Submission on Treaty Principles Bill
or; David Seymour's cunning plan to make us all "equal" *cough*
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I/We wish to make the following comments:
I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill.
"5. Act binds the Crown
This Act binds the Crown."
How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of land and wealth by Māori?
Perhaps the starting point should be that te Tiriti should bind the Crown.
"Principle 2
(1)
The Crown recognises, and will respect and protect, the rights that hapū and iwi Māori had under the Treaty of Waitangi/te Tiriti o Waitangi at the time they signed it.
(2)
However, if those rights differ from the rights of everyone, subclause (1) applies only if those rights are agreed in the settlement of a historical treaty claim under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975."
Subclause 2 is a direct violation of te Tiriti in that it negates the fact that te Tiriti was signed between two parties; Māori and the Crown. Therefore the rights of Māori cannot be aligned with "the rights of everyone" as "everyone" other than hapū and iwi Māori is represented by the Crown.
This is the main flaw in the Bill in that it fails to recognise that there are two distinct parties to te Tiriti.
The assertion that "everyone" has the same rights is like saying that while a Mortgage contract may be between two parties - eg; the purchaser/owner of a Motel and The Bank - that subsequently anyone staying at the motel has "equal rights" under the provisions of the Mortgage Contract.
This is obviously a fallacy.
By putting Māori in the same 'camp' as "everyone", that leaves only one party to te Tiriti; The Crown.
This is obviously a ludicrous proposition.
I/We wish to make the following recommendations:
The Bill should be thrown out immediatly, and never re-visited again.
It should also be pointed out that the true intent of this Bill is not to "make everyone equal", as it's architect, David Seymour has claimed at every opportunity.
Rather, it is to relegate Māori to the same status as "everyone" represented by the Crown. This mean Māori have no natural rights to this country's taonga, as enshrined under Article Two of the Treaty/te Tiriti.
Which would make it easier to sell of natural assets, eg; water.
By coincidence, the Act Party's astroturf website, www.treaty.nz, states in a drop down section headed: "What is the future of co-governance if this Bill passes?":
"Defining principles based on the Articles of Te Tiriti would mean co-governance arrangements for public institutions and utilities, such as at universities and for water services, would no longer be supported by the Treaty."
That is the true intent of this Bill and it merits contempt for it's duplicity.
[Submitted 6 January 2024]
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References
Act Party: The Treaty Principles Bill - What is the future of co-governance if this Bill passes?
Previous Related Blogposts
The State of David Seymour's Shameless Condescension and Unbridled Arrogance
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= fs =
That's brilliant Frank. I have done my submission but here on holiday in Whanganui in a bookabach with a great library, I read some more about Parihaka and the Taranaki land grab via book about someones great grandfather and how farms were got. Sparing the details, it occurred to me as my wife was writing her submission just now.........it occurred to me how silly the notion of equality as used in the bill is. As you so rightly state.........there has been massive inequality in the treatment of Maori and their land, I reiterate THEIR land by the Crown since before 1880 and continuing. Taranaki is only one shocking instance. So Maori land is still caught in the leasing loop where the true owners have no rights and cannot break the cycle.
Equality is a convenient term for libertarians.........which we now know Atlas Network to be and the drivers via ACT of this bill. If the bill passes I do wonder about the equality or acts of waiting to be settled.............for Maori, and then the libertarian primacy of private ownership.......I can see existing land owned by Maori but leased in perpetuity from earlier times.......I can see that land not going back to its rightful owners............whether that be true or not............this notion of equality when the crown has ripped off Maori and told bare faced lies.............I am found wondering......yeah....equality for who..........
Bob Marley is so right here..........and it applies. If you know your history, you wouldn't say who the heck do you think I am.
Excellent research Frank , David seems to completely forget his ancestry . To be equal there must be equity first.