UN highlights concerns about Treaty Bill

Gideon Porter Andrew Erueti | UN highlights concerns about Treaty Bill

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A Māori professor of law at the University of Auckland says a United Nations letter to the prime minister, expressing deep concern about the Treaty Principles Bill, is important even if it is ignored.

Associate Professor Andrew Erueti says the letter from the UN’s Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples helps keep the spotlight on Indigenous rights issues.

He says ultimately, what is required is a Tiriti-based Aotearoa-New Zealand constitution.

“So, therefore we rely on what we have. You know the courts, Waitangi Tribunal, trying to engage with cabinet, and now international human rights bodies. So, something has to change to remedy the situation and this imbalance between Māori and the Crown,” says Erueti.

Andrew Erueti says the advantage of the United Nations, for Māori, is that it is completely independent of the influence of New Zealand politics, unlike bodies like the Waitangi Tribunal.

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