An unprecedented number of submissions have been made to Parliament's website on Monday, as the deadline to submit on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill draws close.
Tuesday January 7 is the final day to submit on the Bill online, with the opportunity for the New Zealand public to have their say through Parliament's website closing at 11.59pm.
However, hard copies sent through the post or delivered to Parliament can be submitted until 5pm Wednesday.
The legislation - which proposes to rewrite the treaty principles as they are defined by the courts - has attracted widespread opposition and criticism.
Tens of thousands of people marched against the legislation when it passed its first reading in Parliament, at the end of last year.
RNZ has heard from people who have encountered problems while trying to send through their submissions on Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Some received an error message when they attempted to send through their submission, while others were unable to reach the final page to submit it at all.
The Clerk of the House of Representatives, David Wilson, said the website submission portal is open and working correctly, but did acknowledge some people had experienced some difficulties.
"Yesterday, some submitters may have encountered an error message or other issue while making a submission due to an unprecedented number of submissions made in a single day," Wilson said.
"If users do encounter an error message or other issue, please wait and try again in a few minutes."
Wilson said staff would be able to assist with any repeated issues on Wednesday, when the Office of the Clerk reopened, and the deadline for submissions made via the website remains 11.59pm Tuesday.
He could not provide any details about the number of submissions it had received, with that information remaining confidential until they have been presented to the committee.
University of Otago law expert Professor Andrew Geddis said he was expecting there to be a high number of submissions, given the public interest on the issue. He estimated that they could number into the tens of thousands.
Groups had organised to help people submit on the bill, which would drive up numbers, he said.
The Office of the Clerk has not yet responded to RNZ's questions about what happens to the submissions of those whom have been unable to have their say due to repeated issues with the website portal on Monday and Tuesday, considering staff would not be available to help until submissions had closed.
1 comment
And this........
Posted on 08-01-2025 09:02 | By groutby
.........is where the problems are with the proposed Treaty Principles Bill...
This article states..'The legislation - which proposes to rewrite the treaty principles as they are defined by the courts'....along with another absurd but common misconception by those who have clearly not read the bill, that 'they' want to re-write the Treaty of Waitangi...this is utter madness.
The intent of the bill is to allow discussion,agreement and clearly define in law just what the 'Treaty Principles' actually are, currently the courts make individual definitions varying wildly depending often on interpretations from politically variable judiciary and Waitangi Tribunal.
The Treaty of Waitangi is not in itself a legal document (indeed there was no Parliament formed when it was signed) but we citizens owe it to ourselves and country to have a clear definition of the recently introduced Treaty 'Principles'..
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