A+W Treaty Principles Bill Submission 2025

6th January 2025

Committee Secretariat
Justice Committee
Parliament Buildings
Wellington
To whom it may concern,

Architecture+Women NZ is a not for profit Incorporated Society formed in 2013.
Our core aims are to achieve; 
visibility - to provide a support system which helps make visible the hard work of A+W•NZ members, and 
inclusiveness - to remove or reduce as many barriers as possible, (class, religion, culture, sexual orientation etc) working from the strong platform of gender, for the benefit of all those who work in architecture.

Visibility and access for all those trained in architecture are affected by the current and historical political context in Aotearoa and we recognise the significance of Te Tiriti me He Whakaputanga to this context. We recognise that Māori never ceded sovereignty, and that honoring and giving effect to Te Tiriti is essential to providing a support system that achieves our core aims for our members.

Our wāhine maori members are leaders, business owners, academics, visionaries, colleagues, friends, and whānua and their importance to us can not be understated. We would not be the organisation we are today without them.

Additionally, as NZIA members we are bound to honour and uphold Te Tiriti in our practice of architecture as outlined in our new institute constitution (article 3, clause 3.1).
As an organisation we don’t support the bill for the following reasons:

Principle 1 of the proposed Bill attempts to expand the powers of the Government, in direct violation of Te Tiriti as it was agreed to in 1840 - which outlined that the Crown could install a Governor in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Principle 2 of the proposed Bill removes the rights of Māori to express tino rangatiratanga over lands, tāonga and expressions of independence. It limits the authority of Māori by only recognising the rights obtained through Treaty settlements, and freezing rights to the time of signing in 1840. This goes against A+W NZ values of inclusiveness by dishonoring the rights of Maori as outlined in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which we are bound to honour and uphold in our practice of architecture outlined in our new institute constitution (article 3, clause 3.1).

Principle 3 of the proposed Bill uses the framing of equality to deny the unique status that Māori have as the indigenous people of Aotearoa. It removes the particular obligation on the Crown to guarantee the rights of Māori. This goes against our aim of inclusiveness by failing to recognise the inherent values that we bring in partnership together as tangata tiriti and Māori within architecture. This will result in additional barriers for all who work within architecture, especially for our maori members.

The Bill is divisive because the Bill proposes to erase tino rangatiratanga and extinguish the rights of Māori that were agreed to by the Crown in 1840. It will make it almost impossible to legally honour the commitments of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The Bill is dishonourable because the Government has deliberately excluded Māori from any consultation, breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi on many counts, accepted a distortion of the original Te Tiriti text, rejected evidence, ignored the advice of their own officials and failed to meet their own standards of what makes quality legislation.

The Bill is distracting because our country (and the world) is grappling with complex challenges such as economic issues including the cost of living crisis, access to stable and affordable housing, climate change, as well as the constant challenge of how these and other issues affect equality across gender and ethnic groups in NZ. We need leadership who will help us work towards an equitable future in genuine partnership with mana whenua.

It is our recommendation that the Government:
Stops the Treaty Principles Bill from proceeding any further.
Acts upon the recommendations of the Waitangi Tribunal report (Ngā Mātāpono - The Principles) into this Bill.
Refuses any and all proposed referendums on Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the future
Recognise that Te Tiriti (Māori text) is the treaty that was signed (not Hobsons paper which was written after the fact) and that  mana whenua never ceded sovereignty.

Ngā Mihi,
Jaime Lawrence and Shereena Sumeran (Co-Chairs)
for and on behalf of
Architecture + Women • NZ