The architects of the proposed law weren’t at Tūrangawaewae, but as Stewart Sowman-Lund writes for The Bulletin, that didn’t stop others from talking about them.
To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.
‘No ambiguity’ over future of treaty bill
The Act Party’s proposed Treaty Principles Bill cast a shadow over proceedings at a rainy Tūrangawaewae marae in Ngāruawāhia yesterday, though no one from Act was there to face the criticism themselves. All parties bar Act were in attendance at Koroneihana, the celebration of the Māori King’s coronation, yesterday after confusion over whether or not the party was invited. And all parties at the marae took the opportunity to publicly distance themselves from Act’s proposed bill. Among those was New Zealand First minister Shane Jones, who said there could be “no ambiguity, no doubt” that his party would not vote for the bill beyond its first reading. And prime minister Christopher Luxon issued arguably his strongest rebuke of the bill yet: “I want to be clear today that the National Party will not support the Treaty Principles Bill beyond first reading.”
It’s not the first time he has shut down suggestion of pushing the bill further, though even as recently as last Friday he was attempting to make complicated distinctions between his personal views as National leader and his role as prime minister of a coalition. But as RNZ’s Jo Moir argues, despite Seymour’s protests, it would appear there is no longer a lifeline left for the bill. Cabinet has yet to discuss the bill, but details of it were leaked earlier this year and it’s expected to go before parliament toward the end of the year. If you need a quick refresher on the treaty principles and why Act’s bill is contentious, Tommy de Silva wrote an excellent explainer for The Spinoff earlier this year.
Voters believe coalition worsening race tensions
Yesterday’s commemorations coincided with the release of a new poll from TVNZ that suggested voters were worried by the coalition government’s policies on race relations. Just 10% of respondents believed the government was reducing racial tensions in New Zealand, while 46% said its policies were making things worse. Recently, former prime minister John Key urged for people to “take the temperature down a wee bit” around race relations, as the Herald reported here. Just last week, a scathing interim report from the Waitangi Tribunal called the Treaty Principles Bill “discriminatory” and urged the government to drop it from its agenda, as explained by The Post’s Karanama Ruru. The National Party is also under fire after a Facebook page for its Māngere branch posted racist comments under a live stream of yesterday’s proceedings, reported Te Ao Māori News.
Luxon has, for some time now, been attempting to personally temper the conversation around race. But at the same time, as the leader and face of the coalition, he has struggled to distance himself from the debate entirely. Yesterday, Tainui iwi chair Tuku Morgan accused the prime minister of throwing “Māori under the bus and run[ning] them over”, reported the Herald’s Joseph Los’e, while Labour’s Chris Hipkins said the coalition was race-baiting and had never “seen a red neck it didn’t want to scratch”.
Luxon ‘misspoke’ on education figures
While in Australia last week, Luxon was asked to comment on the Waitangi Tribunal’s report and brought up areas he believed the government was able to productively collaborate with Māori on. “Think what we’re doing with respect to mathematics – when you have 88% of Māori kids at year 8 unable to read…” said Luxon. Many interpreted those remarks – “unable to read” – to mean Luxon was suggesting that Māori literacy rates at high school were just 12%, but a spokesperson for the prime minister told The Bulletin it was “clear from the context” that he was referencing maths, and said that Luxon “misspoke”. The Herald’s Julia Gabel has delved into this a little more and noted that it came in the same week Luxon was unable to say how much the Jobseeker benefit was during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report.
Coalition steady in new poll
Despite that poll we mentioned at the top showing close to 50% viewed the government as detrimental to race relations, TVNZ’s political editor Maiki Sherman said it doesn’t appear to have dented support for the coalition. The latest 1News Verian poll released last night showed all three coalition parties steady, meaning they would safely return to government.
The Greens were the only party to lose support (which was picked up by Labour and Te Pāti Māori) after a series of controversies and scandals in recent months. In short, things appear to have settled after an early dip for the government. Luxon himself has bounded up five points in the preferred prime minister stakes to 28% – hardly a rockstar result but comfortably above Labour’s Chris Hipkins and higher than where he was sitting in the same poll going into last year’s election.