Kia ora,
I am a PhD student at the University of Auckland. My experience studying communications, politics, history, and society informs my comments here, which outline that this bill, and the ACT party which introduced it, are operating dishonestly. This bill has been publicly presented by ACT to address issues of race and equality. This is a dishonest and strategic ploy to distract from how the bill undermines one of the few mechanisms of protection against relentless capital expansion in New Zealand.
This is a clever marketing strategy as it leaves many low-hanging criticisms, for example, of how the ‘colour-blindness’ framing is outdated and focuses on equality rather than equity. Equity is a more contextualised, holistic, and effective framework for addressing social issues, leading to higher overall utility in society.
This is one of many shortcomings of trying to flatten our population into ‘one people.’ However, to focus on this framing is to play into David Seymour’s terms. Instead, we must consider why the ACT party has put forward this bill and who benefits. Working backwards from those who donate to the ACT party, billionaires and corporations (Coughlan, 2022; Walters, 2024), we can evaluate how this bill may benefit those donors.
The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill erases the Crown’s obligations within Te Tririti to Māori, who continue in many places in Aotearoa to be kaitiakitanga (guardians, nurturers) of our environment. “The suggested ‘Treaty principles’ have no true origins in te Tiriti or the Treaty. They make no mention of Māori, with whom the agreement was made.” (Nelson, 2024). This erasure of obligations to Māori, the traditional carers of this land, is an erasure of an accountability mechanism for the aforementioned billionaire and corporate donor class when it comes to developing environmentally harmful industries. The bill undermines collective ownership/guardianship models led by Māori and affirmed by tino rangatiratanga within Te Tiriti. This bill, like the Native Land Court Acts 1862 and 1865, is used to overrule Māori ownership norms and continue colonial-capitalist expansion founded on private property rights and rigid individualism to the benefit of the ACT party’s donors.
“Most of our current Treaty principles – which include partnership, good faith, autonomy, governance, reciprocity, active protection, informed decision-making, mutual benefit, equity, options, development, and redress – are notably absent in the proposal.” (Nelson, 2024)
Due to the foundational role of Te Tiriti in both New Zealand’s legislation and policy within countless government and non-government organisations, appropriating and undermining Te Tiriti will recast all of New Zealand’s policy and social infrastructure in the light of individualism and the disenfranchisement of people from their environment. Compounding on the increasing inequality of New Zealanders, this bill will continue to funnel public and shared resources from the collective pool to private and commercial ownership. This will further disenfranchise normal people from participating in society and amplify class divides.
Unfortunately, the donation funding model enables this form of corruption, but striking down this bill is an opportunity to resist the erosion of democracy by the wealthy.
The very premise of this bill is damaging for social coheasion, and sets a precedent for undermining democracy through coporate control of political parties. I reccomend that the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill be voted down and withdrawn for the benefit of all New Zealanders.