Entering the third day of oral submissions, the Justice Select Committee continued its hearings on the Treaty Principles Bill.
Around 30 submissions presented in front of the select committee today, with the majority opposing the bill.
One notable submission came from rising TikTok star Riana Te Ngahue, who used her 10-minute slot to respond to David Seymour’s submission.
Te Ngahue said Seymour’s assumption that Māori are at an advantage is an insult to hardworking people.
“Māori die nearly seven years earlier on average. Nearly 70% of kids in Oranga Tamariki are Māori. Māori suicide rates are nearly twice as high. I’m not re-hashing all the statistics because David already knows, but his answer seems to be ‘Someone has to be in poverty,”
Te Ngahue said Seymour’s claim that some individuals feel oppressed by the Treaty of Waitangi is an inadequate comment.
“The only people who are oppressed by the Treaty of Waitangi are overseas companie and big developers who are trying to get their grubby hands-on New Zealand land, because I guarantee you normal New Zealanders aren’t thinking of the resource management act,”
As submissions continued to reflect the deep divisions the bill has caused. Among those supporting the bill was Tim Aplin, a British liberalist.
“We’ve heard a lot of my esteemed co-presenters talk about equity versus equality. I’m opposed to equity, but I love equality,”
When asked by MP Hana Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke if he supports indigenous language education, Aplin acknowledged,
“Understanding language is understanding culture. However, I will say this - when it comes to the pragmatic elements of having an integrated society, one language does have to take presidents.”
“Kaua e whakaaro ana ko te tauritenga i tupu i tērā wā” - nā Liana Poutu
Ko Liana Poutu tētehi māngai me te kaiwhiriwhiri mō te whakatika hapa o te Karauna ki Ngā Iwi o Taranaki.
Hei tā Poutu ahakoa he pire nā te kāwanatanga, he pire kino tēnei.
“It goes against all of the Treaty Settlement negotiation processes I’ve been involved in. It’s contrary to all of the Crown apologies that’s contained in those Treaty settlements.”
Ko Poutu tētehi uri o Taranaki i tae atu ki te whare pāremata.
Nōna tata nei i whakapāha atu te karauna, mō te tāhae whenua, ki ngā uri o Taranaki, me te whakamana i a Taranaki maunga hei tupuna, hei tangata.
Wheoi, i kī a Poutu ko te haere tonu o ngā mahi o tēnei pire, he taupatupatu ki te hiranga o te kaupapa i tērā wiki.
“My tūpuna understand the priniciples stated in Te Tiriti o Waitangi,”
“What the irony is to me is the proposed principles here [in the bill] are designed to create uncertainty. My view is these principles have been developed because they don’t fit a certain point of view,”
Hei te wiki e kainamu mai nei hoki atu anō te kōmiti whiriwhiri ki te ātea whakatau, kia rangona tonu ngā whakaaro ki te pire mātāpono o Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
