Gisborne District Council has voiced its strong opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill, saying it threatens the “active living partnership” which underpins its community.
At a meeting on Wednesday, the majority of councillors backed the council’s submission to oppose the Bill and for the Government to abandon it.
Mayor Rehette Stoltz said some people might not support the council making a submission, but she stood by the people who felt aggrieved by the proposed Treaty Principles Bill.
“We are standing with them,” she said. “We hear you, we see you, and we are standing next to you.”
The Government’s Bill is open for submissions ahead of a six-month select committee public hearing.
“It’s destined to fail, and so it should ... a treaty is a contract between two parties,” said councillor Andy Cranston, noting that tangata whenua had not been involved in its creation.
Councillor Ani Pahuru-Huriwai said hundreds of people took part in the recent Tairāwhiti hīkoi and thousands turned up in Wellington to protest against the Bill and other issues impacting Māori.
“We’ve come too far to not go further. We’ve done too much to not do more.”
Gisborne District Council’s draft submission noted Te Tairāwhiti’s population was 56% Māori.
“Te Tiriti o Waitangi is not a historical agreement in our region, but an active living partnership that underpins the wellbeing, identity and future of the majority of those living in our community,” the submission said.
“The breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi by the Crown and its governors – suppression of language, culture and tikanga, and alienation from ancestral lands – have created intergenerational harms and injustices that need to be restored and rebalanced.
“If the Government wishes to pursue a genuine conversation about our existing constitutional arrangements, we advocate for a collaborative process that involves a genuine partnership with iwi/hapū, particularly those directly affected, in any discussion of Treaty principles.”
Councillor Aubrey Ria said the coalition Government’s relations with Māori were at an all-time low. However, in Tairāwhiti “iwi relationships, partnerships, and collaborative ideas and support from the council is at an all-time high”.
Councillor Rawinia Parata said she understood there were pockets of people in the region who were fearful of what the Treaty meant.
“But it hasn’t meant anything bad for you so far and it won’t going forward.”
Councillor Colin Alder abstained from voting as he believed it was a central government issue.
Meanwhile, councillor Rob Telfer said he voted against the submission because the community had not been consulted.
Deputy Mayor Josh Wharehinga said the cost to the community for consultation would be around $100,000-$150,000.
“Would we rather spend that money out in our community ... or go and ask them about something that we actually have a general sense on where our community is at?”
Chief adviser Māori partnerships Gene Takurua said the Bill was one of many government reforms that challenged the council’s ability to make local decisions.
Takurua said in 2022 the council adopted a strategic position in its approach to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and gave effect to that relationship to tangata whenua.
Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann said the Bill “cuts to the core of what the council has been incrementally working towards”.
It complicates council decision-making processes, undermines partnerships with iwi and hapū, and negatively affects future work programmes, she said.
Thatcher Swann also noted it could create work for the council as while the Bill protected those who had already settled their Treaty partnerships, it created uncertainty for those who have not.
“It will then be up to the council to work out how we recognise those iwi in terms of their rights over particular areas.”
