The Nurses Society position on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill is that the introduction of this Bill by the ACT Party was unwise, unnecessary, and a waste of time and resources.
Moreover, we believe it is arguably divisive and not in the interests of promoting positive race relations. The Bill appears to be designed to undermine Māori rights as well as the Crown’s obligations under te Tiriti.
The proposed principles are not consistent with current accepted interpretation and application of te Tiriti principles.
The Society fully agrees with the Waitangi Tribunal analysis and criticism of the proposed principles in this regard.
In particular we believe the proposed principle 2 would be highly problematic and a complete breach of the principles of tino rangatiratanga, kāwanatanga and partnership. We also agree with the view that the proposed principle 3 bears no resemblance to the accepted meaning of article 3.
A referendum on the proposed principles would be a further utter waste of time and unnecessarily divisive.
The Society believes the Justice Committee should recommend to the House that the Bill not proceed to a second reading.
This contentious Bill was part of the coalition agreement between National, ACT and New Zealand First.
All parties except ACT have indicated that they will oppose the Bill going beyond the first reading. Consequently the Bill cannot become law.
The Nurses Society position on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill is that the introduction of this Bill by the ACT Party was unwise, unnecessary, and a waste of time and resources.
Moreover, we believe it is arguably divisive and not in the interests of promoting positive race relations. The Bill appears to be designed to undermine Māori rights as well as the Crown’s obligations under te Tiriti.
The proposed principles are not consistent with current accepted interpretation and application of te Tiriti principles.
The Society fully agrees with the Waitangi Tribunal analysis and criticism of the proposed principles in this regard.
In particular we believe the proposed principle 2 would be highly problematic and a complete breach of the principles of tino rangatiratanga, kāwanatanga and partnership. We also agree with the view that the proposed principle 3 bears no resemblance to the accepted meaning of article 3.
A referendum on the proposed principles would be a further utter waste of time and unnecessarily divisive.
The Society believes the Justice Committee should recommend to the House that the Bill not proceed to a second reading.
This contentious Bill was part of the coalition agreement between National, ACT and New Zealand First.
All parties except ACT have indicated that they will oppose the Bill going beyond the first reading. Consequently the Bill cannot become law.