I’ve never spent so much time on the Parliamentary submissions website as I have in the last year. In the past, I’ve often forgotten the cut-off date to write a submission and my best intentions wouldn’t go further than signing a petition. However, since the coalition government was formed in late 2023, I’ve submitted letters of opposition to multiple Bills and I feel like I’m on a roll. Which is just as well, as there are a seemingly endless list of harmful law changes that our elected representatives would like to introduce.
Tonight (Thurs 9th Jan) at midnight, the Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Amendment Bill closes (military bootcamps for kids)
Tomorrow, Friday the 10th of January, the Social Security Amendment Bill closes which will have a huge impact on the lives of thousands of families depending on social welfare and more benefit sanctions.
Then on Monday 13th January the hideous and far-reaching Regulatory Standards Bill closes for submissions - sneakily this isn’t featured along with all the other Bills on the Parliament submissions portal, but it has its own webpage here (including a 30 question submission tool that you can feel free to sidestep and just email them your submission directly at RSBconsultation@regulation.govt.nz.
And then - because our opposition to the harmful Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill broke the internet on Tuesday night, the submissions for that have been extended to Tuesday 14th January 1pm, for anyone who couldn’t submit theirs this week.
As we’ve discussed on social media, our submissions don’t have to be long essays, filled with citations of experts and data. They don’t even have to be profound. But speaking up, clearly opposing these regressive laws and adding our voice to calls for more integrity in our country’s government is so important. A few lines stating your stance and why you care, perhaps a paragraph explaining your positionality or a story highlighting why this is important to you and a call for the Bill to be rejected is all that’s needed. Natalie Coates suggests saying that you agree with another’s submission is a good way to strengthen what you’re wanting to communicate. The main thing is to get them in! And then to encourage those around us to do the same. Just as with the Treaty Principles Bill, all these other Bills can receive submissions from anyone of any age, anywhere in the world. Our rangatahi guide resource shows the step by step process for making a submission that can be used for these other Bills, too.
It’s no accident that all of these laws are open for ‘consultation’ at the busiest time of the year, when many folks who might normally make a submission are offline, holidaying and relaxing. And it’s hard to find time to read through all of the amazing info that’s been collated when our tamariki are not at school, either! When we are wanting to enjoy the sunshine and unwind, log off from the news and politics. But this is exactly why we must take 10 minutes to get a submission in, despite feeling hōhā about the inconvenience. Because the ramifications of these laws will be far reaching for those this government doesn’t care about and just like so many laws introduced since colonisation began in Aotearoa it is whānau Māori, anyone who is disabled, unemployed or unhoused who will be most impacted. We cannot let their tactics of exhaustion and distraction work on us!
The Treaty Principles Bill presented us all with a great opportunity to learn more about ways laws are formed in Aotearoa and to get involved in the consultation processes we’re entitled to as a democracy. Don’t feel whakamā if you haven’t made a submission yet, or find the proposed Bills overwhelming, wordy and complex. You’re not alone. They’re not written with accessibility in mind. But that doesn’t mean we should just shrug and walk away from this mess. Even if these politicians are only sitting in Parliament because of a small percentage of the voting population, they’re still accountable to us all. And there’s loads of great explainers, guides and examples to help us, we’re sharing these on our Instagram.
As Tina Ngata (Ngāti Porou) recently said during a Koekoeaa wānanga on the Treaty Principles Bill; “Human rights should never be decided by referendum” and we cannot allow a numbers game of submissions dictate how Aotearoa honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi in law and in practice. I spoke to this kaupapa in my recent submission, highlighting the inequity of this process with an example from my local community a decade or two ago;
If a Referendum is triggered this will almost certainly result in an unfair outcome for Māori. Our government would never allow such a process like this on any other topic affecting any other cultural group here…In 2006, the divisive behaviour of the then Whanganui Mayor, Michael Laws whipped up prejudiced fervour over the correct name and spelling of the town and rohe to keep it incorrect as ‘Wanganui’ and he then initiated an expensive Council referendum which found 82% of Whanganui residents who voted did not want to change the name from ‘Wanganui’. The issue remained unresolved and Te Rūnanga o Tūpoho’s requests for the H to be restored were denied, so much so that in 2009 the issue was brought to yet another Council referendum. This saw a record 61% of eligible voters participate and 77% of them still did not agree with updating the spelling of the city to Whanganui. In three years, those voting in the referendum who supported the Whanganui spelling only rose from 18% in 2006 to 22% in 2009. At the time, Ken Mair of Te Rūnanga o Tupoho said the referendum results were irrelevant; "It's not about numbers - it's about righting a wrong. It's about the respect and integrity of our language." Referenda against minority groups, such as Maori, were always a "crude and blunt instrument…This result is proof of that." (Mair, cited in Emerson, 2009)
Looking into the population data of Whanganui, it’s clear that a key influencing factor is how many young Māori live in Whanganui in comparison to the rest of the community. The median Māori age locally is 26.0 years old, but we see that only 68.8% of 18-24 year olds of all ethnicities in Whanganui are enrolled to vote, in comparison with 100.97% of all the 70+ year olds here. Only 4,731 Māori people in Whanganui are on the local electoral roll despite the Māori population totalling 11,910 people in our district. These numbers speak very loudly for themselves, that there would never be equitable outcomes in referendums under the current system. These same issues were seen in the recent Australian Voice referendum and we have much to learn from the backwards step that has been for social justice in their nation.
I’ve been thinking about how my mokopuna’s mokopuna might find my name attached to these words in some future whakapapa research, much in the same way as I’ve searched for my foremother’s signatures on the Women’s Suffrage Petition of the 1890s. I hope that they will know that I spoke up for their future.
Making submissions is a brilliant opportunity for tangata Tiriti in Aotearoa to do the heavy lifting and boring mahi, activating our allyship. These submission processes come from Western ways of governing and are being used as tools of institutional racism. We can show up in these dry, tedious spaces to leverage our privilege and have an impact. It’s not as fun as a hīkoi but it does create change.
