ACT Will Not Support Oaths and Declarations Amendment Bill
Press Release by ACT Leader John Banks
Wednesday, November 7 2012

ACT will not support Te Ururoa Flavell’s Oaths and Declarations (Upholding the Treaty of Waitangi) Amendment Bill, ACT Leader John Banks said today.

“An oath of allegiance is defined as ‘an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to monarch or country’. In republics, modern oaths specify allegiance to the country's constitution,” Mr Banks said.

“ACT regards the Treaty of Waitangi as a significant constitutional document. However, New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy not a republic, and, as such, all oaths of allegiance are to a person or to the country and not to constitutional documents.

“In swearing allegiance to the sovereign, an individual is already making a pledge to uphold the country’s entire constitutional framework, of which the Treaty of Waitangi is a part. It is therefore unnecessary to single out one particular document.

“It is for this reason that ACT will not be supporting Mr Flavell’s bill,” Mr Banks said.

ENDS

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