“The Green Party’s Treaty plan is a recipe for endless chaos and division all over New Zealand, just like we saw at Ihumātao,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“The Greens have called for:
- ‘the ability for the Waitangi Tribunal to make recommendations in relation to privately owned land, as that land comes on the property market’.
- ‘A Commission of Inquiry [to] look into dispossession and redress and revisit Treaty settlements to ensure they were just and enduring’.
“This will encourage squatters to occupy private land and try to force renegotiation, just like what occurred at Ihumātao. Under the Greens, we will have Ihumataos all over the country.
“The policy would effectively place a lien on private property titles and crash their value. If the Tribunal can place liens over private property, property owners will be forced to go to court to defend their title. The resulting legal chaos will be off the charts.
“Let's say James Shaw is notified that his house is now subject to a land claim. He will have to seek legal advice and representation to prevent the Waitangi Tribunal from deciding that local iwi have right of first refusal. Imagine thousands of property owners suddenly having that over their title.
“Will the Government fund legal representation for private property owners who are forced to go to court to defend their title?
“The Greens are desperate vandals. This is a recipe for endless chaos, litigation, and division.
“The Greens say they want ‘a commission of inquiry into land dispossession to investigate land taken through breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.’
“That already exists. It’s called the Waitangi Tribunal. Historical injustices have been dealt with through full and final settlements negotiated in good faith by iwi and the Crown, and only a small number remain outstanding.
“What the Greens are proposing is to relitigate the entire process all over again. So much for full and final. This would mean repudiating all the existing settlements between iwi and the Crown, and renegotiating them all over again. Instead of full and final, there would be endless chaos, litigation, and division.
“Labour and Green parties are desperate to divide New Zealand with co-government. ACT will unite New Zealand behind good ideas and real change.”