Treaty Principles Bill voted down during fiery 2nd reading

Thursday, 10 April 2025

Labour MP Willie Jackson was ejected by Speaker Gerry Brownlee during the debate.

The Treaty Principles Bill was voted down by a large margin during its second reading in Parliament this afternoon.

There were 11 votes in favour, from the ACT Party, with every other member of Parliament voting against the bill.

Upon leaving the Chamber, Seymour told reporters, 'in the end, what prevails is strong logical arguments, and the argument we put up that everybody should have equal rights, that Parliament should have the full right to make laws, that all people should be treated equally before those laws - that argument has not been attacked or even mentioned by most of the people opposed to it'.

He indicated he would keep advocating for the bill’s principles.

'We'll never give up on equal rights, and the next steps we take on this journey will be clear to people before the election, so they can make up their mind if they want to jump on the journey.'

Seymour said he had been thinking over the last couple of years 'different ways that you could approach this, and one doesn't work, you try another'.

Second reading not without incident

The debate, when it kicked off, was immediately interrupted by a protester from the public gallery, while later Labour MP Willie Jackson was thrown out by the Speaker.

ACT leader David Seymour was only moments into his speech when a man was taken out by security.

Speaker Gerry Brownlee yelled, “where are the police?” before the protester, who was yelling in te reo Māori, was removed.

ACT leader David Seymour’s proposal has been the centre of much debate for more than a year.

“Completely unacceptable,” Brownlee said. “We live in a democracy. This is the place where opinions are given, not from the gallery.”

Seymour opened the speeches, saying, “a free society takes hard work and uneasy conversation”.

“If MPs believe that the bill should be passed, depending on public opinion, they should front up, vote for the bill and send it to an actual referendum, which is what the bill does.

“There are many bills that have attracted large numbers of opposing submissions and yet been very popular with the general public. End of life choice, abortion law reform, both had 90% of submissions against them at select committee, but proved overwhelmingly popular with the public.”

Prior to the debate, an object, believed to be a vape, nearly hit Seymour ahead of the second reading.

Seymour, while speaking to reporters in Parliament, did not flinch after the item hit the ground.

Jackson, before he was kicked out during the second reading of the Treaty Principles Bill.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins spoke after Seymour, calling it a “grubby little bill, from a grubby little deal”.

“It has had a colossal impact on the fabric of our nation, and this bill will forever be a stain on our country.”

Later during the debate, Labour MP Willie Jackson was kicked out of the House by Brownlee for refusing to withdraw and apologise for accusing Seymour of being a “liar”, which is not allowed in Parliament. He had also been kicked out during the bill’s first reading.

Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke said New Zealand was not divided: “90% of our country submitted the same.”

She said the problem was that Parliament “only recognises one partner, one culture, one language, one treaty”.

Maipi-Clarke said “for us to thrive”, their job was to introduce bills, policies and legislation to remove barriers for Māori.

“We have two choices, to live or to die. We chose to live.”

The proposal has been the centre of much debate for more than a year.

Recently, the select committee for the controversial Treaty Principles Bill recommended the proposed law not proceed following hundreds of thousands of written submissions, hundreds of speakers, and protest marches across the country including a massive hīkoi to Parliament.

Opposition MPs and the public gallery stood to perform Ka Mate during the bill's first reading.

The events during the first reading on the bill last year were reported around the world, with the Opposition, led by Te Pāti Māori, performing a haka during the vote.

It was picked up widely by the likes of international news outlets Al Jazeera, EuroNews, CNN, The Washington Post, The Guardian, BBC - even Teen Vogue.

Last week three Te Pāti Māori MPs refused to appear before the committee for questioning about their haka in Parliament last year, after they raised concerns about being unable to appear as a collective, and being refused the ability to bring in a tikanga expert. Committee chair Judith Collins called the situation “unprecedented”.

Labour’s Peeni Henare also found himself in front of the Privileges Committee for his own role in the haka, and although he wasn’t found in contempt, he was asked to apologise for leaving his seat in the House.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Monday said he would not be in the House for the reading. Recent Prime Ministers do not generally attend Parliament on Thursdays.

“I'm somewhere else at that time, but I'm sure I'll be available for media to talk to on the day,“ he said.

Luxon was in Parliament for a press conference earlier on Thursday.

“We've had a very strong position as to why we don't support the Bill,” Luxon said on Monday.

“Obviously, we've had a coalition commitment to have a good aeration of the debate and the discussion. There are strong views … on both sides of it. We have been of the view that we don't think rewriting 184 years' worth of discourse and debate is actually the simple, it's a simplistic way of doing it, not a simple way of doing it.”