngata Whenua and Tāngata Tiriti fit easily alongside one another, making room respectfully for each to speak and share as if we all sit on a type of paepae, or around a large dining room table.