“ACT party leader David Seymour who is also Associate Minister of Justice, is blurring the lines of these two roles,” said National Iwi Chairs Forum spokesperson Professor Margaret Mutu. “He is using his Parliamentary funded party website to give information about his proposed Bill before it has the approval of Cabinet. He is directing the work of the Ministry of Justice from his website, not realising the Ministry works at the direction of Cabinet, a standard democratic principle. He is treating the Bill as a fait accompli, driven by propaganda rather than government policy or education.”

Adviser to the National Iwi Chairs Forum Dr Carwyn Jones notes that this is particularly concerning given the inaccurate and misleading material presented. “The Ministry of Justice should not be expected to align government policy with the kind of misinformation promoted on ACT’s Treaty Principles website.”

Dr Jones suggests that the Prime Minister should direct David Seymour to take the website down, at least until Cabinet has had an opportunity to make decisions on the Bill. “Sensible discussion and decision-making on this important matter should, at the very least, be grounded in reality,” said Dr Jones.

“I suspect the Prime Minister, in his newness to the role, does not know what is happening. Seymour is exploiting his ignorance. The Prime Minister needs to call him to order,” Professor Mutu concluded

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