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Kiri Allan is the latest former politician to voice opposition to the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, telling the Herald it will go down as a “black mark” on our history and has created “a sense of heart-brokenness” among Māoridom. 

She joins the likes of former National MPs Christopher Finlayson and Dame Marilyn Waring and former Labour MP Andrew Little who all implored the Justice Select Committee to ditch the bill during the first day of submissions. 

Today marks the second day of oral submissions. Allan, who was a Labour MP from 2017-2023, is expected to speak to the committee via Zoom at 9.10am. 

“This bill has intentionally decided to divide us based on a misrepresentation of our history ... and I think that is a despicable action,” Allan told the Herald. 

“This is a sad period for democracy, for relationships within our nation.” 

The bill proposes replacing the current Treaty principles – ways of interpreting the Treaty proper in legislation - that have been developed over decades by courts and the Waitangi Tribunal with three new ones determined by Cabinet. 

The bill’s architect - Act leader David Seymour - says the purpose of the bill is to provide certainty and clarity, and promote a national conversation about their place in our constitutional arrangements. 

In his submission on Tuesday, Seymour said: “The (way) courts and the Waitangi Tribunal have sought to define the principles of the Treaty is incompatible with freedom under the law, a free society, where each of us has equal rights. 

“Dividing people into racial groups is the definition of racism. When you see people as a member of a group first and an individual second, you miss interesting things about them, you also open the door to dehumanising oppression.” 

Responding to Allan’s comments that the bill has caused division, Seymour said: “What has caused division is successive governments treating New Zealanders based on their ethnicity, which is the problem the Treaty Principles Bill seeks to solve.” 

The Justice Select Committee is set to hear 80 hours of oral submissions. That’s after the more than 300,000 submissions received by the committee in writing, a record. 

It is a bill that has caused a “visceral reaction” across New Zealand, Allan said. Indeed, tens of thousands of people marched to Parliament in November, chanting “kill the bill” and imploring Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to prevent it from going through the select committee process. 

The hīkoi mo te tiriti crosses the Auckland Harbour Bridge in November last year. Photo / Michael Craig 

The hīkoi outside Parliament in Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell 

Luxon, and Act’s other coalition partner NZ First, have said ad nauseam they would vote down the bill at the second reading. That means it will not become law, but its very existence has nonetheless caused significant damage to the Māori-Crown relationship, Allan said. 

“It’s eroded social cohesion; it’s eroded the fundamental trust between all of us as New Zealanders because you have political leadership driving a discussion that seeks to put wedges between people based on race. 

“But Te Tiriti is not about race, Te Tiriti is about how each of us find a home here in Aotearoa. It weaves us together, but that’s not the political rhetoric that’s been driven by those that are the leaders and the architects of this bill.” 

Allan, former Minister of Conservation, is expected to focus partly on the impacts such a bill would have on the Conservation Act in her oral submission today. 

She says section four of that act has “arguably one of the strongest Treaty provisions in all legislation”. 

“That created such a strong obligation on, for example, the government agency, the Department of Conservation, to work in partnership with hapū and iwi on the ground. 

“Everywhere where that was done in a positive way, you saw incredibly positive outcomes, not just for Māori, but for entire communities. Where you saw that had not been done work in partnership with hapū and with iwi, there was a fractured environment.” 

Kiri Allan at Parliament during her time as Labour's Justice Minister. Photo / Mark Mitchell 

In her written submission, Allan asks the Justice Select Committee to recommend that all Cabinet policy decisions are required to be compliant with Te Tiriti o Waitangi, that all policy work on the Treaty Clause Review ceases and the recommendations from the Waitangi Tribunal’s reports are adopted. 

Allan told the Herald the Government had created a fear among New Zealanders that the Treaty/Te Tiriti gave extra benefits to Māori. 

“That is a fundamental lie,” she said. 

“All within the Government parties are complicit in driving this wedge in our communities albeit whether it passes the second reading or not, the fact that political leaders have allowed this bill to go through to where it has, it has incited so much fear and tension within the collective populace. 

“This bill and this period and this submission process and everything that’s contained in this bill will go down as a black mark in our history.” 

Allan said the bill was a “huge topic of conversation” in her hometown of Whakatāne to the point where her daughter’s kura kaupapa was actively monitoring the debate. 

“There is a real sense of heart-brokenness across Māori. All of the political leaders, community leaders, iwi leaders ... have come out in opposition so strongly to this bill.” 

Allan also recalled a “heartbreaking” conversation she had with her 7-year-old daughter. 

“My child asked me at one point, ‘Why do so many people hate our language, hate te reo?’ It’s a heartbreaking conversation to have with young kids. 

“I shouldn’t be having that conversation with my own child in our own country.” 

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.