Treaty Issues poll shows the way forward
Hobson’s Pledge has released a poll done by Curia on Treaty issues. It shows that despite all the heat, there is a popular simple way forward.
Respondents were asked to agree or disagree with a number of statements, one of them being:
I want New Zealand to honour the Treaty of Waitangi, but only if it can do so in a way that doesn’t undermine fundamental human rights such as equality of suffrage where all votes have roughly equal power.
This had +50% net support (62% support, 12% opposed). The net agreement by party vote was:
- ACT +63%
- National +63%
- NZF +61%
- Labour +45%
- Greens +26%
- TPM -17%
So this is a proposition that a majority of Labour, National, ACT and NZF voters agree with, and a plurality of Green voters. It shows that the vast majority do want to honour the Treaty, but not at the expense of fundamental human rights. And this tension is what has caused such a backlash.
The last Government tried to abolish equality of suffrage for a local council. TPM openly advocate against equality of suffrage. Equality of suffrage is a fundamental human right in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
A related issue is the notion that New Zealanders who do not have Maori ancestry only have a right to reside in New Zealand because of the Treaty. This conflicts with the UDHR which states “Everyone has the right to a nationality”. People (legally) born in New Zealand who are NZ citizens have an inalienable right to reside in NZ. It is not contingent on the Treaty.
My solution is to not pass the Treaty Principles Bill as it stands, but to amend the Bill of Rights Act so that the rights in that Act are explicitly made to be superior to any purported Treaty settlement.
The poll also asked people who should have the final say on what the principles of the Treaty are, if there is disagreement. The results were:
- Referendum 32%
- Parliament 22%
- Waitangi Tribunal 19%
- Judiciary 8%
So the principle of Parliament or a referendum deciding, where there is disagreement, is a majority view.
Other results were:
- Only 13% of respondents think the Treaty means that 50% of MPs must be Maori
- Only 26% of respondents think the Treaty means water companies must be co-governed