The closing date for submissions is 11.59pm Tuesday, 07 January 2025
links, guides and workshops to support making submissions on the TPB
Tips for completing your submission:
- Don’t swear and stick to facts
- Be clear and to the point.
- Don’t include any personal details in your submission text that you don’t want available to the public (this will go into the Parliament form instead).
- Use real-life examples to back up your korero.
- No swearing! The committee have said they won’t accept any submissions that contain 'offensive language'
- You can submit in Te Reo or English – however, we are uncertain if all submissions will be translated for the Justice Select Committee (or translated well!)
- DON’T forget to send a copy to your local MP, David Seymour’s electorate office and the Prime Minister, asking for a response
- Submissions are publicly released and published on the Parliament website. Do not put your name, address, or personal details you don’t want to be made public within the submission.
- If you wish to include information of a private or personal nature in your submission, you can call the clerk on 04 817 9520 or email [email protected]
- You can request to speak at the select committee - say clearly that you want to.
- You must enter text into all three sections of the online tool before you can submit.
- The tool will autosave your responses if you want to return to them – but if you clear your browser, it will be lost.
- Copy and paste into another document if you need more time and if you want to send it on to others and MP’s – you may want to include some of the following:
Step one:?Click here?- then click the button that says ‘I am ready to make my submission’.
Step two:?Fill out the page. Oral submission means - ‘spoken in front of the committee’. Then press ‘next’. Carefully fill out your contact details - these must be correct or your submission may be voided. Your contact details will not be published, but your name will be.
Step three:?You can write your submission in advance and upload it as a pdf, .doc, .docx, or .txt file. Or type directly into the submissions portal where it says?‘I/We wish to make the following comments’.? Under?‘I/We wish to make the following comments’?you may wish to include any of the following points but the most important thing to do is to start with this sentence:?I strongly oppose the Treaty Principles Bill.
The most important thing is that each submission is a bit different - so try to use your own words, or a mix of the points below.
Suggestions for Content prompts
- This bill is divisive and causes further harm to the Māori/Crown relationship.
- It is an attempt to use Parliament's power to weaken our country’s constitutional foundation and undermine the courts' independent role.?
- It is costly to taxpayers and future generations in this process and future
- The bill seeks to limit Māori rights as well as Crown obligations.
- The bill will hinder Māori access to justice, education and healthcare.
- This bill undermines social cohesion, and a referendum will do irreparable harm at a time when the government has already been trying to remove Te Reo Māori and Māori representation from the public sector and schools.
- The bill reduces the constitutional status of Te Tiriti, which means it is already in breach of the current principles.
- A Waitangi Tribunal report says, “If this bill were to be enacted, it would be the worst, most comprehensive breach of the Treaty … in modern times”.
- The Tribunal has also said “If the bill remained on the statute book for a considerable time or was never repealed, it could mean the end of the Treaty.”
- This bill panders to a dangerous, reactionary fringe.
- The bill is based on a disingenuous historical narrative that implies Māori gave up their collective rights to the Crown.
- You cannot re-write a Treaty while deliberately excluding your treaty partner. The crown does not have the authority to redefine Te Tiriti.
- The Bill does not reflect any credible interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi, te Tiriti o Waitangi, or the principles based in either text. ?
Under?‘I/We wish to make the following recommendations, ’?you may wish to include any of the following points, but the most important thing to do is to start with this sentence:?The Principles of the Treaty Bill should be abandoned.
?Write a few sentences on what you think should happen next. Here are some ideas:
- ??Recommend ?- That the government, in partnership with Iwi, facilitate community conversation to develop a written constitution that properly protects the rights of all New Zealanders
- or That the government notes that Rangatiratanga, as agreed in Te Tiriti, benefits all New Zealanders and must be honoured
- The bill has already cost this country dearly in both damaged relationships and trust and in financial terms.
- Millions of dollars have already been spent on a bill supported by only two minor parties. A referendum during a cost-of-living crisis is an insult to New Zealanders. It continues to cost time and money and will open the Crown and taxpayers up to additional financial costs and risk
- There must not be a referendum.
- This bill does nothing for New Zealanders who are struggling financially with rising redundancies, and unemployment and facing problems like Climate Change and a struggling health system. This bill distracts us from addressing these real issues by encouraging us to use our limited energy on manufactured distractions. The government must focus on the real issues facing New Zealanders instead of race-baiting and capitalist greed
- This does not reflect protection, partnership, participation and redress
- It is a mockery of the reputation of Aotearoa and the numerous international instruments to which NZ is a state party - UNCROC, UNDRIP, CEDAW, ?Human Rights, etc.…
- The government must commit to making right what they have broken - there must be a commitment to ongoing reconciliation and redress.
- The government must publicly and vocally support and commit to upholding Te Tiriti.
add your suggestions in the comments ...?
Sector Services Manager at Ako Aotearoa
2 个月Kia ora Kym, thanks for putting this together - it's really helpful. Ngā mihi nui.