Te Tiriti o Waitangi vs. the UK NZ free trade treaty
Ngā rangatira and the British Crown made He Whakaputanga/the Declaration of Independence in 1835 and signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840.
Māori were guaranteed ongoing control of their people, resources and lives, while the Crown was responsible for their own.
The British and NZ Crown have never honoured Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
On 28 February 2022, the British and NZ governments signed a free trade agreement (FTA). Only the Crown was at the negotiating table.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi vs. the UK NZ free trade treaty
This Tiriti o Waitangi assessment measures that agreement against:
- the UK/NZ Crown’s obligation under the 4 articles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and
- the kaupapa of Ngā Toki Whakarururanga in the Mediation Agreement between Māori claimants and the Crown in the Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), otherwise known as WAI 2522.
Why have a Tiriti assessment of the FTA?
- The UK FTA text was secret until after it was signed on 28 February 2022.
- Anyone who was told what was in it was sworn to secrecy.
- That included Māori advisors who saw the text at the end of 2021 when it was almost finished but couldn’t tell the people what was in it.
- Now that the text has been signed it can’t realistically be changed (until a review in seven years time, maybe).
This Tiriti assessment aims to hold the Crown to account
The FTA went to parliament, where a select committee gave 10 days to submissions on that 1,700 page text and 10 minutes to present them.
The Select Committee and Parliament can’t change the FTA anyway.
The Crown agency that negotiated the FTA (MFAT) also wrote the National Interest Analysis.
The Crown agency that negotiated the FTA, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), also wrote the National Interest Analysis.
That tells the ‘good news story’ for NZ and Māori from the Crown side.
This Tiriti o Waitangi Assessment aims to provide some balance by viewing the FTA through a Tiriti o Waitangi lense and holding the Crown accountable, even if it is after the fact.
Te Tiriti assessment framework
Separate assessments have been made of:
Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Rangatiratanga
Mātauranga Māori, Wai 262 and Te Pae Tawhiti
Māori Trade and and Economic Cooperation Chapter
Māori Exporters, Wāhine and Kaimahi
Mātauranga Māori, Data and Digital Trade
Te Taiao
Reference points for Tiriti assessment
Te Tiriti o Waitangi Articles
Article 1 – Kāwanatanga
Government exercises authority over its own and any authority positively delegated by Māori, subject to the obligation to recognise rangatiratanga and ensure the protection of Māori rights, interests, duties and responsibilities.
Article 2 – Tino Rangatiratanga
Rangatira have unfettered ongoing power and responsibility to ensure the exercise of Māori authority collectively over their own affairs and resources in a manner consistent with tikanga Māori.
Article 3 – Ōritetanga
Māori and the Crown’s people have parity and equity in rights and outcomes, meaning equal rights to define and pursue aspirations according to a people’s fundamental principles, laws and beliefs.
Article 4 – He Whakapono
Guarantees the active protection of philosophies, beliefs, faiths and laws.
Mana whakahaere in the global domain is informed by Rangatiratanga and Kāwanatanga working together in a mana enhancing relationship of equals, consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi and He Whakaputanga o Te Rangatiranga o Nu Tireni.
Kaupapa from the mediation agreement for WAI 2522
- Shared authority in the international domain.
- Preserve mana tuku iho and mana whakahaere.
- Responsibilities of rangatira as leaders to preserve and uphold the mana and rangatiratanga of their hapū and the responsibilites of the Crown to represent tauiwi.
- Importance of tikanga-based trading relationships.
- Excercise of mana and tino rangatiratanga through effective participation in decision-making.
- A new approach to trade policy and negotiation of international trade agreements that gives effect to the Tiriti relationship by collective, participatory and accountable processes.
- Te Tiriti/the Treaty as a relationship of equals.
