Pokere
Paewai, Māori issues reporter
The
group behind last year’s Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti has been
granted an urgent hearing at the Waitangi Tribunal regarding
the Regulatory Standards Bill.
Over 12,000 people have
registered as part of the claimant group after Toitū te
Tiriti put out a tono, or request, on social media asking
people to sign up for the claim.
The claim alleges
that – if enacted – the bill would breach Te Tiriti and
cause significant prejudice to Māori.
The Regulatory
Standards Bill, which is yet to be introduced into
Parliament, is part of the National and ACT coalition
agreement.
A discussion document on the matter had
been open for consultation to inform the drafting of the
legislation, it includes a set of principles outlining
what constitutes “responsible regulation,” including rule of
law, liberties, taking of property, taxes, fees and levies,
role of courts, good law-making and regulatory
stewardship.
A preliminary Treaty Impact Analysis
conducted for the proposed bill noted it did not include a
principle related to Te Tiriti and its role as part of good
law-making.
Advertisement – scroll to continue reading
Toitū te Tiriti spokesperson Eru
Kapa-Kingi told RNZ the Bill would give the Minister of
Regulation broad powers to review legislation which could
have a negative effect on Te Tiriti in
legislation.
“The
point in going to the Tribunal is to enable the Tribunal to
really investigate what is going on, what the intentions
are, what the whakapapa is of this Bill as opposed to
waiting for it end up in a First Reading in Parliament and
then knowing that it is inevitably going to become
law.”
Toitū te Tiriti put out the call for people to
sign up for the claim to give them an opportunity to
participate in a different way than last November’s hīkoi,
he said.
“It’s an avenue to provide connection to the
case, to the claim. Similar to class actions that have been
brought by other groups of people in a civil jurisdiction…
this is kind of like a Māori class action I
guess.”
Kapa-Kingi said it’s not too late for people
to sign up to be a claimant.
The Minister for
Regulation David Seymour said given the Bill hasn’t been
introduced yet it’s hard to know what Toitū te Tiriti want
to talk about.
“Putting that aside, the gist of the
bill is to require politicians and officials to ask and
answer certain questions before they place restrictions on
citizens’ freedoms.
“What problem are we trying to
solve? What are the costs and benefits? Who pays the costs
and gets the benefits? What restrictions are being placed on
the use and exchange of private property?
“If they’ve
got a problem with that, I’ll be interested to hear it, but
I suspect this is just another publicity stunt from a Māori
Party protest group.”
But Kapa-Kingi said the lack of
information around the Bill is itself a source of anxiety
for Māori.
“If there’s no information or little
information then those voids are often filled by assumptions
and we can make pretty valid or accurate assumptions in
terms of the ACT Party’s agenda given the policy directions
and objectives that that Party has.”
From Toitū te
Tiriti’s perspective the Regulatory Standards Bill seems
like the ‘more
covert, but more aggressive version of the Treaty
Principles Bill,’ which was voted down at Second Reading, he
said.
Once the Bill is introduced to Parliament the
Waitangi Tribunal loses its jurisdiction to examine
it.
“This is the only time and the perfect time for us
to be making a claim through the Tribunal and is also why
the Tribunal has granted urgency, knowing that this is a
small window and if we don’t take the opportunity now to in
a robust manner analyse this Bill and the effects that it’s
going to have on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and tangata whenua
then we’ve basically lost our chance,” Kapa-Kingi
said.
The one-day hearing will take place on the 6th
of June at the Waitangi Tribunal Offices in
Wellington.
The Regulatory Standards Bill is expected
to be introduced to the House by the end of June under the
government’s
quarterly action
plan.
New Zealand’s public broadcaster, providing comprehensive NZ news and current affairs, specialist audio features and documentaries.
Radio New Zealand is a Crown entity established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. Radio New Zealand News are vital elements in our programming, providing impartial news and information to New Zealanders every day. Radio New Zealand (RNZ) provides listeners with exciting and independent radio programmes in accordance with the Radio New Zealand Charter.
