New Zealand is not at risk of a civil war, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon declared as his Government continued to deal with the fallout over its support for the contentious Treaty Principles Bill.
The Act Party-backed legislation was opened to public submissions as part of the select committee process on the same day tens of thousands joined the historic protest at Parliament, which was chiefly in opposition to the bill.
Members of all political parties ventured on to Parliament’s forecourt at one point or another, even if only briefly. While there were speakers from Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori – which was involved in organising the event – Government MPs, including ministers Shane Jones and Tama Potaka, listened to the kōrero (talk).
Act leader David Seymour went out for several minutes, despite police asking him not to as they felt it might provoke the crowd. He spent a good portion of his time on the forecourt filming a social media video explaining his legislation and intentions.
“When they say kill the bill, I say read the bill, debate the bill and help build a better New Zealand based on universal human rights,” he said.
The Treaty Principles Bill would define the principles in law so their reference in legislation can be clearly interpreted. Currently, the principles have been derived from court cases and tribunal decisions. Seymour believes there should be a national conversation about the Treaty’s position in our constitutional arrangements.
He later told reporters he went out “to listen” to the demonstrators.
“I felt these people had made a long journey to Parliament and we as parliamentarians should be there to hear them. I have to say it was quite difficult to hear a lot of what was being said but, nonetheless, I felt it was important to be out there.”
He said organisers didn’t want him to have a dialogue as he believed providing his side of the story “would really deflate a lot of the angst and hatred that has been wound up on TikTok and the caricature they’re tried to create of me”.
National Party MPs were on the forecourt to receive the hikoi, but Luxon himself was not. He was open to engaging with the organisers, but said some were affiliated with Te Pāti Māori and he did not receive an invitation.
The Prime Minister said he was not surprised by the scale of the demonstration.
“There are strong emotions, understandably, on all sides of this debate. That wasn’t surprising. The message very strongly though, from the National Party, is we won’t support the bill, it won’t become law.”
But National did support the bill at its first reading, a commitment he had to make to Act’s David Seymour as part of coalition formation negotiations. While National won’t support it any further, meaning the legislation won’t pass, demonstrators have been concerned that Luxon signed up to it in the first place.
He acknowledged New Zealand was “going through a challenging time” and he understood the “frustration” around the Treaty Principles Bill from speaking with iwi leaders.
However, Luxon said it was a reality of the MMP environment that a compromise had to be made, and Act got National’s support for the legislation at its first reading.
Former National Prime Minister Dame Jenny Shipley last week told RNZ that putting “the Treaty into a political framework” was “inviting civil war”.
But speaking in the House, Luxon stridently rejected New Zealand was on the verge of a civil war.
“We are not at risk of civil war in New Zealand, that is inflammatory language.”
Seymour has been critical of prominent opponents of the legislation, saying it was “grossly irresponsible” for Shipley to speak about his bill inviting civil war.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said he had seen far larger protests, naming the Springboks tour protests of the 1980s.
“I put this at 22,000 max. It’s not the 35,000 that some of you are quoting,” he said.
When it was pointed out it was police that estimated 35,000 had participated, Peters said: “Yes, well go and have a good, hard look.”
Peters said he did not understand why people felt they needed to march given the legislation was unlikely to become law. NZ First also voted for it at first reading but won’t when it comes up in the House again.
“This bill is fatally flawed in its construction. It was never going to work and we said so.”
“We have countless legislation offers that come to Parliament. Some of them have no future. Some of them have a great future. This was one of them. We all knew that. They should have been told that so they wouldn’t have left their whānau and kept on working and looking after their families.”
On the other hand, Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the protest was a “real show of unity” against the Treaty Principles Bill. and the largest seen at Parliament for many years, even surpassing the crowd opposing the foreshore and seabed legislation in 2004.
Hipkins was also critical of Seymour for his brief appearance on Parliament’s forecourt.
“The truth is, if you’re wanting a conversation, you need to listen,” he said. “He wasn’t willing to listen, he was basically there to make a statement and then to leave again.
“The fact that he wasn’t invited to speak meant that he stormed off in a huff, that’s not what conversations look like.”
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said she felt overwhelmed by something she considered to be “extremely significant” in New Zealand’s history.
“I think there is a clear message that we’re all unified, that this should be a one-term Government,” she told reporters.
Many of Ngarewa-Packer’s party colleagues speaking to the crowd hammered home the message for Māori to register on the Māori electoral roll. Increasing the number of people on the Māori electoral roll was a central aim for Te Pāti Māori, as it believed it would boost its representation in Parliament, given the party currently held six of the seven Māori seats.
According to the Electoral Commission, almost 290,000 people were registered on the Māori roll and about 270,000 Māori were registered on the general roll. About 91% of all eligible New Zealanders were registered as of October.
While the party’s goal was to get all Māori on the Māori roll, Ngarewa-Packer said she aimed to double the number of Māori seats by encouraging Māori communities to leave the general roll.
Te Pāti Māori had copped criticism by some, particularly Seymour, through claims the protest was orchestrated by the party. One of the most prominent organisers was Eru Kapa-Kingi, a son of current MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and a part-time staffer of Te Pāti Māori.
Ngarewa-Packer said she did not care if some people viewed it in that way.
“If Te Pāti Māori is being blamed for influencing unity in Aotearoa, I’m taking it.”
During his speech, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said he had told Seymour not to come to the protest.
He described the Government as “fascist” and believed the hīkoi was inspiring Indigenous people around the world to “rise up”.
“Where to from here? Yes, rangatiratanga belongs to us outside this House. Everybody, get on the Māori roll. We need to make this a one-term Government.”
The Green Party’s Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul said earlier in the day the protest showed the city “stands against this attempt to completely rewrite our history”.
Parliament’s justice select committee will accept public submissions on the legislation until January 7.
Chairman James Meager said members were moving ahead on the understanding it would be a standard six-month process, though opposition MPs have called for it to be truncated.
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office.
An independent review will look at 'serious' allegations of misusing taxpayer funds.