David Seymour happy to debate Treaty Principles Bill – anyone, anywhere, anytime

Act leader David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill is due for public consultation in October and parliamentary debate in November.
Act leader David Seymour says the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill and debate will be New Zealand’s own Reformation – and ultimately change the landscape of Aotearoa.
Seymour’s bill, due for public consultation in October and parliamentary debate in November, has been backed by National and NZ First to a first reading only. Both parties said they would not support it any further.
Seymour said regardless of what happened after the first reading, one could not put a genie back in the bottle once it had been released.
“No matter how far it gets after the first reading, it will be debated in Parliament and the public will be able to submit,” Seymour told the Herald, after calls on Monday from Māori and Opposition parties that the bill be blown out of the water.
“Once you have the idea that all of us have a right to say about the future of our country. that’s a very powerful idea that won’t go away and will never stop and we reach our point of universal humanity.
“There’s people that are very angry because they are being confronted by a question they don’t have an answer to.
“The question is what sort of future does any country have as a partnership between races. Why not be a country where all people have equal rights to flourish.
“Does the Treaty make it a partnership between races or a society founded on equal rights?
“That question leads to a lot of people jumping up and down, but not addressing it.”
Seymour said New Zealand’s situation reminded him of the church Reformation of the 1500s.
“This reminds me where priests all spoke Latin and were the only ones who could read the Bible,” he said.
“Then the Reformation came along and people said no, we all want to read the scriptures for ourselves.
“It feels like that. What we are saying is that everybody has the right to read the Treaty and make up their own minds, not just those who identify themselves as experts.”
Seymour said many people had made a lot of money from the Treaty, and he wasn’t talking about Waitangi settlements.
“A huge amount of the tension comes from people who have spent their lives describing themselves as Treaty experts and don’t want others to have a say,” he said.
“The truth is we all have equal rights and have to live under New Zealand laws.
“I’m open to debate, but it has to be worked out what’s the topic and who will moderate and audience.”
Seymour said the bill was being driven by his constituency and not an anti-Māori agenda.
“People are saying to me ‘keep going’. Don’t give it up because there are so many people who feel a real sorrow, because they love this country and love the people, but they have been relegated to second division if they try to have a view are shouted down, called racist and told they don’t know enough,” he said.
“This debate does not diminish the cultural value that each Kiwi carries. I watched the Olympic athletes each expressing Māori tikanga and their te reo Māori and that’s a wonderful thing.
“This debate doesn’t take away anyone’s rights to flourish.”
Joseph Los’e is an award-winning journalist and joined NZME in 2022 as kaupapa Māori editor. Los’e was a chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News newspaper covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and prior to joining NZME, worked for urban Māori organisation Whānau Waipareira.