Māori health organisation Hapai Te Hauora will deliver more than 10,000 Treaty Principles Bill submissions to Parliament today following a Justice Select Committee computer glitch.

Over the past few days, Hapai has received more than 20,000, submissions to its portal.

Submissions closed at 11.59pm last night but there are calls for that deadline to be extended.

Hapai managed to load 10,000 to the committee webpage and decided to deliver the rest personally.

Māori health organisation Hapai Te Hauora will hand deliver 10,596 Treaty Principles Bill to Parliament today.

“We were inundated with over 15,000 over the last two days through our submission builder,” Hapai chief operating officer Jason Alexander told the Herald.

“We received a total of 20,596 submissions through the submission builder.

“E mihi ana ki a koutou katoa i whakatinana i te mana Māori motuhake.

“Our team has submitted 10,596 online, and the remaining 10,000 submissions will be hand-delivered to Parliament.

“It wasn’t smart to close the deadline while the justice select committee secretariat was on leave so no one could access support in the final couple of weeks.”

Hapai Te Hauora COO Jason Alexander. Photo / NZME

He said the computer glitch had nothing to do with its decision to deliver the 10,596 submissions in hard copy.

“We decided we would like to hand in hard copies as well as submit through the website. Our team are heading down to Wellington this morning to hand the hard copies into Parliament.

Act leader David Seymour has no problem with an extension to the Treaty Principles Bill.

Hundreds of complaints have been made that the overload of submissions has caused a meltdown - meaning people could not load their submissions online.

Labour and Te Pāti Māori have asked for last night’s deadline to be extended and Seymour told the Herald: “I respect it’s a decision for the committee, who are totally independent from ministers,” he said.

“However, I am very pleased that there appears to be a great interest in Parliament deciding the principles of the Treaty.”

Meanwhile, New Zealanders are using innovative tools, including submission templates, to voice their concerns about the Bill.

In just two days, nearly 3500 visits have been made to a popular template online, showcasing widespread engagement and concern among Kiwis – in total 15,905 have visited the page since November 2024.

Roimata Smail.

“Templates are a universal tool that empower everyday people to participate in the democratic process,” said best-selling author, lawyer and educator Roimata Smail.

She has been advocating for public participation on this issue.

“They provide a straightforward way for Kiwis, who may not be academics or lawyers, to have their say on legislation that impacts us all.”

“This isn’t just for experts – every New Zealander has the right to tell the select committee what they think of this bill.”

The submission template she developed free of charge, available on Wai Ako Books, has seen a significant surge in visits since being launched two months ago.

Thousands of New Zealanders viewed and shared the template, and many have said they have used it to express their opposition to the bill.

“This is about making participation accessible – templates are not a novel concept,” she said.

“If someone believes this bill is wrong, they shouldn’t have to spend hundreds of hours drafting a submission from scratch. Templates make it possible for their voices to be heard.

“The Treaty Principles Bill is not a complex issue, requiring complex technical legal arguments – ordinary New Zealanders can tell the Government that the bill is wrong.

“The public response reflects the growing understanding of ordinary New Zealanders that Te Tiriti is our founding document, not just for academics and legal professionals to understand. The huge numbers of Kiwis who joined the hīkoi demonstrated this as well.

“It’s vital for the select committee to hear from everyday New Zealanders.

“This is about democracy in action – ordinary New Zealanders telling those in power that the Treaty Principles Bill is wrong.”

- NZ Herald