Media release: ACCTS Fails Tiriti of Waitangi Test

17 November 2024

For immediate release

Tiri6-based trade en6ty Ngā Toki Whakarururanga¹ condemns the new Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) with Costa Rica, Iceland and Switzerland for once again failing to meet the Crown’s Tiriti o Waitangi obliga6ons in both its process and substance.

Maui Solomon (Moriori, Ngāi Tahu), a pūkenga/adviser to Ngā Toki Whakarururanga, is scathing about the government’s failure. “There is nothing that more directly affects Indigenous Peoples at this time than the climate crisis, which threatens the very existence of the planet to which we are related and have responsibilites to nurture and protect for future generatons.”

But, as far as Ngā Toki Whakarururanga are concerned, the ACCTS is “business as usual – just like any other free trade agreement.”

“Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the UN Declara6on on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recognise our self-determination and right to par6cipate in decisions that affect us. Yet, once again, Māori and other Indigenous
Peoples have been excluded from these nego6a6ons. As a result, Indigenous values, responsibili6es, and solutons to the climate crisis, are invisible in the ACCTS.”

Instead, the ACCTS hijacks genuine concerns about the climate crisis to advance economic interests by liberalising goods and services.

“Even the government is not pretending that the ACCTS is really about the environment and climate change”, says Mr Solomon. “Trade Minister Todd McClay has admi]ed as much in his press release yesterday:
“ACCTS is about opening new markets, growing domestic jobs, and adding value across the economy. As more countries join, the economic benefits will only grow.”

Ngā Toki Whakarururanga had confiden6al discussions with government officials during the ACCTS negotiatins, as part of a media6on agreement with the Crown arising from the Waitangi Tribunal inquiry on
the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. But they were not privy to the text for most of this 6me, nor able to share what they saw or said with others.

According to Mr Solomon “these efforts came to zero. The Crown’s trade agenda provided no space for the recognition and exercise of ranga6ratanga, and the responsibili6es of kaitakitanga, in rela6on to te Taiao,
consistent with tikanga Māori, which could have helped to provide a meaningful outcome for the environment and the climate crisis.”

Ngā Toki Whakarururanga’s input to MFAT is annexed to the Crown’s Na6onal Interest Analysis. A full Tiriti o Waitangi assessment of the ACCTS can be accessed on ngatoki.nz from 18 November.