Hide Rodney: Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Deletion Bill — First Reading 
Hide Rodney: Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Deletion Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:632;Page:4461] 
RODNEY HIDE (Leader—ACT) 
: 
 I know that my speech is awaited with eager anticipation as it will indicate which way the ACT party will throw its mighty weight. It is surprising that the principles— 
Shane Jones 
: Foxtrot! 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Well the jealousy of this Labour Party knows no end. 
It is amazing how this real accident of the principles of the Treaty being inserted into our legislation could achieve such constitutional status and have such high-minded speeches being given about it. The truth of what happened is that in the State-Owned Enterprises Act that Geoffrey Palmer was negotiating with Maori he thought he had pulled a fast one because he put in the provision about the principles of the Treaty. Maori felt really good about that. 
Geoffrey Palmer then went back to Cabinet and told them not to worry that it did not mean anything. That is what Sir Geoffrey Palmer said—that putting the principles of the Treaty into legislation did not mean anything. Then the discussion around the Cabinet table was that normally judges like to think that the experience of putting something into legislation must mean something and that Parliament would have intended something. But Sir Geoffrey Palmer said: “No it’s OK. It doesn’t mean anything.” Of course what has happened now is that it has grown into a huge industry. We should make a distinction between the Treaty and the principles because it is huge. 
Shane Jones 
: It’s part of the constitution. 
RODNEY HIDE 
: Well Shane Jones talked about it being part of the Maori constitution. That may be true but the problem is that if one accepts that Parliament is Sovereign then it is for Parliament to decide what the rules are and what the law is and it has never done it for these principles. We hear Ministers and other people getting up in this Chamber to say that the principle means this or the principle means that. What sort of jurisprudential adventure is that? They say: “Oh the principles of the Treaty!” and wave their hands and get all solemn about it but do not actually determine what it means. They leave it up to unelected bureaucrats and judges—poor things—to interpret what it all means. 
So the ACT party rises—and I am sorry; I know we are disagreeing with my friends in the Maori Party on this—to support this bill going to select committee and to at least have a debate. Mr Finlayson who is the finest lawyer in the House says the bill can be fixed up so I think we should support it through the House. But I will make a wee comment about the politics of this. 
Mr Maharey said this was the sophistication of MMP in operation. Well let us just think about that for a moment. It means the Labour Party is going to support something that it hates to its core. It hates it. Not one Maori MP from the Labour Party has got up and explained why they are voting for this bill. Of course New Zealand First felt oh so good. It has the baubles of office—a little poodle sitting there—and it has got the Labour Party to agree to this bill. But the stupid things in New Zealand First got agreement to only a first reading. So the Labour Party will vote for the bill going to a select committee and then will kill it. New Zealand First has signed up to the Labour Party to achieve nothing. How stupid could they be? 
I ask Mr Woolerton why New Zealand First did not ask the Labour Party to support the bill all the way if it believed in and had the courage of its convictions. The Labour Party has done the New Zealand First MPs like a dinner. Helen Clark said to them: “Don’t worry we’ll support you to the first reading and we’ll kill it there.” That is what she has told the Maori caucus. I have to say to Doug that Shane Jones and the other Maori MPs are all laughing at him. They are all saying that Helen Clark Michael Cullen and—as John Tamihere observed—the “smarmy” one are tricky. 
They are so tricky that even the wily old fox Winston was outfoxed by the Labour Party and the Maori caucus. They got New Zealand First’s support for the Government and its Budget in return for what? Labour is going to vote for the first reading of the bill and then kill it. I always knew that New Zealand First were useless; I just did not realise quite how useless they truly were in signing up to this agreement with the Labour Party. But I have to say that we support this bill.