• The Treaty Principles Bill is expected to be drafted by November.
• The Coalition agreements require National and NZ First to support it at first reading. It will then be considered by a select committee.
• PM Christopher Luxon and NZ First have now both said they would not support it beyond that point.

Act leader David Seymour has hit back at National and NZ First over the Treaty Principles Bill, saying the “respectful and democratic” move would be to wait to see what the public thought before ruling out supporting it.

And Seymour has also again suggested PM Christopher Luxon could change his mind about supporting the bill under public pressure, despite Luxon’s unequivocal promise not to support it beyond first reading.

Luxon repeated that promise at Te Koroneihana celebrations in Ngāruawāhia on Monday, where the bill and a Waitangi Tribunal report recommending it be abandoned was mentioned in speeches from the hosts. NZ First MP Shane Jones also told those gathered that NZ First would not support the bill beyond first reading.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and New Zealnd First leader Winston Peters at Tūrangawaewae Marae for Koroneihana 2024 celebrations for the coronation of Kiingi Tuuheitia Photo / Nick Monro, RNZ

Seymour said in a statement on social media that National and NZ First could wait until they saw the bill and heard what the public thought about it before deciding whether to support it.

“That would be the respectful and democratic thing to do.”

The bill is yet to be finalised and taken to Cabinet for discussion – that is expected to happen in November. However, Seymour has set out how he thinks the principles should be defined and asked for public input.

Luxon has consistently said the bill and its proposal for a referendum on the Treaty principles was not National policy and would be a “divisive” debate. Under repeated questioning about it, Luxon had first unequivocally ruled out supporting it into law at Waitangi in February.

However, Seymour claimed National had taken several positions on the bill.

“National has taken several positions on the Treaty Principles Bill. I suspect once they see what the bill actually says, and that a majority of New Zealanders support it, they may change their tune again,” Seymour said in his post. He has previously suggested National might change its mind if there was enough public support for it.

Asked if there were any circumstances under which he would support the bill, Luxon said “the National Party has a long-standing position and we will not support it beyond first reading”.

Luxon denied he was being disrespectful or undemocratic for not waiting for the bill to be developed before taking a position. He said the coalition agreements had to be honoured but the National Party position had been “very clear” from the beginning.

Under the coalition agreements, both National and NZ First are committed to supporting it at first reading, after which it will go to a select committee to consider and take public submissions. Luxon has described that as “an unhappy compromise” that did not make either Act or National happy.

Given the bill would require the support of both National and NZ First to proceed beyond that, that means it would get voted down at its second reading after the select committee process unless both parties backtrack on their promises.

However, there is the possibility the bill could simply sit on Parliament’s Order Paper rather than be put up for a second reading. That would leave it to be dealt with by a future Parliament which could either scrap it, leave it there or bring it up for a second reading.

It is unclear whether this is an option: asked today, Luxon said he was committed to bringing it up for a second reading “and we’ll vote against it as the National Party”.

However, Leader of the House Chris Bishop said that was yet to be determined. “Let’s wait and see where things get to.”

“Sometimes bills spend a while at select committee, sometimes bills come back into the House and spend time on the Order Paper. All of those things are up for discussion.”

Asked about Seymour’s view National might change its mind, Bishop said Seymour was entitled to his view. “But I’m also entitled to mine, which is that we are not going to be changing our minds.”

Claire Trevett is the NZ Herald’s political editor. She started at the NZ Herald in 2003 and joined the Press Gallery team in 2007. She is a life member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery.