Winding back Treaty references

Paul Goldsmith announced:

The Government has agreed to amend 19 pieces of legislation to ensure references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi are clear and consistent, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says.

“Over the last 30 or 40 years, Parliament has made all sorts of references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. Sometimes it’s ‘honour’, or ‘have regard to’, or ‘give effect to’, or ‘take into account’. We need to create some consistency here, in the interests of increasing certainty and supporting compliance. A core foundation of our success as a nation is predictability in the law. …

“The Government has agreed to amend two references to be more specific, repeal seven references, and specify no higher standard than to ‘take into account’ should be used in provisions to the Treaty of Waitangi across ten acts.

“The Government has also agreed a reference to both the Treaty of Waitangi and te Tiriti o Waitangi is preferable and should be used in all relevant provisions going forward.

“These decisions have been made as a first step. Conversations will continue around how this review could go further in the future.

This is all good and sensible stuff. My only criticism is it comes two and a half years in. This should have been a priority for the first 12 months.