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Treaty of Waitangi.
photo: RNZ/Rebekah Parsons-King
A group of licensed Maori translators have slammed the upcoming Treaty Principles Bill, saying it contains factual errors and is misleading.
In an open letter to senior ministers including Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, 27 translators said the bill was based on a translation of te Tiriti that was “deeply flawed” and did not meet “international ethical standards for translation”.
Signatories include Dr Jeremy Tātere MacLeod, broadcaster and language revitaliser Stacey Morrison and Piripi Walker, a key figure in the establishment of the Māori Radio Network.
Dr. Jeremy Tattley MacLeod
photo: supply
The group wants the Prime Minister and National to:
- allow Conscience voting If the bill enters parliament, all members of parliament will vote to pass it.
- publicly and firmly stated that the text of the bill was based on inaccurate translation and analysis,
- Maintaining the standard of authenticity of legislation, the Treaty Principles Bill will not be allowed to be introduced to Parliament until the underlying translation has been publicly confirmed, professionally completed and verified, and has undergone rigorous quality assurance.
- If such verification cannot be provided, publicly confirm that the translation does not meet the government’s required standards
Walker said the translation of the bill is not objective, informative, or faithful to the letter or intent of the original text.
“None of the key concepts contained in the proposed principles actually exist in the Tiriti. Instead, the proposed principles are based on additions, omissions, and distortions of the original text.”
The Treaty Principles Bill was formed as part of the Coalition agreement between ACT and National and seeks to define the “principles” of the Treaty based on its three clauses.
If the bill passes parliament, it would put the issue to a public vote across the country.
The letter encouraged the prime minister to insist that all ministers “uphold truth and accuracy as the most basic standards of good governance”.
“We are extremely concerned that ministers have used a seriously flawed Maori translation of the Treaty Principles Bill. Doing so distorts fundamental concepts, misleads public discourse, insults the cherished official languages and causes serious long-term damage to national unity and confidence in good governance.
“The material that ended up being produced is totally inadequate for a government process, much less one that seeks to fundamentally change the constitutional platform of our country. This should never have been done on the basis of misinformation.”
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