Act Party leader David Seymour is set to face-off against iwi leader Helmut Modlik in a debate on Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Join us for live coverage from the debating chamber.

David Seymour has accepted an invitation to debate te Tiriti o Waitangi and his party’s controversial Treaty Principles Bill, which seeks to define the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi. The invite was extended to Seymour in August by Helmut Modlik, chief executive of Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira. At the time, Modlik called for the bill to either be scrapped, or Seymour to front up for a debate on the issue. The soon-to-be deputy prime minister chose the latter.

The agenda

• Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles
• Whether or not Māori ceded sovereignty to the Crown
• The Crown’s right to govern in Aotearoa

Read more

• The real reason behind Act’s push to redefine the Treaty principles
• The business community has no time for Seymour’s culture wars
• Understanding the Waitangi Tribunal’s report on the Treaty Principles Bill
• ‘Undoing years of progress’: How the Treaty Principles Bill breaches te Tiriti
• ‘Division and social disorder’: The Waitangi Tribunal on the Treaty Principles Bill

This is Public Interest Journalism funded by NZ On Air.