Constitutional law expert Mai Chen says it will be difficult to reconcile the interests of Maori with the rest of New Zealand in a written constitution.
A panel is currently seeking New Zealanders’ views on the country’s constitutional arrangements, including what status the Treaty of Waitangi should have in law.
New Zealand is one of just three countries that doesn’t have a formal constitution recorded in a single document.
Governing principles are instead found in various pieces of legislation, treaties, court decisions and conventions.
Mana Party MP Hone Harawira says people in his Te Tai Tokerau electorate want to see the Treaty play a central part in any new constitution.
“We want to see the declaration [of Independence] and the Treaty entrenched as the cornerstones of any constitution document this country might have,” he says.
Ms Chen says clarity would be helpful for everyone, but says consensus would be near impossible because differing attitudes towards the Treaty would act as “a brick wall”.
“What Maori want, the majority don’t want,” she says. “And in constitutional reviews there’s often a dichotomy. You get a majority of Pakeha who’ll say let sleeping dogs lie – it’s not broke, why fix it… And then you get a lot of Maori submitters who say, it absolutely is broke, we’re really unhappy, we don’t like it, you need to resolve the status of the Treaty.”
Ms Chen believes the current model that allows claims to be taken to the Waitangi Tribunal and to court to be determined by a judge is the best way for the Treaty’s status to be decided.
“That will have an impact on the nature of Maori rights and interests and on the interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi and what it means.”
Ms Chen says Maori have an extensive relationship with the Government which, although strained at times, is evolving.
“We are coming into a situation where a lot of these historic settlements have been settled and iwi and hapu are getting settlements back.”
She says the post-settlement relationship Maori have with the Government is just as important as negotiations leading up to that point, especially as the number of New Zealanders identifying as Maori continues to grow.
“I don’t think Waitangi Day’s a small deal and I don’t think it’s going away. I think it’s becoming more of a big deal than it was,” she says.
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