ACT Leader David Seymour doesn't believe the public is being misled over coalition support for his Treaty Principles Bill and said that "all bets are off" once it hits select committee stage.
At Rātana, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the Government had "no plans to revise the Treaty of Waitangi" or treaty settlements.
Luxon has repeatedly said he has made it clear he had no commitment to support ACT's controversial bill beyond the first reading (which would send it to select committee), but has not completely ruled it out.
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, Seymour said he thinks Luxon is being "perfectly open and honest" with the public about the future of his coalition government's support of the bill.
"There is no commitment in either direction, to vote for the Treaty Principles Act after it's been written, introduced to Parliament, debated in Parliament and gone off for public submission, so that New Zealanders can have a say on what our constitutional document means for our future," he said.
He said: "After that, all bets are off."
"I believe that whether or not this thing goes any further will depend on how the public responds," he said. "And my view is that we've needed to have a real discussion about what these treaty principles mean because they're so important to New Zealand life, but they've been held back from any kind of parliamentary discussion for such a long time."
READ MORE: The Treaty Principles Bill explained
Seymour said he suspects the initiative will be "more popular" than people think and that there is strong support for it to move ahead.
When questioned about his phrasing compared to that of the Prime Minister's around the bill, Seymour said people can listen to what they have both said and "figure out it's the same thing".
"When the Prime Minister says there's no commitment to go further, that means that he is not committing to go further but he also is not saying that he won't."
Seymour said ACT had pushed hard for this discussion around the treaty within the coalition and that an honest conversation was "needed".
The ACT leader also defended his decision to not attend either the Māori King's national hui, which saw more than 10,000 people gather at Tūrangawaewae Marae on Saturday to issue a united call against proposed reforms, or Rātana.
"I've never agreed with that, however, I will be at Waitangi, which I regard as the state occasion to celebrate and discuss our nation's founding documents just next weekend," he said.
"The Treaty, it's meaning to us in 2024 and beyond, those are major topics that people are going to be discussing in major places for a long time to come."
SHARE ME