David Seymour defends timing of Treaty Principles Bill debate

The Prime Minister has confirmed he won't be in the country during the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill next Thursday.

The legislation is being introduced to Parliament Thursday - more than a week earlier than expected - and will be read for the first time a week later.

Christopher Luxon told RNZ the first reading would be next week, but he wouldn't be in the House for it because he will be travelling to the APEC Summit in Peru.

"But I will be here when the hīkoi comes the following week," he said.

Luxon says the changes in timing are normal - with bills bouncing around all the time.

"The decision was made on Monday through the Cabinet process. We wanted to also inform the Waitangi Tribunal and give them advance notice acting in good faith.

"The reality is legislation bounces around all the time, there's nothing different or special here."

Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said Luxon should be in the House, if not the country, when the bill is read a first time.

"He should absolutely front what he's allowed to basically accept his piece of gold. He's traded our rights and interests to have a one-term government."

ACT leader David Seymour says the earlier introduction of the Treaty Principles Bill is a normal process, and the response to it is "much ado about nothing".

On Tuesday, it was revealed the controversial government bill was to be introduced to Parliament on Thursday 7 December, despite previously being expected on 18 November.

But Seymour, the Minister responsible for the Bill, said it "hasn't actually been brought forward".

"This is happening all the time as people get policy decisions, get papers through Cabinet, to get time in the House and so on. There's a lot of reasons why introduction times for bills move so frequently.

"They [the Waitangi Tribunal] asked for a date, we gave them a date, the date changed - and now this idea that it's been brought forward has become a storyline but is really much ado about nothing."

The Tribunal's interim report warns Seymour's Bill would be the worst, most comprehensive breach of the Te Tiriti in modern times.

The Bill has been the focus of widespread debate and criticism, and a hīkoi opposing it has been planned to travel from the top of the North Island - and from Bluff in the far south - to arrive at Parliament in Wellington, in protest.

Introducing it this week was "undermining, deceitful [and] vindictive," Te Pati Māori co-Leader Rawiri Waititi told supporters earlier.

But Seymour denied the Bill's introduction had been deliberately moved to not coincide with a hīkoi being planned to go to Parliament, and said there would not normally be a need to explain the change.

"It would just be something that happens just about every week and it's one of those things that a lot of people are focusing on some pretty banal Parliamentary and government process that usually they wouldn't pay any attention to because people have lives.

"It's not the smoking gun that some of our political opponents would like it to be.

Seymour last night said he had only just received the report, so could not comment, but felt the Tribunal had broken the government's trust.

"It's a shame that the Waitangi Tribunal has broken the government's trust again. It demands information from the government, such as the date the Treaty Principles Bill is to be introduced to Parliament, but the information becomes public within hours of them knowing. Respect should go both ways."

However, the Tribunal is unable to produce a report on a Bill once it has been introduced - and given the short timeframe for producing its report, had to then inform the lawyers involved in the case about the change.

It was informed of the earlier date of introduction by the government in an official memo, which the Tribunal then forwarded to the lawyers.

"The Crown updates the Tribunal that the Bill received Cabinet consideration earlier than anticipated. Approval to introduce the Bill was

considered by the Cabinet Business Committee on 29 October, and was confirmed by Cabinet yesterday (4 November)," the Crown's official memo said.

"Crown counsel are informed that the intention is that the Bill be introduced on 7 November, though this timeframe is subject to change."

RNZ has sought clarification from the Tribunal about whether it breached any expectations about the release of the information, or whether the Tribunal had not been respectful.