This article was first published by RNZ
Analysis - There is no lifeline left for David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill after his coalition partners very publicly killed it at Koroneihana.
But that is not deterring the ACT leader who marches to the beat of his own drum.
While Seymour would not go as far as to say he thought Christopher Luxon and Shane Jones were lying when they pledged in front of the Māori King and Kīngitanga not to progress the bill beyond its first reading, he did suggest they had “jumped the gun”.
“They’re not lying but they’ve closed their minds when there’s more information to come,” Seymour told RNZ.
“The legislation hasn’t even finished drafting so they haven’t seen it, neither have they seen the public reaction.”
Seymour is still convinced he can sway his coalition partners otherwise in a few months’ time when the legislation is introduced to the House, but that is looking to be naive optimism.
It is one thing for the Prime Minister to dismiss it when responding to reporters, or to questions in the House, but to make such a commitment on Monday at Ngāruawāhia in the heart of Kīngitanga is something else entirely.
And to have New Zealand First MP and minister Jones reiterate it, on the same paepae, created a show of unity between his party and National.
It was telling too they did so during a political discussion that Seymour was not at after ACT said it was not invited by the King to join their parliamentary colleagues.
The significance of that timing will not be lost on Seymour.
Speaking to reporters on Monday at the conclusion of the political talks, Luxon said the bill would progress through drafting, introduction, first reading and select committee because that was the reality of MMP.
It is not so much MMP but more the case that either National and New Zealand First could not agree on something more to give ACT in its place, or Seymour really did make the first reading compromise an absolute bottom line.
While Seymour is the one calling for a national conversation on the Treaty, he told RNZ he is not sure he would have accepted the invitation to Koroneihana if he had received it.
“I don’t feel a lot was gained by being there... I would be disappointed if I’d missed some constructive dialogue, but from what I’ve heard I’m not sure I did.”
It will be November before legislation for the bill will be introduced and before that happens it needs sign-off by his coalition partners at the Cabinet table.
Seymour believes the bill, when it is produced, will be “a lot more positive and popular than has been made out by some actors”.
That might be the case given the “bury it” rhetoric from Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori at Ngāruawāhia on Monday, but it is not them he needs to convince.
The two parties who could breathe life back into it are the same two parties that took it off life support on Monday and declared it dead.
By Jo Moir of RNZ
