PĀNUITIA TE TIRITI O WAITANGI

NgĀ MĀtĀpono o te Tiriti o Waitangi

I tēnei wā, kāore te Tiriti o Waitangi e whai mana motuhake i raro i te ture. Ko ōna niho i roto i ngā Kōti o te motu, kei te āhua tonu o tōna whakahuatanga ake i roto i ngā Ture a te Whare Pāremata. I tēnei wā, e whakahuatia ana te Tiriti o Waitangi i roto i ētahi Ture Pāremata motuhake e 62. Karekau he kōrero mō te Tiriti i roto i te maha atu o ngā ture. Ko te nuinga o ērā e whai tohutoro ana mōna, e pā ana ki ngā rawa māori, ki te taiao, ki ngā wāhanga rānei o te ture e hāngai pū ana ki te iwi Māori, pērā i ngā ture whenua Māori.

Ko te nuinga o aua tohutoro, e whakahua ana i ngā “mātāpono” o te Tiriti, kaua ōna kupu ake. I pēnei ai, i te mea he rerekē ngā māramatanga ka hua ake ina pānuitia ngā reo e rua o te Tiriti. Ka mutu, me kimi rā he ara e taea ai te Tiriti te whakahāngai ki ngā āhuatanga me ngā take o ēnei rā. Kei te whakamāori ngā mātāpono i te Tiriti me ōna āhuatanga katoa, tae atu ki ōna wawata, ki tōna wairua. I te whakawānga o ngā Rawa Pāpāho o te tau 1994, i pēnei tā Lord Woolf (wh. 513) whakaahua i ngā mātāpono. “Ko ngā kawenga e tohua ana e te Tiriti mā tēnā, mā tēnā. E whakaata ana i ngā wawata whānui o te Tiriti, tae atu ki ngā kupu ake o te Tiriti, engari ka toro ki tua atu i tērā.”

Anei ētahi tauira o ngā tohutoro mō te Tiriti i roto i ngā ture: tekiona 6 o te Ture mō te Tiriti o Waitangi 1975, i whakatūria ai te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi hei tirotiro i ngā kerēme e mea ana kāore pea ētahi o ngā mahi a te Karauna i te hāpai i “ngā mātāpono o te Tiriti o Waitangi”. Ko te tekiona 9 o te Ture mō ngā Umanga a te Kāwanatanga 1986 e kī ana “kaua tētahi kōrero o tēnei Ture e tuku i te Karauna kia mahi i tētahi mahi e takahi ana i ngā mātāpono o te Tiriti o Waitangi”. Hei tauira atu anō, ko te tekiona 4 o te Ture Kohuke Karauna 1991, e mea ana “ka whakamāoritia, ka whakahaeretia [taua Ture] me te whai anō kia whakatinanatia ngā mātāpono o te Tiriti o Waitangi”.

He huhua noa atu ngā tauira. He rerekē anō te āhua o te whakatakoto i ngā kupu: i ētahi ture, ko te hāpai, ko te poipoi i te Tiriti te whakaaro nui, i ētahi anō, ko te kore e takahi i te Tiriti te whakaaro nui.

I tēnei aronga nui ki ngā “mātāpono” o te Tiriti, kāore ōna kupu ake, kua mate ngā Kōti me te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti ki te whiriwhiri he aha rā ngā mātāpono nei. Ko te whakawhitinga kōrero tino whaitake a ngā Kōti mō tēnei āhua, kei te whakatau a te Kōti Pīra i Te Kaunihera Māori v Te Rōia Matua o te Kāwanatanga, [1987] 1 NZLR 641. I taua whakawānga, nā Perehitene Cook o te Kōti Pīra te kōrero kia kaua te whakamāoritanga i ngā mātāpono e ū mārō ki ngā āhuatanga whāiti o te ture. Ki tāna, me whānui tonu, me tapitapi kore, me whaihua anō te whakamāoritanga (wh. 661). I taua whakawānga anō, ka puta te kōrero a Justice Richardson J e kī ana “ko te mate kē, kāore anō i āta whiriwhiria, i āta kōrerorerotia te Tiriti, ā, nā konā, kāore anō i whakaaetia whānuitia he aha rā aua mātāpono” (wh. 673).

Heoi, ko te kōrero i kaha te puta i te Kōti Pīra, e rua ngā mātāpono mātāmua, ko te “haere kōtui” me te “āta tiaki”. Ka kī ake a Perehitene Cooke “e waitohu ana te Tiriti i te haere kōtui a ngā iwi, ā, kei roto rā i tēnei ariā te rongoā mō te take nei” (wh. 664).

Kei te whakaae tahi ngā Kōti me te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti, i raro i te mātāpono haere kōtui, he kawenga tā tēnā, tā tēnā ki te mahi i runga i te whakaaro tōtika, i te whakaaro rangatira, me te ngākau pono. Kua kite iho ngā Kōti ehara pea i te mea he ōrite te whiwhinga rawa ā-motu o ngā hoa haere kōtui e rua. Kua kite anō rātou ko tētahi āhuatanga o te mahi i runga i te ngākau pono, ko te whakapāpā tahi, ko te whakawhiti kōrero ki ōna tāngata e tika ana, kia taea ai te hanga whakatau i runga i te mārama. E kī ana anō te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti he wāhi nui kei ngā whakapāpātanga me ngā whakawhiti kōrero hei hāpai, hei whakakaha ake i te haere kōtui o ngā hoa Tiriti.

Ko tētahi atu mātāpono i ara ake i te kēhi kua huaina i runga ake nei, ko te “utu i ngā nawe”. Heoi, he āhuatanga tēnei “kāore e taea te whakawā i roto i ngā Kōti” (Somers, J, wh. 693). Ko te whakaaro, ka takea mai te mātāpono utu i te mātāpono haere kōtui, ā, e whakaata ana i te kawenga kei runga i te Karauna ki te whakapau kaha ki te rongoā i ngā mahi takahi i te Tiriti. E mea ana me tōkeke, me rawaka te āhua o te whakaae i mahia tētahi mahi hē, me pērā anō te āhua o te utu mō taua hē.

Mō te wāhi ki te mātāpono “āta tiaki”, ki tā Perehitene Cooke, “me neke atu te kawenga i runga i te Karauna i te tiaki ā-ngutu kau, engari ia me āta whakapau kaha ki te tiaki i te iwi Māori ka whakamahi ana rātou i ō rātou whenua, i ō rātou rerenga wai; ko te tino nui o te tiaki e taea ana, koinā”. Ko te pūtake o tēnei mātāpono, ko te whakawhitinga taketake i tāia ki te Tiriti – arā ko te tukunga o te kāwanatanga me te puritanga o te tino rangatiratanga. I ētahi wā ka kīia tēnei whakawhitinga ko te mātāpono “tauutuutu”.

Mai i te tau 1987, kua tāraia e ngā Kōti me te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti ētahi atu mātāpono whāiti ake, engari kua noho mātāmua mai ko te “haere kōtui” me te “āta tiaki”. Arā tētahi rārangi o ngā mātāpono maha kua tāpaea, kei He Tirohanga o Kawa ki te Tiriti o Waitangi: A Guide to the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, Te Puni Kōkiri, Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara, 2001.

http://www.tpk.govt.nz/publications/subject/default.asp#gov