|
Waitākere Ranges Local Board
05 December 2024
|
|
Local board
input to Auckland Council’s submission to the Justice Select Committee on
the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill
File No.: CP2024/19760
Te take mō te
pūrongo
Purpose of the report
1. To
invite input from local boards to an Auckland Council submission to the Justice
Select Committee on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill
Whakarāpopototanga matua
Executive summary
Timeline
2. At
the 14 November 2024 Policy and Planning Committee meeting, council staff were
asked to investigate opportunities to develop an Auckland Council submission on
the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill (the Bill).
3. On
29 November 2024 a memo was circulated to all local board members providing an
initial introduction to the Bill and outlining opportunities for local board
involvement (Attachment A)
4. A
report will be taken to the 12 December 2024 Policy and Planning committee
meeting setting out the proposed key elements of the submission and seeking a
delegation to approve the council’s submission.
5. Feedback
from local boards is due 12 December 2024. Please note that due to tight
timeframes this may not align with scheduled local board business meetings and
any input from local boards may need to either be delegated or utilise the
urgent decision process.
The Principles of the Treaty
of Waitangi Bill
6. The
purpose of the Bill is to set out the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in
legislation and to require that those principles must be used when interpreting
legislation.
7. There
has been considerable commentary from Treaty and legal experts that the Bill
and its defined principles do not reflect the texts or meaning of Te Tiriti o
Waitangi / the Treaty of Waitangi and the exchange of promises agreed to by the
Crown and Rangatira.
Treaty of Waitangi Principles
8. The
principles developed by the Courts and the Waitangi Tribunal have been
developed over time to reflect the spirit and intent of both texts of the
Treaty and the mutual obligations and responsibilities of the parties, and to
enable the Treaty to adapt to changing circumstances.
9. The
current list of Treaty Principles is neither conclusive nor exhaustive and
could vary over time.
Other matters
10. The Bill in
its current form has not been informed by engagement with Māori.
11. Both the
National and NZ First coalition government partners have indicated they will
not support the Bill past the First Reading.
12. The
Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill can be found here:
https://bills.parliament.nz/v/Bill/227e6d0b-e632-42eb-cffe-08dcfeb826c6?Tab=history
13. Further
information and summary documents on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi
Bill can be found here:
https://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/key-initiatives/a-treaty-principles-bill/
Likely themes for Auckland Council
submission
14. Council’s
submission would recognise that the Bill is unlikely to receive the support
needed to progress beyond its first reading.
15. It would
provide a high-level summary of potential impacts to Auckland Council should
the Bill be enacted.
16. The
submission would outline council’s existing strategic framework which
embeds and articulates council’s approach to delivering its Te Tiriti o
Waitangi-based obligations. The submission would then outline the following
high-level themes:
· advice
on the bill with a focus on:
o procedural
issues including:
§ development
of the bill (lack of engagement with Māori).
§ timing
of submission period.
· support
for robust Crown engagement with mana whenua to maintain the Crown-Māori
relationship
· support
for a well-developed long-term national constitutional conversation on Te
Tiriti o Waitangi (enabled through partnership with Māori)
· support
for greater Crown resourcing and support for civic education to facilitate
understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the development of a Te Tiriti o
Waitangi education strategy
· stating
the view that as local government is an integral part of New Zealand’s
constitutional arrangements it should be engaged with on a wider constitutional
conversation regarding Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi; and
· support
for any conversation regarding New Zealand’s constitutional conversation
arrangements to clarify the role of local government in relationship to Te
Tiriti o Waitangi.
Ngā tūtohunga
Recommendation/s
That the Waitākere Ranges
Local Board:
a) provide
feedback to be considered for incorporation into, and appending to, Auckland
Council’s submission to the Justice Select Committee on the Principles of
the Treaty of Waitangi Bill.
Ngā tāpirihanga
Attachments
|
No.
|
Title
|
Page
|
|
a⇩
|
Memorandum - Auckland Council submission on Principles
of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill dated 27 November 2024
|
9
|
Ngā kaihaina
Signatories
|
Authors
|
Kat Ashmead - Senior Advisor Operations and Policy
|
|
Authorisers
|
Lou-Ann Ballantyne - General Manager Governance and
Engagement
Adam Milina - Local Area Manager
|
