Willie Jackson challenges David Seymour over Treaty Principles Bill in Parliament

Summarised by Centrist

During Parliament’s question period, Labour MP Willie Jackson questioned ACT Leader David Seymour’s intention to press on with his Treaty Principles Bill calling for a referendum on ACT’s definition of the Treaty Principles. 

However, Seymour seemed ready for him. 

“Will the minister stop wasting everyone’s time and resources and kill the bill now, given that no one in the coalition government supports him, the religious fraternity doesn’t support him, the political experts don’t support him, and Māori certainly don’t support it?” Jackson said. 

Seymour responded by holding up a pie chart diagram and said “Mr Speaker, starting with one group of people—Labour supporters—when asked if they support the principles in the bill, 62% of them said yes. So there’s one group. He said Māori don’t support them. Since when did Willie Jackson get to say what every single Māori person thinks? In fact, usually when you stereotype a group of people by race and say they all think the same, that’s actually racism.”

Seymour was referring to a Taxpayers’ Union Curia poll from October 2023. Read about it here. 

Seymour went on to dismiss claims that the bill would inflame hatred, stating, “The previous government’s belief in a partnership between races has caused division.”

Jackson continued to challenge Seymour’s interpretation of the Treaty, while Seymour reiterated that the term “partnership” does not appear in the original text of the Treaty of Waitangi. He argued that dividing people based on ancestry has never worked successfully in any society.

Watch the whole exchange over on YouTube