ACT leader David Seymour has brushed off international indigenous leaders’ claims the Treaty Principles Bill is impacting New Zealand’s global standing.
“[T]here will always be people with a range of views and I respect their right to hold them.”
The network of indigenous leaders recently spoke out about the bill describing it as part of a “termination and erasure agenda”.
Indigenous Environmental Network executive director, Tom BK Goldtooth, said the bill was a “profound violation” akin to past colonial attempts to undermine indigenous treaties in countries such as the United States and Canada.
Dame Naida Glavish - part of the network - also condemned the bill saying the coalition government should, “Stop insisting that we are all equal, we are not.
“The data and statistics speak for themselves – racist government policy over time has worked to displace Māori.”
At parliament on Wednesday, Te Ao Māori News asked Seymour about the indigenous leaders’ claims - in particular, the assertion that the bill is impacting New Zealand’s international relationships in failing to honour commitments under Article 37 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
In response, Seymour said, “Well equally, I think it has an effect on New Zealand’s international relation[s] if we’re not a country that clearly says that we all have the same rights and duties as our Treaty states.
“I think that people should see that as enhancing our reputation - but there will always be people with a range of views and I respect their right to hold them.”
Last month, the Waitangi Tribunal, in an interim report delivered under urgency, detailed various ways the bill breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi.