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Submission on Principles of The Treaty of Waitangi Bill

ByRob Elshire

The following was submitted by GFANZ on Tuesday the 7th of January 2025.

Comments:

GFANZ is writing in complete opposition to the Treaty Principles Bill and recommends for it to be dropped without further activitity.

Genomics for Aotearoa New Zealand (GFANZ) is a charitable organisation whose purpose is to promote the use of genomic science for the benefit of all society. GFANZ affirms its support for Te Tiriti O Waitangi (Te Tiriti). The proposed bill is a divisive attack on our shared foundation as a nation as our values as a society.

By design, we have had a diverse membership including Māori, Pākehā, Tauiwi, and Tangata Tiriti, from our beginning. This is the foundation of our strength as an organisation for engaging with all of society in regards to genomics science. Te Tiriti is such an important part of our identity that it is specifically included in our constitution object:

To promote and support Te Ao Māori and the Te Tiriti o Waitangi as innate to New Zealand genomics;

GFANZ was created to be inclusive, with a focus on those things which make genomics special in Aotearoa. For us, the interconnection of taonga, mātauranga Māori and genomics tools are incredibly powerful and unique. They are more than the sum of their parts. It is the protection of these taonga that Te Tiriti was designed to uphold, and which this proposed Bill directly undermines.

The strength of the combination of genomics science and mātauranga Māori is unique to Aotearoa New Zealand. Te Tiriti and the UNDRIP provide a framework recognising the value of traditional knowledge which can complement the  application of western science. GFANZ is committed to continue to use Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the UNDRIP as a source of ethical guidance for conducting scientific research. This combination of documents provides significant protections to Māori as the Indigenous Peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand and our Taonga Species, and should be upheld by all New Zealanders.

GFANZ objects in the strongest terms to any actions by the Aotearoa New Zealand government which undermine its Te Tiriti commitments.

Recommendation:

We recommend that the Treaty Principles Bill and all related processes be dropped immediately.