Open letter to Christopher Luxon: Stop the Treaty Principles Bill
Dear Prime Minister Luxon,
It is the responsibility of the people in government to meet the basic standards of conventional democracy and governance. It is your collective role to act with integrity and make informed decisions that impact generations using the best knowledge, information and expertise available. The Government should always (and only) represent the needs of the people — not disregard them.
What is proposed in the ACT’s Anti-Treaty Bill promotes misinformation and is highly misleading to the people of this country. It is based on an ACT policy which displays the Parties’ complete disrespect for Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
A Bill as constitutionally destructive as this should not be dignified with a select committee hearing.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi clearly outlines commitments between Māori and the Crown. It makes it possible for tauiwi (non-Māori) to make a home here and have equal individual rights, while Māori retain their authority over their communities, lands and treasures. Te Tiriti o Waitangi provides the foundation for a partnership that many tauiwi, including Pākehā, are proud of. The Treaty Principles Bill seeks to destroy that foundation.
The Bill misrepresents the collective guarantee of Māori tino rangatiratanga into something it is not (and never could be) by erasing the inherent rights that Te Tiriti affirms and protects — as is demonstrated by the words of esteemed Professor Margaret Mutu and a renowned group of licensed translators.
We, the under-signed, ask the Prime Minister to stop the Treaty Principles Bill and ensure it is withdrawn prior to the select committee process.
At Waitangi this year, you, Prime Minister Luxon, said: “The Treaty is our past, present and future.” We hope those statements are more than just hollow rhetoric or empty words. Te Tiriti o Waitangi is an intrinsic foundation of our democracy and we need our elected leaders to respect it as such.
We call on you, Prime Minister: choose integrity and honour over distortion, disrespect, and division. Responding to this in good faith and withdrawing the bill before the select committee hearing, will demonstrate partnership in action and will be remembered for generations to come.
Signed,
350 Aotearoa
Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand (ALRANZ)
Ace Lady Network
ActionStation Aotearoa
Adhikaar Aotearoa
Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand
Anakbayan Aotearoa
Anglican Action
Annette Sykes & Co
Aotearoa Philippines Solidarity
Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance
Ara Taiohi
AS Good NZ Limited
Asian Aotearoan Project
Asian Legal Network
Asians Supporting Tino Rangatiratanga
Asylum Seekers Support Trust
Auckland Action Against Poverty
Auckland Peace Action
Auckland Women’s Centre
Bad Apple
Be Your Own Sunrise Ltd
Behaviour Solutions
Belfast Community Network
Belong Aotearoa
Big Picture Thinking
Birth Rite Midwives
Brainwave Trust Aotearoa
Brand and Butter Limited
Budget Advisory Service
Rangitaiki Inc.
Burnett Foundation Aotearoa
Child Poverty Action Group
Chinese Pride New Zealand
Cinema Italiano Festival
Climate Action & Resistance VUW
Climate Justice Taranaki
Climate Liberation Aotearoa
ClimateActionOtautahi (350 Christchurch)
Coal Action Muirhiku
Coal Action Network Aotearoa
Common Grace
Community Development Team, The Community of St Lukes, Remuera
Community Networks Aotearoa
Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki
Council of Trade Unions
Dayenu: New Zealand Jews Against Occupation
Degrowth Aotearoa NZ
Disabled Persons Assembly
Dizzy Aotearoa
DV Bryant Trust
E Tū Union
Eco Research Associates Ltd
EcoMatters Environment Trust
Equal Justice Project
Extinction Rebellion Whakatū
Extravaganza in the Park Markets NZ
Fair&Good
Florence Nightingale Agency
For Purpose
FRENZ Recruitment and Immigration
Fridays For Future
Gabriela Aotearoa
Gen-Z Aotearoa
Gender Minorities Aotearoa
Generation Zero
Greenpeace Aotearoa
Hine Mahuta Hauora
Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura
Hui E! Community Aotearoa
Hurunga-te-Rangi Marae Trust
Inclusive Aotearoa Collective
InsideOUT
James Henare Research Centre
Justice for Palestine
JustSpeak
Kaicycle Inc.
Kaihanga Ltd
Kainga Aroha Society Incorporated
Kanaky Aotearoa Solidarity
Kapa Haumanu Limited
Kapa Haumanu Ltd
Kāpehu marae
Karikari marae
Kelmarna Community Farm
Kia Kaha Chemist
Koha Ora Whānau Trust
Koha TreeKūwaha Ltd.
MANAVATION
Manawaka Ao
Massey (becoming) Tangata Tiriti Book Club
Massey Students for Justice in Palestine
Mau Whenua Incorporated Society
Mauri o te Moana
McNeill Consulting Ltd
Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand
Migrant Action Trust
Migrante Aotearoa New Zealand
Migrants Against the Acceptable Standard of Health Aotearoa
Moana Vā, navigators of pacific pride
Mokomedia
MSMF Holdings Ltd
Multicultural Nelson Tasman
National Council of Women
Nelson Seed Library
Nelson Tasman Climate Forum
Network Waitangi Ōtautahi
Network Waitangi Whangārei
New Zealand Association for Environmental Education
New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services
New Zealand Psychological Society / Rōpū Mātai Hinengaro o Aotearoa
New Zealand Speech-langauge Therapists’ Association
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga
Ngā Toki Whakarururanga
Ngāi Tauira — Māori Students Association at Victoria University
Northland Urban Rural Mission (NURM)
NUKU
NZ Association of Counsellors
NZEI Te Riu Roa
OMEP Aotearoa NZ
Ora Taiao: NZ Climate and Health Council
Organise Aotearoa
Otago Unviersity Students’ Association
Otautahi Māori Womens Welfare League
Pacific Panthers
Paekākāriki Pride Inc
Papawhakaritorito Trust
Parents for Climate Aotearoa
Pathway to Survival
Pax Christi Aotearoa New Zealand
Peace Movement Aotearoa
People Against Prisons Aotearoa (PAPA)
PERSONA SPA AOTEAROA LTD
Pōneke Anti-Fascist Coalition
Pou Tikanga, National Iwi Chairs Forum
Poverty Free Aotearoa
Project Gender
PSNA
Public Housing Futures
Public Service Association
Pukekaraka Marae Committee
Pukenga Consultancy Ltd
Puna Ora
QIANE+co
Qtopia
RACEL
Rainbow Hub Waikato
Rainbow Youth
Reanga Taketake
Renters United
Rerenga Awa | Canterbury Youth Workers Collective
Russell School, Porirua East, Porirua
Ryan and Associates, Counselling & Psychotherapy Takapuna
SAASIA INC
Seed Psychology
Seed Waikato
Seeds for Feeds
Seniors Climate Action Network (SCAN)
Shoebox Christmas Aotearoa
Single Parent Services Waikato
Social Link
Socialist Aotearoa
Soil of Cultures
Speak Up-Korerotia
St Mary’s Parish, Ōtaki
St Matthew-in-the-City
STIR: Stop Institutional Racism
Student Christian Movement Aotearoa
Students for Justice in Palestine Pōneke
Susan Carlow Consulting
System Change Aotearoa
Taikura Consultants Ltd
TalkLink Trust
Tāmaki Loves Palestine
Tāmaki Treaty Workers
Tanenuiarangi Manawatū Roopu
Tangata Tiriti — Treaty People
Tangata Tiriti Aotearoa
Tangata Whenua, Community and Voluntary Sector Research Centre Inc
Tapatahi: Coalition for a People’s Aotearoa
Taraheke Press
Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary
Tauiwi Solutions
Tauiwi Tautoko
Te Ariroa Evolutions
Te Ataarangi ki Koraunui
Te Kōhanga Reo o Raukawa
Te Kuaka
Te Kupenga Hauora Māori (Waipapa Taumata Rau)
Te Kura ā Iwi o Whakatupuranga Rua Mano
Te Mana Ākonga
Te Muka Rau Charitable Trust
Te Ngakau Kahukura
Te Pou o Tainui Inc.
Te Pū Harakeke — Community Collective Manawatū
Te Reo o Ngā Tāngata | The People Speak
Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu
Te Tira Ahu Pae (Massey University Student’s Association)
Te Tiriti is Us
Te Waka Hourua Whītiki Mātike Whakatika
Te Wana Trust Quality Accreditation Programme
Te Wānanga o Raukawa
Te Wānanga o Te Rangi Aniwaniwa
Te Whānau Waipareira
Te Whare Hapori o Ngā Puna Waiora / Newtown Community Centre
Teota Ltd
The Alberton Crowd
The Basket Hauraki
The D*List
The Kerry Topp Collective
The Kindness Institute
The Pākehā Project
The Rubbish Trip
The Sustainable North Trust
The WaterBoy (Te Tamawai Trust)
The White House Incorporated Society
Thirdspace Aotearoa
Tīaho Limited
Treaty Education
UniQ Victoria
UniQ Waikato
Unite Union
Vector Group Charitable Trust
Verb Wellington
Very Good at Falling
Victoria University of Wellington Students Association
Waikato Arab Social Club
Waikato Environment Centre Trust
Waitaha Executive Grandmothers Council
Waitaha Speech Therapy
WEAll
Wellington Peace Action
Wellington Workers Educational Association
Working Students of Aotearoa
Working Studio
Zeal
Zero Waste Network Aotearoa
