Treaty Principles Bill submissions and haka inquiry

The story so far

The Treaty Principles Bill drew an unprecedented number of submissions, with an estimated 300,000 lodged before the original Tuesday deadline, and some users reported difficulties with the Parliament website.^{7, 9 Jan 2025} After the website crashed, political parties and members of the public called for an extension, and the Justice Committee reopened submissions until 1pm on 14 January.^{8, 9 Jan 2025} The submission period closed after more than 300,000 responses, and the committee must hear 80 hours of oral testimony over one month, so it can hear only a small proportion of oral submitters.^{14, 16 Jan 2025} Separately, the Privileges Committee examined a haka performed during the bill's debate, and Labour MP Peeni Henare apologised for leaving his seat.^{11, 12 Mar 2025}

What's next

The Justice Committee is expected to report back to Parliament by mid-year.^{27 Jan 2025} Hearings were scheduled to continue for at least nine more days after the first in-person session.^{27 Jan 2025}

Key moments

1. 7 Jan 2025Unprecedented number of submissions reported ahead of Tuesday's deadline.
2. 8 Jan 2025Calls for extension after Parliament's submission website crashes.
3. 9 Jan 2025Submission deadline extended to 14 January after technical problems.
4. 14 Jan 2025Submission period closes after more than 300,000 responses.
5. 24 Jan 2025Winston Peters says the bill will not pass its first reading.
6. 7 Feb 2025Justice Committee names 367 people for oral submissions, plus 112 random spots.
7. 26 Mar 2025Privileges Committee finds Peeni Henare disorderly, recommends he apologise in the House.

Written from the stories below; each sentence links to its sources.