E tū, New Zealand’s largest private sector union,
welcomes the overwhelming defeat of the Principles of the
Treaty of Waitangi Bill in Parliament yesterday. The bill,
which sought to redefine the principles of Te Tiriti o
Waitangi, was rejected by 112 votes to 11.
E tū
President Muriel Tunoho expressed immense pride in the
union’s active opposition to the bill:
“I am
extremely proud that E tū took a stand and made submissions
to oppose the Treaty of Waitangi Principles Bill too. Thank
you all for playing your part in this incredible
fightback.
“It was right to finally see the bill
consigned to the past and into the bin. The results show
that this is not us.
“We don’t need to rewrite or
re-define the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We just
have to live them!”
E tū National Secretary Rachel
Mackintosh highlighted the bill’s potential to undermine the
foundational agreement between Māori and the
Crown:
“This bill sought to
fundamentally alter the meaning of Te Tiriti o Waitangi by
selectively and incorrectly interpreting the reo Māori
text. It tried to undermine the separation of powers under
the rule of law by using the power of Parliament to change
Aotearoa New Zealand’s constitutional foundation, all based
on a legal and historical
fiction.
“This bill has done damage.
It has given airtime to false and racist ideas.
“It
also galvanised hundreds of thousands of people to stand up
– toitū Te Tiriti. More than 90% of the submissions on
the bill called for it to be abandoned. E tū and thousands
of our members were among the voices in those submissions.
The submissions stood up for the truth of Te Tiriti as the
foundation on which we can build a society where tāngata
whenua and tau iwi take care of each other.
“Now
that Parliament has voted it down, we can start to repair
the damage and to build an Aotearoa where we honour Te
Tiriti and respect each other.”
E tū remains
committed to upholding the principles of Te Tiriti o
Waitangi and advocating for a just and inclusive
society.
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