Treaty Authority’s Post

The State of Victoria has accepted the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria’s invitation to commence negotiations for Statewide Treaty.  Under the Treaty Negotiation Framework – the rules for Treaty making in Victoria – the State must meet certain ‘Minimum Standards’ to demonstrate its readiness to negotiate Treaty. As the independent body responsible for facilitating and overseeing Treaty negotiations, the Treaty Authority will now undertake a comprehensive assessment of the State’s readiness. The Minimum Standards relate to Land and Waters, Community, Leadership and Inclusivity. As well as the Minimum Standards, the State must also undertake further work – Additional Preparations – to prepare itself for Treaty negotiations.  When the Treaty Authority is satisfied that the State has complied with the Minimum Standards and sufficiently progressed the Additional Preparations, the Treaty Authority will enter the State onto the Negotiations Database, a repository of information about Treaty in Victoria. At that point, negotiations for a Statewide Treaty have begun and Statewide Treaty negotiations will begin. Read more about Treaty Authority here: https://lnkd.in/gpm96maW

Treaty Principles Explainer – New resource    In the lead up to the introduction of the Treaty Principles Bill to parliament, it is important we continue learning and sharing trusted information about the principles and how they work.    What are the Treaty principles?  In 1840, leaders of hapū and Crown representatives signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi - it consists of a preamble and articles. The principles of the Treaty are the key ideas underpinning the treaty, they are a distillation of the full meanings and intentions of the full texts of Te Tiriti and the Treaty.    Treaty principles have not been determined in agreement with hapū; however, they have been developed by people with expertise in the wording and context of Te Tiriti, by the Courts and the Waitangi Tribunal. Since the 1980s, Parliament has also included “the principles of the Treaty” in many laws as a means of enacting its treaty obligations.    Work undertaken by the Courts, the Waitangi Tribunal and historians over the last nearly 50 years has grown the understanding of the meaning of Te Tiriti itself and of Treaty principles. The Tribunal’s most recent determination on Treaty principles made in relation to Te Raki [Northern] Māori states: “The principles must be based in the actual agreement entered into in 1840...” and therefore, if the Crown wants to clarify or redefine Treaty Principles, it must do that in agreement with hapū and iwi leaders.    To learn more about the Treaty Principles and actions you can take, visit our recent resource here:

A principled approach to government Treaty commitments Treaty Principles are an important means by which the agreement of Te Tiriti is upheld by government. Despite this, our current government has unilaterally decided to review, replace, and repeal or rewrite Treaty Principles.  It is critical that the government actions reflect these central understandings established in law: - A treaty is an agreement between independent nations     - Any interpretation of meaning, or change of terms, must be agreed to by the parties to that agreement     - Any interpretation must reflect the agreement itself    We can advocate for this principled approach together and protect the progress that has been made towards honouring Te Tiriti. To learn more about Treaty Principles and what we can do about changes to government Te Tiriti commitments, read our succinct new resource: https://lnkd.in/g92RYjTM 

Check out this talk I gave about the Treaty Negotiation Framework and Traditional Owner Delegations: https://lnkd.in/gQ4neND8

Government changes to the Treaty commitments – what’s happening and what you can do Most New Zealanders want to make sure the people we elect to represent us are making decisions with everyone’s best interests in mind. Te Tiriti o Waitangi is an inclusive agreement for all New Zealanders. It provides us with a foundation of ongoing peace and mutual benefit. The principles of the Treaty have become an important part of how the agreement of Te Tiriti is upheld by government. Any review of government Treaty principles should follow a principled approach to ensure good governance and respectful Te Tiriti relationships. As a follow up to our Te Tiriti explainer and Te Tiriti conversation guide, we’ve created this succinct resource. It provides trustworthy information about Treaty Principles and actions you can take in response to recent government changes to its Te Tiriti commitments. Read here: https://lnkd.in/g92RYjTM

We've just released this Treaty Principles explainer to support understanding and action.

The Treaty of Waitangi Principles Bill - the quality of Ministry of Justice advice. Last night a Newshub story featured material from the Ministry of Justice released by the Waitangi Tribunal that criticised the Treaty Principles Bill's interpretation of the Treaty/Tiriti (see attached clip). I have no particular axe to grind on this issue. I just want an informed public discussion about the meaning of the Treaty as I believe it is critical to our future to have such a discussion. With this in mind, earlier in the year I requested under the Official Information Act all substantive analysis by the Ministry of Justice in the past 10 years on the meaning of the Treaty and the Treaty principles. The reply I received was that NO substantive analysis had been undertaken. Given this answer, I really do question the Ministry's capacity to say anything meaningful on the Treaty to Ministers. This is very disappointing as there is so much material that could have usefully been prepared for Ministers to help facilitate a constructive public discussion about the various interpretations of the Treaty. Disclosure: I have previously been a Ministry of Justice employee.

Critical that this gets shared (and understood) as widely as possible.

The Treaty Principles Bill: two great interviews today by Jack Tame on Q&A with Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and David Seymour. Here are some quick thoughts: David Seymour: continues to refuse to admit that he is changing the meaning of the Treaty (just says that the principles he is advocating for are what they 'should' be) or that as a 'contract' between two parties both parties should agree to any redefinition of its meaning. I have sympathy with Seymour's desire for debate about the issues, but debate requires him to be honest. Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: continues to refuse to specify what a country of two 'Sovereigns' looks like - this needs to be spelled out if we are to have an honest debate. She has begun stating that the Atlas network is behind the Bill and that therefore indigenous people are our last protection against international corporate interests. She needs to spell out what the network is and whether it really is some massive neoliberal plot at work in NZ if she is to persuade those undecided about the Bill (I recall Chris Trotter thought this was a conspiracy theory). Jack Tame: a fantastic interviewer - it was a real slam-dunk bringing up the Ngai Tahu Treaty Settlement's promise of rangatiratanga over 90% of the South Island (Seymour's principle 2 recognises exisiting Treaty settlements so the use of 'rangatiratanga' in settlements arguably undoes any intent to resolve these issues). But he did illustrate how even the well-informed still can misunderstand the history; he insisted on using the English text of the Treaty with David Seymour as a guide to understanding Article 2 in te reo (on the basis that the te reo version was drafted from the English text) - this is wrong as the English draft on which the te reo text was based is lost and the English version we have came second. A curiousity: is the Court part of the Crown? As one of the three branches of Government I have always thought it was. So Tame's argument that the Court was the right place to determine the meaning of the Treaty because it wasn't the Crown seems incorrect to me. But he gave me pause for thought. Technically there should be some fully independent dispute resolution mechanism if there are two Sovereignties. Summary from OneNews in the Link - it will have links to the full interviews if interested.

The date Thursday 14th November 2024 will go down as an important day in New Zealand's history. The Treaty Principles Bill 2024 (TPB) passed it's first reading in the House of Parliament. A bill that seeks to clarify the constitutonal interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding document. A similar previous law passed in 1975 also instructed the government how to interpret and enact the Treaty however since then the interpretation has changed and evolved through case law. It is important for all government departments and laws to have a consistent interpretation of the Treaty for the proper functioning of society. I applaud and thank David Seymour for his bravery and honor in presenting the bill and for those MPs who voted to pass it to it's second reading.For those who want to be more informed on the issues being debated, the Treaty Principles Bill can be read here: https://lnkd.in/gcHpZTnV - it us just 6 pages long. The official wording of the Treaty of Waitangi can be read here: https://lnkd.in/gM4vGqEB - this is also only a few pages