The Regulatory Standards Bill has officially been introduced to Parliament. This bill will have the effect of replacing Treaty Principles in law with Act Party principles.

Christopher Luxon is set to pass it early next year, cementing his legacy as the most anti-Treaty and anti-Māori Prime Minister we have seen in generations.

“This is constitutional sabotage” said Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi.

“The Regulatory Standards Bill is a Trojan Horse that will erase the mana of Te Tiriti from all current and future laws. It will give the Minister for Regulations, David Seymour, more power than the Prime Minster & Parliament” Waititi said.

On Friday, the Waitangi Tribunal found the Crown breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi by proceeding with the Regulatory Standards Bill without any consultation with Māori. This is despite 88% of public submissions opposing the bill. The Tribunal also found Treaty principles were deliberately excluded in the design of the bill, and that the principle of “equality before the law” risks erasing our preexisting rights as tangata whenua.

This Bill comes to Parliament in the same week three Māori MPs face the most severe suspensions history for performing a haka in opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill.

It comes one week after the Government announced that it is reviewing the Waitangi Tribunal, one month before their inquiry into the bill was set to take place.

The Government is currently removing Treaty Provisions from 28 laws. Without these provisions, our treaty rights in law will be outweighed by David Seymour’s principles.

“The Regulatory Standards Bill fulfils the intent of the Treaty Principles Bill. Only this time, it has the Prime Minister’s full support" said co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

“We mihi to the Toitū Te Tiriti movement, and the 13,000 Tangata Tiriti and Tangata Whenua who joined their urgent claim against this bill” Ngarewa-Packer said.

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