Former Te Arawhiti Crown-Māori relationships minister Kelvin Davis says ACT’s proposed Treaty Principles Bill is a back door way of undermining the treaty itself.
In his valedictory speech to parliament yesterday, he said it was fiction that New Zealand had not had adult conversations about te tiriti – and Māori have never stopped talking about its meaning and effect.
He says some politicians see that as a threat.
“When we progress the treaty partnership to a point where it starts to mean something, calls for a referendum on the meaning of the te Tiriti o Waitangi grab the headlines and scare the horses. When we move forward, the status quo always tries to push us back and protect itself, so each time you come for us, each time you try to put us back in our box, we will not back down. We never have and today is no different,“ Mr Davis says.
