Chris Finlayson: Former Treaty Negotiations Minister on the Treaty Principles Bill being shut down

A Former Treaty Negotiations Minister believes taking the Treaty Principals Bill to a referendum is a prescription for disaster. 

Parliament has voted down the contentious bill spearheaded by David Seymour - only Act voting in favour. 

Seymour says the party will take another strategy to pursue its agenda.  

Former Minister Chris Finlayson told Andrew Dickens Act's principals could go into a Constitution Act or something similar. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So the treaty principle was bill dead of the water.
National kept their promise. They voted the bill down and
at second reading there's been hiccoy. There's been a haka,
there's been singing. Yesterday a Parliamentary Privilege Committee hearing, Minister
for Mali Development Tama Portaker called it cremation day with
me is Chris Finnis in former Minister for Treaty Negotiations

(00:21):
International Government. Hello, Chris wedding Andrew your thoughts on the
whole thing?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Well, I don't think it's over. I think it's a
foreteight of thot's to come. I think that we'll have
an election campaign, presumably in twenty twenty six, when David
Assumare will raise these issues again.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
He said it's very likely that a referendum is going
to be a bottom line and any coalition agreements going forward.
Is that a problem and as a referendum and excessively
simplistic way to deal with the issue.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yes, it would be I think a prescription for disaster
and division.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Okay, the word division has been used a lot, but
David said it wasn't about division, it was about unity.
Has this been divisive and has it been damaging.

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Well, I think that the problem really is that the
principles of the treaty are quite different from the principles
that he was advocating in his legislation. Many of the
principles he advocated could ideally go in the preamble to
the Constitution Act or something like that, but they don't

(01:34):
reflect that the principles of the treaty. There are a
different set of principles, and I think that's really what's
irritated a few people.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
And new zim First has says it wants to modify
this sort of treaty principles that we have already inside
our legislation. Is it a better way of addressing the
concerns that people have about the priority of Mali issues
in public debate?

Speaker 2 (01:59):
Well, I do think there's a lot of lazy legislating
that goes on. And I was telling someone yesterday I
recall the discussion I had with Peter Sharpel's former Minister
of Marii Development, when I was Minister for the Arts
and was reviewing the Historic Places legislation. He wanted a
more general treaty clause and I wanted a specific one

(02:21):
in order to give effect of the principles of the
Treaty in this legislation, decision makers shall do AB and
six spell it out. So I think there's some legitimacy
in the point that if you're going to have a
treaty clause, there could be better definition.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
All right, Chris for listen, and I thank you for
your time. This is Newstalks MB. Yes, I've got a
text with Roger. David Seymour said he will seriously consider
making a referendum on the treaty principle is a condition
for any coalition agreement with the National at the next election.
So as Christophins and Rtney says, this is not dead
in the water. I said dead in the water at
the beginning. It's not. It's going to keep on going
and that's for sure.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
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