A 15-year-old has told parliamentarians her generation is one of the first to grow up with a positive relationship with the Government.

But the Treaty Principles Bill is putting that at risk.

Petra Cogger, submitting to Parliament’s justice select committee on behalf of Forest & Bird Youth, says the bill is creating a “major sense of distrust” of the Government for rangatahi (young people).

“Us Māori members of Forest & Bird Youth believe we are one of the first generations to grow up having a positive relationship with the Government.

“For example, I’m the first generation in my whānau to grow up with the most funding for kapa haka for Te Matatini, the first generation to have the most schools with Māori as a course for NCEA, and the highest number of students being educated in the Māori medium.”

Cogger said these were examples of things that were “slowly mending” the Māori-Crown relationship.

She also said the bill, if it were passed into law, would leave the environment more vulnerable to exploitation.

“The Treaty of Waitangi is one of our biggest legal protections for against environmental exploitation, allowing tangata whenua to hold the Crown to account for breaches of Te Tiriti across key laws like the Conservation Act and the Resource Management Act.”

The justice select committee is hearing 80 hours of oral submissions from the public. The bill would reinterpret the Treaty of Waitangi / Te Tiriti by replacing the many Treaty principles developed over decades by the courts and Waitangi Tribunal with three new ones determined by Cabinet.

The bill’s architect, Act leader David Seymour, says Parliament not the judiciary should determine principle. The bill, he says, would provide clarity, enshrine the principles in legislation and ignite a national conversation about their place in our constitutional arrangements.

The bill is unlikely to become law as Act’s coalition partners National and NZ First have said they will only support the bill to the select committee stage.

Act leader David Seymour at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Photo / Dean Purcell

‘An important conversation’

Submitting in support of the bill, Lesley McTurk said the bill had stirred an important national conversation about the Treaty.

“For me, free speech is not a thing to be feared, it should be embraced.

“The enlightenment was built on the ability of people to say what they thought even if it went against established norms.”

She said the Treaty was separate to the Treaty principles, therefore the proposed principles did not alter the Treaty proper.

“The Treaty stands alone, remaining a founding document of our nation. It demands action from both parties to ensure the Crown and Māori work together for mutual benefit.

“The fact that it is a treaty requires past grievances to be redressed, for the Crown to protect Māori, and so on. But these are all calls to action from the Treaty itself and rather than being principles underpinning the Treaty.”

More to come ...

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.