The principles included in the bill tomorrow are expected to be altered from what was initially released in September.
Seymour said it “had not been brought forward in any meaningful way” and “you were always changing dates with stuff around Parliament”.
“The only reason this is getting attention is because the Waitangi Tribunal has insisted on knowing every date almost in real time. They asked for a date, we gave them a date, and the date changed.”
National and NZ First have said they will not support the bill past a first reading. The bill will, however, go to select committee for six months.
The introduction date of the bill was brought forward more than a week, prompting the Waitangi Tribunal to swiftly release its second report on the policy last night.
That report found, if enacted, the bill would be “the worst, most comprehensive breach of the Treaty/Te Tiriti in modern times”.
“At present, the progressing of the bill is having serious impacts on the relationship ... but the bill, if enacted, would kill that relationship.”
The report said Māori had been deliberately excluded from the consultation process of a policy that would “abrogate their fundamental rights”.
“The Crown’s failure to consult with Māori adequately or at all is frankly unconscionable, and it is a breach of the principle of tino rangatiratanga [sovereignty].
“The impacts will not fade for a long time even if the bill does not proceed beyond the select committee.”
“Far from being a divisive document, the Treaty is a powerful guide for New Zealand’s future, establishing that all New Zealanders have the same rights and duties and that the Government has a duty to protect those rights.”
He said what was important was “that New Zealanders get to have a say about our constitutional future in a way many people feel they couldn’t do for a long time”.
”I think our position as a country on the Treaty is not sensible, I think it is divisive. But once we allow people to debate freely, New Zealanders usually get to a better place and that is the legacy of it, whether it passes this time or not.”
The report follows the Waitangi Tribunal’s first report on the policy, which was released in August.
That report described the bill as unfair, discriminatory and “a solution to a problem that does not exist”.
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said Luxon should “absolutely” be here for the first reading.
“He should absolutely front what he has allowed to [happen] ... to basically to accept his piece of gold. He has traded our rights and interests to be able to have a one-term Government.”
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi said although the introduction date had been brought forward, that had not taken the “heat” out of the upcoming national hīkoi planned in protest at the bill. The bill was originally planned to drop the day before the hīkoi reached Parliament.
“The heat of the hīkoi has got hotter. My challenge to them is to come down and feel the warmth of the hīkoi when it arrives and prove the point that they are actually listening to the people.”
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Kaiwhakahaere Justin Tipa said the bill was an attack on their rangatiratanga (right to exercise authority) and bringing its introduction date forward was “yet another tactic to distract us from the real issues facing New Zealanders”.
“Bringing the bill forward seems cynical and designed to avoid the timing of the nationwide hīkoi,” Tipa said.
“Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu encourages Ngāi Tahu whānau to mobilise and voice their opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill.”
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
