Committee draws short straw to work on Treaty Principles Bill

On Monday morning, the Justice Select Committee met behind closed doors to discuss how to handle the Treaty Principles Bill.
The bill, which has drawn international attention following its first reading in the House last week, has now been referred to the select committee for hearing submissions.
The committee, which is chaired by first-term National MP James Meager, is in charge of gathering written submissions from the public, experts and officials, before hearing oral (or in-person) submissions from a selection of people.
Part of the agreement between coalition partners National and Act was that all Government parties would support the bill through its first reading and a select committee process to allow what the Prime Minister has referred to as an “aeration of the issue”.
While the coalition agreement doesn’t stipulate the length of time the bill will be considered by the committee, the parties have agreed to a standard six-month process.
The bill, which aims to redefine the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, has drawn significant attention in New Zealand – and now globally, following the haka performed by Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke.
And the committee will no doubt expect that level of attention and scrutiny to continue throughout the next chapter of the bill’s life.
With that in mind, the committee was scheduled to meet for an hour on Monday morning to discuss logistics, including submission timelines, and set standards around the tone of the conversation and what this group of members deems acceptable.
One of the few decisions to come from the initial meeting was the timeframe for written submissions.
Newsroom understands submissions will open on Tuesday – the same day a hīkoi of thousands (up to 30,000) will march to Parliament.
Submissions will close on January 7, giving submitters a bit longer than the usual six-week period, to account for the summer holidays.
The recent advent of form or template submissions has seen a significant uptick in engagement with the select committee process, and has made making a submission more accessible for members of the public.
That also means controversial proposed laws in recent years have been garnering a high number of submissions.
For example, the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill attracted about 27,000 written submissions.
The Justice Committee will be expecting similar – if not higher – levels of interest in the Treaty Principles Bill, meaning Meager will likely request greater administrative resources from the Office of the Clerk.
Now the basics have been decided, the committee will open the call for submissions and sit back to see how many flood in.
After receiving written submissions, the committee will then need to meet again to decide how to hear the oral submissions, and how many.
If tens of thousands of people want to speak to their written submissions, the committee will need to choose who to hear. In this case, committees often accept oral submissions from experts, then groups or organisations representing a range of communities, then a representative sample of the public (especially people who have a novel or illuminating point in their written submission).
But in the unlikely event not many people want to submit orally, then the committee may be able to hear them all.
In some cases, committees have broken into sub-committees or travelled around the country to ensure affected committees are heard in person. However, neither of these things will necessarily happen in this case.
A full, six-month process means the committee should be able to get through all its oral submissions without splitting into sub-groups. And a travelling committee usually only happens if there is a highly affected community in one place.
Given the national interest, and the use of video calling, the committee should be able to hear all of the oral submissions from Parliament.
The last big question is around conduct and standards.
The bill has already led to emotive exchanges in Parliament. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people have been marching in the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti in opposition to this bill and others that impact on Treaty obligations and rights.
The committee is made up of MPs from all political parties, many of whom are not shy about speaking their mind and following direct lines of questioning during hearings. It’s also known as a relatively free-flowing committee.
The members of the Justice Select Committee are:
Meager will have a big job on his hands keeping both MPs and submitters in line, given the nature of the bill.
Similar to Maipi-Clarke’s haka in protest at the first reading of the bill last week, some members of the public have been mounting protest submissions.
During a truncated select committee process on the bill to reopen oil and gas exploration, one submitter was cut off after referring to the coalition Government as “three evil monkeys”. The submitter refused to drop the metaphor and when the committee chair decided to cut her speaking slot short, the submitter took the opportunity to laden her exit with profanity directed at the committee.
This is the same bill that drew a submission from a Dunedin lawyer, who used the last minutes of his speaking slot to dance around in the flood waters covering his part of the city in October, with the Kora’s song Politician blaring in the background.
The committee members, who obviously have differing views on the bill, will need to decide early on how long submitters are allowed to speak, what constitutes proper or “parliamentary” conduct, and if or when to cut off a speaker who isn’t playing by the rules.
While the committee is considering the bill, those organising both for and against the legislation are expected to run events around the country.
Those opposed to the bill may run something akin to a select committee, but outside Parliament – a bit like a parallel select committee process to hear people speak about the bill.
Meanwhile, the bill’s sponsor – David Seymour – is expected to hold town hall-style meetings and use the six months to spruik the merits of his vision around the country. It’s likely he will get help from third-party organisations, like Hobson’s Pledge.
Those opposed to the bill also plan to continue organising community education campaigns about the Treaty of Waitangi.
Once the committee has heard the submissions, it will then need to write its report and refer the bill back to the House – likely by mid-next year. The Prime Minister says the Government will then call up the bill for a second reading where all parties other than Act are expected to vote it down.
However, Christopher Luxon says he has not put a deadline on when that second reading needs to happen.