Hobson’s Pledge welcomes the large amount of interest in the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill and thanks all those who have taken the time to submit. However, reports of the Parliamentary submission system failing in the last hours are concerning and an extension of time for people to submit is appropriate.

The large number of New Zealanders sharing their thoughts on the Bill also means that the select committee needs to take the appropriate time to process all submissions and not be tempted to arbitrarily dismiss submissions that have come via a third party collector in order to reduce workload of the committee.

That so many people have submitted on the Bill shows how important it is and the committee needs to engage with what people are saying and not seek to railroad the conversation for the sake of expedience.

The pressure the submissions website has been under highlights our continued concerns around the Parliament’s select committee submissions process. The recent insistence that submissions only go via the portal is clearly placing bureaucratic process over the ability of New Zealanders to have their democratic say. It certainly appears that accepting submissions only via the form on the Parliament website is an attempt to curtail organisations such as ourselves making it easier for New Zealanders to exercise their democratic right to take part in consultation. That we facilitate more responses to public consultations should be viewed as a good thing, not a hindrance that needs to be dealt with.

Hobson’s Pledge suggests:

• Parliamentary committees return to previous best practice, and allow people to submit their views in paper, by email, and via an online system.
• With so many people submitting on this Bill via paper, that the select committee must ensure that its clerks are given the appropriate time to work through all of these.
• That the committee does not further reduce citizen engagement by creating even more rules around whose submission will, and will not, be accepted.

Finally, Hobson’s Pledge notes a number of organisations have worked to facilitate submissions – as Hobson’s Pledge has done itself. We will be watching closely that the committee treats all submissions equally including those collected by organisations.

© Scoop Media