This still makes a mockery of the process. After all, this was the bill that attracted the most submissions of any in the history of our Parliament. That in itself states unequivocally that this was a discussion or conversation or debate or whatever you like to call it that the country wanted and needed to have.
In the end over 300,000 written submissions were made. There something like 80 hours of oral submissions presented as well. I was fortunate to be among those selected to present orally - even if my submission was treated with disdain by Takuta Ferris of Te Pati Maori.
But here is the most important question which is still unanswered and cannot be until all the submissions are processed – was there a majority of submissions in favour of the bill or a majority opposed ?
That question cannot be answered until all the submissions are read and processed.
That’s why it is unconscionable that the Select Committee is reporting back to Parliament before all the submissions are processed.
The Committee was given till the middle of May to do this work. We were promised 6 months of hearings and consideration of submissions. Now we won’t get that.
The reason is obvious. Because every party in the Parliament apart from Act will be voting down the bill at the second reading, the Select Committee has obviously decided there is no point in continuing the Committee process for another six weeks.
But it means we have no idea what the will of the people actually is on this matter. We have some opinion polls which suggest there is a majority support for the bill. It may well be that a majority of the submissions on the bill are in favour of it. But we don’t know and cannot be allowed to know at least until all the submissions are read and processed.
This is an appalling abuse of the democratic process. Even the Act Party seems resigned to its fate and has rather meekly allowed this shortening of the Select Committee hearings and consideration to happen. At least through a motion from their MP Todd Stephenson they will get all the submissions on the Parliamentary record but are we, the voters, ever going to know just exactly what the feeling of the people actually was on this issue?
I’m paying no attention whatsoever to the imbalance of the oral submissions, most of which were opposed to the bill. The oral submitters were handpicked - as I was - to ensure that every now and then a voice in favour of the bill would be heard among the cacophony of opposition that the media could gleefully report on.
What we need come May 16th - the originally scheduled closing date for the Select Committee - is for the numbers to be made public.
How many submissions were in favour? How many were opposed ?
As voters isn’t that the least we can expect from our elected representatives?
Sadly I doubt we’ll ever get the facts. And that is an insult to you and me and every New Zealander no matter their view of the bill.
Peter Williams was a writer and broadcaster for half a century. Now watching from the sidelines. Peter blogs regularly on Peter’s Substack - where this article was sourced.
But here is the most important question which is still unanswered and cannot be until all the submissions are processed – was there a majority of submissions in favour of the bill or a majority opposed ?
That question cannot be answered until all the submissions are read and processed.
That’s why it is unconscionable that the Select Committee is reporting back to Parliament before all the submissions are processed.
The Committee was given till the middle of May to do this work. We were promised 6 months of hearings and consideration of submissions. Now we won’t get that.
The reason is obvious. Because every party in the Parliament apart from Act will be voting down the bill at the second reading, the Select Committee has obviously decided there is no point in continuing the Committee process for another six weeks.
But it means we have no idea what the will of the people actually is on this matter. We have some opinion polls which suggest there is a majority support for the bill. It may well be that a majority of the submissions on the bill are in favour of it. But we don’t know and cannot be allowed to know at least until all the submissions are read and processed.
This is an appalling abuse of the democratic process. Even the Act Party seems resigned to its fate and has rather meekly allowed this shortening of the Select Committee hearings and consideration to happen. At least through a motion from their MP Todd Stephenson they will get all the submissions on the Parliamentary record but are we, the voters, ever going to know just exactly what the feeling of the people actually was on this issue?
I’m paying no attention whatsoever to the imbalance of the oral submissions, most of which were opposed to the bill. The oral submitters were handpicked - as I was - to ensure that every now and then a voice in favour of the bill would be heard among the cacophony of opposition that the media could gleefully report on.
What we need come May 16th - the originally scheduled closing date for the Select Committee - is for the numbers to be made public.
How many submissions were in favour? How many were opposed ?
As voters isn’t that the least we can expect from our elected representatives?
Sadly I doubt we’ll ever get the facts. And that is an insult to you and me and every New Zealander no matter their view of the bill.
Peter Williams was a writer and broadcaster for half a century. Now watching from the sidelines. Peter blogs regularly on Peter’s Substack - where this article was sourced.
15 comments:
These figures from Act are disturbing especially that 24pc oppose the govt having a right to govern and presumably 31pc do not want to say or ''don't know''. The undermining of society through propoganda in institutions both local/central govt/schools/academia and msm is working very well
45% of New Zealanders support the principle that the Government has the right to govern; 24% oppose it.
42% support the principle that the Government should protect the rights of all New Zealanders, including the rights of Māori; 25% oppose it.
62% support equal rights before the law; 14% oppose it.
What a ridiculous process. With AI the entire 300,000 submissions could be processed and grouped in a few days. Most are electronically submitted and all should be as a requirement.
I still pick that ACT will successfully pull the TPB to the center of the next election.
It could define the next election result because the support for the TPB is far broader than many politicians are prepared to admit.
Many people I know were in favour of the Bill, or at least what it represented. Years of witch hunts against people who questioned the status quo had left them too scared to make a submission. In the end, I only know of one other person who submitted in favour. Not surprisIng that 90% were opposed, it's easier to make a submission when you're 'on the right side of history' and not worried about repercussions. I believe a referendum would have a different outcome, but that is unlikely to happen.
When you look at the insulting behaviour of some of the committee members during some of the submissions there is no democracy to be seen here.
This isn't the first time Parliament has ignored the wishes of most people making submissions about controversial issues. It's a foregone conclusion and if most people don't agree with it that's tough titties for them.
What everyone can be clear on now, if they weren't before, is that the public submissions process is a complete facade.
It's not about hearing from the public and then responding accordingly. It's about rigging the process from the start so that the engineered and biased outcome fits what the dominant political party wants to happen.
It happened time and again under Labour and National seem quite happy to continue the farce.
Let's hope the electorate express their disapproval at the next election with a big swing to ACT. Wouldn't it be great to see National a minor party in the next Coalition.
lets do what the DOGE have done, get a team of tech people to download all 300,000+ submissions from the website, put them in a big database, then either get AI, or write some database queries, to process them all and tell us exactly how many submissions for or against.. that would be people power.
Vindication. However - if the PM spiked this Bill's process, maybe the 2026 election will meet the same fate - if National looks like losing. He is determined to implement the rapid and full installation of He Puapua (i.e. tribal rule) . The stakes are now very high, time is running out and tactics are very dirty.
But elections (selections) are the same gig as "public submissions. Democracy is an illusion and code for socialism which is code for communism which is code for fascism. That's where we are allowing this illusion to take us.
The deadline for submissions was extended because of computer problems. What bullshit. It was to accommodate Māori. Thousands upon thousands of submissions would say for example “ I don’t support the Bill” No reason, no explanation offered. How do you compared this with a well reasoned, thought out submission supporting the Bill? You can’t.
Māori deliberately swamped the select committee. They played the numbers game. They tilted the field in their favour. The select committee embraced this and “job done”. But in the process inflamed many hard working honest Kiwis.
Will Luxon save his job ( and hide) by agreeing to a referendum?
TVNZ reported last night that 92% of submissions opposed the Bill and 8% for. Given the weighting of organisations opposing this is not surprising. The likes of the Catholic Church organized a submission process opposing the Bill for their parishioners.
DeeM:
“Wouldn't it be great to see National a minor party in the next Coalition.”
With their wilfull blindness to the ‘maorification’ elephant in the room, those odds are increasing.
They also said they disallowed submissions because they were racist or accused others of being so. How many were disallowed on each side because of this basis? Also, 30k+ people supported Act’s sub and 24k+ Hobson’s Choice. While only 12k supported the Greens’. These indicate the 8% figure quoted could be materially understated. Finally, the point of a submission round is not just a straight comparison of how many are for and against, it is supposed to allow for analysis of evidence provided for views on each side to get to a right decision. Sub numbers give no indication of the level of reasoning given on each side. Detailed legal arguments were given in relation to the redefinition of history which has occurred and rebutting the fallacied interpretation of the treaty which says that sovereignty was not handed over and we are in a partnership, I’ve seen no real rebuttal of these anywhere, apart from calling submitters racists and their view behind the times. Unless something is written about this somewhere the points made stand in my view.
For Anonymous, April 5 at 10:56am
You are on target about Luxon and He Puapua. Don’t forget Luxon’s speech to his Ngai Tahu friends on Waitangi Day. I wrote to his office about his fawning speech being overladen with clichés, tag lines and slogans.
Four other lines stood out, all bowing to Ngai Tahu :
“As we strive towards 2040”
“The Government's role is to honour the Treaty, work in partnership with Māori…”
“Often that means making sure the government gets out of the way!”
“Iwi leaders and communities will continue to shape the political landscape with constructive partnerships that hold the Government accountable and work for the benefit of all.”
That spells out totally where National stands on the Treaty issue. It all sounds to me like pure He Puapua – on steroids.
Anon 2:30. Churches are opposed to equal rights ?
That's a really Christian attitude isn't it ?
Are they speaking on behalf of their congregations, and telling them they should also agree to racist polices ?
What do they have a problem with in the Bill ?
Is this a factor in Luxon's refusal to address the race issue ?
He has to go, he is grossly distorting the will of his voters.
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