Te Tiriti: Old news and yet a new noose
OPINION
When the Treaty Principles Bill was introduced in November last year, it spread like fire through the media. It sparked protests, petitions, and submissions from both Māori and Pākehā. The fight for Māori rights was reignited and was rising once again.
But the fight that once was loudly defended has become radio silent. Unsurprisingly, not for the first time either. Over decades, the Government has attempted sneaky changes to Te Tiriti behind the media’s back.
In November last year, ACT proposed the Treaty Principles Bill in attempt to “create certainty about what the Treaty principles are”. A euphemism for taking advantage of the mistranslation to gain control over Māori rights.
At the first reading of the bill in Parliament, ACT leader David Seymour told the room his “mission in politics is to empower every person and every community to choose the life they want to live”.
Translation: He wants to use his platform to deceptively undermine Māori rights.
With over 150,000 submissions, this bill saw triple the number of submissions ever made against any other bill in New Zealand. That’s over a third of Wellington’s population. However, since submissions closed on 14 January 2025, the media has slowly lost interest, leaving those affected by the bill in the dark again.
But ten years ago, a similar attempt to delete Te Tiriti roared.
Art / Tara Griz
In 2005, the NZFirst party proposed the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Deletion bill. That name sounds scary enough on its own, but it gets worse. Winston Peters described the bill as a text that would benefit all New Zealanders, claiming it would provide clarity on the treaty’s principles. The bill sought to take away funding for Māori and to rewrite the treaty as they saw fit.
That year, Peters was aggressive in his first reading of the bill, exploiting the mistranslation of the treaty to force Parliament members to agree with him.
“If members are intending to vote against this bill, then they should please use their speech to tell the House and all New Zealanders what the definition of the so-called principles of the treaty is. If they cannot do this, then logic dictates that they must support this bill. They have no other choice.”
“Let us today lift the fog that has shackled this nation for far too long and support this bill.”
The ‘fog’ he refers to is the result of the mistranslation and deception clouding the truth of what should have been a simple agreement. Our land, Aotearoa, was built on the land of the long white cloud. Once upon a time, there was no fog. It only came the day the treaty was questioned.
A decade later, this anti Te Tiriti agenda has made its way into our coalition Government, roaring louder.
We are now at a standstill, waiting for the effects of racism to soon unfurl from the acknowledgement of the bill. But it can’t get any worse than this, right? The media would tell us if something else were to happen, wouldn’t it?
No.
Following the initial proposal of the Treaty Principles Bill, the Government is now exploiting the media’s silence to further redefine Te Tiriti. They have begun planning another attempt at rewriting Te Tiriti.
Currently, the Government is in the process of removing the Treaty of Waitangi clause in the Resource Management Act (RMA). The RMA is a law controlling the use of Aotearoa’s land and natural resources. This law is crucial to maintaining a just balance between preservation and development of the land. Currently, the law states that before making any changes relating to the RMA, you must take into account the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
The Government wants to strip Māori’s ability to influence the laws and regulation of their own land.
In the past, this law was rewritten as a stronger clause to give more authority to Te Tiriti. In 2023, it was briefly rewritten stating that laws must “give effect to the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi”. This phrasing signalled a commitment to meaningful action rather than merely acknowledging Te Tiriti. However, ACT questioned the law on economic and logistical grounds, and it was repealed shortly after it passed. This took us back to square one.
As of a week ago, our Government said they want to scrap this law and replace it with a new one which would potentially contain nothing about the Treaty. So far, any information released has been vague. But the premise still stands, this clause removal would be blatantly ignoring and breaking the contract that once binded this nation.
Our Government is attempting to erase Māori voices from its laws.
Our Government is attempting to erase Māori voices.
Our Government is attempting to erase Māori.
Those who colonised Aotearoa seek to control the voices of the people who were here first. A fight once fought with weapons is now being fought with words. We will not bow down to your projection of cowardice and insecurity. Language was once beaten out of us, and we have reversed it into our weapon of choice. We will sharpen our tongues and wield our stories until they are heard. Our mana and our wairua will not be diminished by your laws – your petty attempts at taking full control of our country. This fight against the Treaty Principles Bill has only shown how strong we are -- the manawaroa that flows through all of us. The solidarity and passion of Māori and Pakeha in this fight will not be forgotten.