November 09, 2023
No appetite among iwi for treaty referendum
Ngati Kahungunu leader Bayden Barber says the Iwi Chairs Forum in Otautahi is today discussing its opposition to proposals to change the Treaty of Waitangi.
ACT leader David Seymour is demanding a referendum to institutionalise his interpretation of treaty principles as part of the price of his party supporting National in a coalition Government.
Mr Barber says the treaty is not to be messed with.
“There may be a little bit of talk about that today but certainly at Waitangi in February we will be putting down that take. We don’t have any appetite at all for that type of narrative. The Treaty of Waitangi is our foundational document and it’s what the relationship between Maori and pakeha is built on so yeah, nah, we’re not going to entertain that one,” he says.
Bayden Barber says the Iwi chairs will today put their expectations to National.