Reaction continues to pour in from across the nation after the Waitangi Tribunal recommended the Government cease the introduction of a proposed Regulatory Standards Bill by junior Coalition partner ACT. The bill, advocated for by David Seymour, was subject to an urgent hearing with the Tribunal making it clear they might lose jurisdiction if they had not intervened – see the summary here.
David Seymour said “The Waitangi Tribunal is not a parallel Government elected by New Zealanders, even if it acts like it is.
Responding to those comments the former Minister of Maori Development (and current Opposition Spokesperson) Willie Jackson told Waatea ”
The Tribunal is warning the Government that Māori Treaty rights are again under threat with the introduction of this bill , time again for Maori to remind Seymour what they think of him.”
While co-Leader of Te Pati Maori, Debbie Ngarewa Packer also told waatea “The Waitangi Tribunal just called time on the Crown’s power grab. The Regulatory Standards Bill is a constitutional bulldozer designed to flatten Te Tiriti, erase Māori rights, and let their corporate mates write the rules. The Tribunal has said stop. If the government ignores that, they’re not just breaching the Treaty they’re declaring war on it”
“The real fantasy is Seymour thinking he can erase Māori rights without a fight. If upholding the Treaty looks like another universe to him, maybe it’s time he stepped out of his colonial bubble”
More to come
