The debate over the drafting of Auckland Council’s submission in opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill exposed those councillors who are willing to play politics with Aotearoa New Zealand’s founding document. Here Albert-Eden Local Board member Christina Robertson reports on the meeting and why it is crucial to oppose the Bill.
It’s often said that local government is a creature of statute; more fundamentally, it is a creature of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Te Tiriti o Waitangi is Aotearoa New Zealand’s founding document, and the partnership between Crown and Māori is foundational to the work of local as well as central government. As Cr Julie Fairey put it in the debate at Council: ‘My role here at this table is enabled by Te Tiriti…my role as tangata tiriti, as an elected member from my community, Māori and tangata tiriti, is to honour Te Tiriti.’
The Treaty Principles Bill seeks to rewrite the principles of Te Tiriti, wiping out 45 years of jurisprudence and unilaterally altering the agreement signed in 1840. It erases indigenous rights and poses extreme risk to the partnership between Crown and Māori that underpins New Zealand’s system of government. It is opposed by the Waitangi Tribunal, by 42 King’s Counsel, by Māori legal experts, and by all but one political party.
Local government members should, as all but a handful of central government MPs do, oppose this divisive attempt to undermine our country’s foundation. At the Policy and Planning Committee meeting this week (10 December) Auckland Council had that opportunity when voting to approve staff preparing Council’s submission on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill. The chair of the committee, Cr Richard Hills, used his casting vote to ensure the submission will oppose the Treaty Principles Bill (video of the debate ).
It’s disappointing that the vote wasn’t unanimous; a number of governing body members voiced opposition to the Bill, but were somehow also against passing a resolution that opposed the Bill. Cr Christine Fletcher even, after describing the Bill as ‘destructive’, moved an amendment to remove the words ‘in opposition’ from the resolutions. Cr Fletcher was disappointed, she said, with Parliament and the coalition agreement; but she was also disappointed with Cr Hills for ‘playing politics’ by explicitly opposing the Bill. Moving an amendment to block Council from opposing a bill that she herself said she opposed – exactly who is playing politics here?
Cr Lee agreed that the Bill is divisive, but thought Council should refrain from opposing it for the sake of ‘harmony’. Cr Newman said that the Bill ‘should not pass’, but accused the councillors voting to oppose it of looking for a social media ‘sugar hit’. Cr Newman, among others, expressed opposition to the Bill, and regretted that it wouldn’t be a unanimous vote – but the reason it wasn’t unanimous was that eight councillors couldn’t bring themselves to vote for the words ‘in opposition’.
I’m also, more personally, disappointed that the Albert-Eden Local Board isn’t on record opposing the Bill. I drafted a compromise resolution that the four City Vision members hoped C&R might agree to vote for – but again, explicit opposition was a sticking point, and we lost the amendment on the chair’s casting vote. (The minutes are here at item 19, also featuring another lost amendment which represents what we would like to have submitted.)
Other local boards have passed powerful resolutions against the Bill, including the Waitākere Ranges Local Board, the Whau Local Board, Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board, and Henderson-Massey Local Board. Despite City Vision members’ best efforts, Albert-Eden didn’t join them. Waitematā and Puketāpapa local board members didn’t even have a chance to vote; the C&R chair of Puketāpapa and the former C&R chair of Waitematā left the item off their meeting agendas.
To understand why it’s crucial to oppose this bill, I’d recommend that those chairs listen to Houkura member (and former Cabinet Minister) Tau Henare in Tuesday’s debate, speaking about leadership, recognition of where we come from, and standing up against the Bill’s false and divisive rhetoric.
Auckland Council showed leadership today. The next step is up to us: submissions close at 11.59pm on 7 January. The Bill affects all New Zealanders; let’s all raise our voices to oppose the Bill and stand up for Te Tiriti.