Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / David Seymour: Act Party leader on hikoi heading to Parliament

Transcript

David Seymour: Act Party leader on hikoi heading to Parliament · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Is this the foreshore and CBD two point zero a
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Hekoi is a national hikoy is getting underway this morning.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: It's starting at the portzaheim Ata in the far North.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: It's going to arrive Parliament Grounds nineteenth of November. It
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: will come through Auckland. It's expected to close the harbor Bridge.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: They're protesting against David Seymour and the ACT Parties, well
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: the Coalition Government's Treaty Principal's Bill, but also things like Gaza,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: the ACT leader and author of the Treaty Principles Bill's
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: David Seymour, good morning, good morning, Good to have you
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: on the show. Are actually I was wondering about your security.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Are you going to have DPS this week or over
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the coming weeks or have you been given extra protection
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: or anything like that.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: No, no, I haven't done anything like that. Every expectation
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: is that this is a peaceful protest.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: And are you confident that the debate is going to
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: be peaceful and is actually going to get us somewhere
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: as a country.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: Yes, I am. And it's important not to mix up
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: the debates with a few loud voices on the fringe
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: of it. I saw in the newspaper this morning that
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: one of the protest organizers says the protesting against the
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: government's continued assault on tongue of Fenua, and he compared
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: himself with hone. Heck, I think we've got to get
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: a reality check here. It's not eighteen sixty. The government
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: has been elected and introduced a series of policies that
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: can be summed up as equal rights for law and
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: improving public services for people based on need rather than
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: their ethnic background. That is hardly an assault on tongue
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: of Fenua. So we do need to be a bit
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: realistic about it, and voices around the fringe of it
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: that I think are out here.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about let's talk about the substance of the building.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: What's to stop let's say, by miracle and it gets
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: past its first reading, you actually get this into law.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: What's to stop labor changing the principles that you've put
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: in there.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: Well, first of all, it won't be America. I think
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: it will change eventually, even if the bill does not
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: pass this time. Once that basic idea that the government
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: has the right to govern, that the crown has an
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: equal right duty to protect all people's rights, and that
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: we all have the same rights and duties in an
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: equal before the law. I mean, that's all the bill says. Remember,
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: I think once that idea is in place, it will
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: become universal and it won't become changed.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: So this is not about This is not about getting
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: a bill through. This is about introducing a set of
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: ideas into the public sphere.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: For you, Well, it's both. I just make the point
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: that some people say, well, you know, why are you
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: doing it if other parties say it may not pass?
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: And I just make the point that in order to
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: get important ideas up sometimes it takes multiple attempts.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: You're looking, well, let's let's be optimistic, so it will pass.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: What's to stop were just changing it?
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Well, you can make that argument about any idea that
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: any government introduces. We have a system in New Zealand
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: where no government can find a future parliament. That's true.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: But I just make the point that what's in the
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: bill that Parliament has the right to make laws and
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: the government has the right to govern. Yeah, that the
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Crown has an equal right to obligation to protect all
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: people's rights, including marii, and that we all have tikkat
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: taki or the same rights and duties. Well, they could
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: change that, but I believe after it's properly debated and
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: people who have looked at what the bill actually says,
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: including those who made up their mind before it was
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: even published, hard to oppose, so it.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Can be changed later. Winston Peters is just in New Zealand. First,
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: they just want to delete references to the treaty altogether.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: I mean, would that not be a better way of
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: going about it. I mean if they get if they
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: start doing that, there's no references to the treaty principles
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: and they just then what exactly are your defining principles
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: going to apply to?
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Two things about that. The government's review of the Treaty
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: principles and law that is part of New Zealand First
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: Coalition Agreement is being done, but at exempts at least
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: five pieces of legislation, including the Treaty of Whytognak, the
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: State and Enterprises Act and the Public Finance Act. So
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: some of the most core pieces of legislation, particularly the
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: Treaty of White Togiak, are not being reviewed to have
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: the Treaty principles removed. And second of all, actually the
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: review is not about removing limits about reviewing whether they're appropriate.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: So I take your point that there are some exceptions,
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: well a number of quite important exceptions to that, David Seaman,
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: we have to leave it there, the Act Party leader.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, Listen live
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: to News Talks it Be from five am weekdays, or
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: follow the podcast on iHeartRadio