WelCom October 2024
More than 400 church leaders have signed an open letter to MPs calling on them to vote down David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill at its first reading.
The 440 senior leaders from Catholic, Anglican, Salvation Army, Baptist and Methodist denominations, under the ‘Common Grace’ umbrella, expressed their views in the open letter sent to MPs last month.
The Cabinet saw a draft version of David Seymour’s controversial bill for the first time on 9 September.
The ACT leader’s bill will go to a first reading in November – negotiated as part of the coalition Government’s agreement – and, if supported, will be sent to a select committee for discussion.
As part of their coalition agreement with ACT, National and NZ First said they would not support the bill beyond the first reading.
However, as a matter of process, the Church leaders who signed the letter want National or NZ First to break their coalition agreement and vote down the bill at the first reading.
A range of Catholic individuals featured in the letter’s 400-plus list of signatories.
Bishops Michael Dooley, Steve Lowe and Archbishop Paul Martin from the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference signed the letter.
While other Catholic leaders including sisters, priests and emeritus bishops supported the initiative, CathNews learned from some signatories they had neither seen a draft of the Treaty Principles Bill nor were conversant with the content of the open letter.
Responding to the open letter sent to MPs on 9 September, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he supports the Christian leaders in expressing their views; however, he had not yet seen a full draft of the ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill.
The open letter outlines concerns the Christian group leaders have should the bill advance past its first reading and how it will drive more divisiveness within Aotearoa.
The letter states: ‘As Christian leaders from across Aotearoa New Zealand we express our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We affirm that Te Tiriti o Waitangi protects the Tino Rangatiratanga of hapū and iwi. That rangatiratanga over land and taonga is to be upheld.
‘We therefore express our opposition to the proposed Treaty Principles Bill.
‘The proposed bill is inconsistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi in that it does not recognise the collective rights of iwi Māori or guarantee their relationship with the Crown. It would undermine what Te Tiriti guarantees, and what decades of law, jurisprudence and policy have sought to recognise.
‘We call on all Members of Parliament to do everything in their power to not take this bill to select committee and to work towards the ongoing restoration of the Tiriti relationship,’ the letter said.
David Seymour is not pleased with church involvement in his political plans, saying the churches do not own New Zealanders’ moral compass.
He said it wasn’t the first time churches had tried to interfere in democracy, citing the End of Life Choice Act as an example.
His coalition partners, National and NZ First, say they won’t support the bill past a first reading. They reiterated their stance in August at the late Kīngi Tūheitia’s 18th coronation celebrations at Tūrangawaewae.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon stressed this remained the case when the Common Grace letter was published in August.
Labour and the Greens have congratulated the Christian leaders for condemning the Treaty Principles Bill.
Susan Healy of Common Grace said the organisation had many MPs from parties across the spectrum emailing their thanks for the letter and that they are considering seriously the content of it, including the Prime Minister’s office.
The letter can be read online at: tinyurl.com/Open-Letter-Christian-Leaders
Source: CathNewsNZ; NZ Herald; Common Grace