Elected members debated the issue for some time at last week's meeting. Photo / NZME
Stratford District Council will make a submission on the Treaty Principles Bill, criticising the process and the lack of consultation.
The decision was made after elected members heard from New Plymouth District councillor Dinnie Moeahu (Te Atiawa, Ngāruahine, Taranaki, Te Arawa and Ngāti Porou), who had spoken on the subject at the public forum before last week’s council meeting.
He had appealed to elected members to make a submission against the bill. He was speaking on behalf of something that he said “is not only constitutionally foundational for this country but actually provides a pathway of us working together collectively”.
“It’s about the decisions that we get to make for the future aspirations of our tamariki and mokopuna.”
He said he had originally been hoping for a regional response to the bill, in a possible scenario where all four councils in the region submitted against it, but that was no longer an option as Taranaki Regional councillors had decided not to submit.
Timing was tight, he said, as councils were meeting for the final time in the year, and submissions on the bill closed on January 7.
Councillor Ellen Hall asked what message not making a submission might send to iwi.
The current perception, Moeahu said, was “they are building and strengthening relationships with councils all over Taranaki despite the friction at times, but it’s heartwarming because the legacy never used to be that way”.
How that might change was something he didn’t “want to consider”, he said.
Moeahu’s father, Peter Moeahu, said he could answer Councillor Hall’s question easily.
“We love you anyway, we really do. So if you choose not to put a submission, it won’t change our view. If you do decide to put in a submission, it won’t change our view about you.”
In discussing the possibility of making a submission, some councillors felt they didn’t know enough about the bill.
“I will be honest, I haven’t actually read the bill,” said councillor Vaughan Jones.
“My father-in-law is Ngāti Mutunga ... but through the family we haven’t discussed it. I haven’t discussed it with them. So without having further facts on it personally, I don’t think I can support putting something in, in terms of submission is something I don’t know enough about.”
They had also not had feedback from ratepayers, said Jones, on what they thought.
Councillor Grant Boyde said he agreed with Jones.
“I have exactly the same feelings. I don’t understand enough of the Treaty Principles Bill. It’s probably a bit of my own fault, I probably should have taken more notice of it.”
Councillor Matt Watt said he also didn’t know enough about the bill.
“I haven’t fully understood the arguments against it.”
He didn’t want his name going on a submission opposing the bill when he hadn’t had time to do his own research, he said.
Councillor John Sandford said the issue was “a political football”.
“And I don’t think we should be playing in the game.”
Councillor Steve Beck said he didn’t know enough about the bill.
“I haven’t done any due diligence on it. So I don’t know what the issues are. I thought it was just going to be a bill put before Parliament and then disappear.”
Councillor Jono Erwood said he didn’t think he or the community knew enough about the bill.
“I simply do not know enough about it and I don’t believe our community knows enough about it.
The lack of knowledge around the table was, said Deputy Mayor Min McKay “exactly why we should be making a submission on this”.
“It’s part of every single one of our decision reports, the reference to the Treaty and that is what I think we should be submitting on that.”
Councillor Annette Dudley agreed with McKay.
“This is possibly our only chance to have our say.”
Councillor Ellen Hall was in favour of making a submission opposing the bill.
“The process in which the bill has been developed and put forward just feels wrong. So there’s been deliberately no engagement with Māori. Neither Māori nor [the] Crown, the two parties of the Treaty, were involved in the development of the bill.”
Many organisations had voiced their opposition to it, she said, including “42 King’s Counsels who say that it fails to acknowledge the legal and moral imperative for honouring the Treaty”.
Māori Ward councillor Clive Tongaawhikau said he was “disheartened” to hear people say they didn’t know enough.
“I think it’s a bit of a cop-out actually.
“It’s a shame that nobody’s read the Treaty ... because that’s what you’re talking about and you are all intelligent people and then you tell me you haven’t looked into it. That’s very disheartening.”
The bill affected everyone, he said.
“It’s creating a division.”
There was a clear division around the room as to if the council should make a submission or not, said Mayor Neil Volzke.
“There are people in the community who would be totally opposed to this bill and there are others that would be totally supportive of it and we’ve got no way of gauging that. So it’s pretty hard to submit one way or the other and say that’s the view of our community because we just certainly don’t know that. But I wonder if there is perhaps a halfway point.”
That halfway point, he said, would be to make a submission objecting to the process.
The timeframe of the bill was an issue, he said, including the fact the submission period encompassed the Christmas holidays.
The fact it wasn’t going to be supported by all parties after the first reading was another issue, he said.
“What I see personally is that it’s a hideous situation where one party is putting forward a bill and the majority party in this case, National, turning around and saying they’re going to vote against it after the first reading.
“What is the point of doing that because you are creating a massive amount of division and disruption. To know that when it goes to a vote in six months' time that it’s going to be voted down and then it will all disappear. But in the meantime, it’s caused an enormous amount of harm. So I can’t see the point of why they continue on with the process.”
For him personally, he said, it was a case of weighing up two options.
“Upsetting our relationship with the Government is one thing, upsetting our relationship with our local iwi is another. If you’re asking me, do we annoy the Government or annoy our iwi, I’ll say it’s the Government we annoy.”
Elected members agreed the mayor and chief executive would make a submission on behalf of the council stating its opposition to the process.
The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill was introduced on November 7 and is currently before the justice committee for public submissions, which close on January 7. Submissions can be made online through a portal on the Parliament website or by post.
Disclaimer: Editor Ilona Hanne is married to the chief executive of Stratford District Council.
Ilona Hanne is a Taranaki-based journalist and news director who covers breaking and community news from across the lower North Island. She has worked for NZME since 2011.
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