Listen Now: 
Parliament will get another chance to debate whether MPs can swear their allegiance to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
The Oaths and Declarations (Upholding the Treaty of Waitangi) Amendment Bill in the name of Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox was drawn from the ballot yesterday.
When a similar bill was put up in 2012 by Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell it didn’t get past its first reading, despite support from Labour, Greens and Mana.
The oath taken by MPs at the start of each new parliament has been a contested area since 1999 when then-Labour MP Tariana Turia was told by the clerk of the house she needed to repeat her oath without mentioning the treaty.
Her advocacy did succeed in a law change allowing oaths and declarations to be spoken in te reo Maori, which Mrs Turia did when she was sworn in after winning the Te Tai Hauauru by-election in 2004.
The Standing Orders were changed in 2011 so any MP swearing allegiance to the Treaty of Waitangi would be automatically ejected from Parliament.
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
RELATED NEWS
