David Seymour: My letter to the organisations who wrote the Prime Minister about Act’s Treaty Bill

EXTRACTS:
There’s a common theme running through politics that unites people from the right and left. They want to be more united. People want more open, honest, respectful dialogue. They know our country faces some big asks at the moment. They want to solve problems and move forward. The question is, how?.....

......The bill emphasises the universal human rights that appear throughout te tiriti, and invites an open debate on it. That is the spirit in which Act launched the Treaty Principles Bill.....

....There is another view, and I happily acknowledge it has been the dominant view this century. It says te tiriti created a ‘partnership between races’. On this view what the two versions literally said is less important than the fact two parties did a deal. Therefore, the logic goes, we are forever bound to exist as a compact of two races in partnership according to the Principles as they exist today. Just because a view is dominant, though, does not make it correct.

The Treaty Principles Bill will present a version of the Principles more closely linked to what the Treaty says, that we all have nga tikanga katoa rite tahi – the same rights and duties. All New Zealanders have tino rangatiratanga, the right to self-determine, not only Māori. On this version, every child growing up in New Zealand deserves the same respect and dignity, including equality before the law.

That is the fundamental question being asked by the Treaty Principles Bill, which will be introduced later this term. So why do I say all this right now? Yesterday an open letter to the Prime Minister demanded that the debate shouldn’t even take place. It asked him to throw the bill out before the bill is written, and before they could possibly have read it.....

.....New Zealand needs this debate, but it can’t be dictated by misinformation and bad faith actors who want to stop Kiwis from having their say.....

....I believe New Zealanders can be trusted with difficult debates. Ultimately, it’s the public that will persuade Parliament to advance the Treaty Principles Bill to a referendum....

.....I accept that not everyone will agree with our view, that’s exactly why we want to have the opportunity for New Zealanders to have their say....

.....New Zealanders who visit our information hub at www.treaty.nz have told us they’re shocked to realise how brazenly opposition has misrepresented the Treaty Principles Bill, and how often the media fails to correct them. I encourage you to read from the horse’s mouth, as it were.....

.....An obsession with identity and elevating race above need will only stoke division.....The full article can be read HERE

David Seymour is the Leader of ACT and a coaltion partner in the current National government. David is a graduate of Auckland Grammar and the University of Auckland (in Electrical Engineering and Philosophy).