Post by Kiwi Frontline on Dec 3, 2016 6:51:52 GMT 12
PARLIAMENTARY SOVEREIGNTY UNDER ATTACK
Geoffrey Palmer is at it again.
Not content with creating the Treaty grievance industry by extending the jurisdiction of the Waitangi Tribunal back to 1840, and inserting ‘undefined’ Treaty principles into legislation – enabling activist Judges to invent new Treaty ‘rights’, he now wants replace the sovereignty of the Queen with a new Constitution embedding the Treaty as superior law: “I remain of the opinion that the Treaty, like the Bill of Rights, should become part of New Zealand’s new superior law Constitution”.
This new attack on the sovereignty of our Parliament follows on from the Maori Party’s 2012 attempt to introduce a new Treaty-based constitution, through their $4 million taxpayer-funded ‘constitutional review’. The concept was rejected by the public, and then shelved.
The reality is that a country’s constitution belongs to the people. It is the charter that sets out the basic rules by which a nation is governed – such as the rights and safeguards of citizens, how state power is exercised, and how Members of Parliament are elected.
New Zealand is said to have an ‘unwritten’ constitution, because like the UK and Israel, our constitution is not found in a single document – it’s a collection of statutes, conventions, and common law rights. This guarantees a flexibility and simplicity that makes New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements the envy of nations across the globe.
Our unwritten constitution also gives us one of the world’s strongest Parliamentary democracies. In New Zealand, the elected Members of Parliament who make the laws are answerable to the public through the ballot box. This gives New Zealanders a power over law-making that is not found in countries with written constitutions, where judges, who cannot be sacked, are in charge of law-making.
Judges would be in charge here too, if Sir Geoffrey’s gets his way......
Continue reading Dr Muriel Newman’s NZCPR newsletter here > www.nzcpr.com/parliamentary-sovereignty-under-attack/#more-20770
Geoffrey Palmer is at it again.
Not content with creating the Treaty grievance industry by extending the jurisdiction of the Waitangi Tribunal back to 1840, and inserting ‘undefined’ Treaty principles into legislation – enabling activist Judges to invent new Treaty ‘rights’, he now wants replace the sovereignty of the Queen with a new Constitution embedding the Treaty as superior law: “I remain of the opinion that the Treaty, like the Bill of Rights, should become part of New Zealand’s new superior law Constitution”.
This new attack on the sovereignty of our Parliament follows on from the Maori Party’s 2012 attempt to introduce a new Treaty-based constitution, through their $4 million taxpayer-funded ‘constitutional review’. The concept was rejected by the public, and then shelved.
The reality is that a country’s constitution belongs to the people. It is the charter that sets out the basic rules by which a nation is governed – such as the rights and safeguards of citizens, how state power is exercised, and how Members of Parliament are elected.
New Zealand is said to have an ‘unwritten’ constitution, because like the UK and Israel, our constitution is not found in a single document – it’s a collection of statutes, conventions, and common law rights. This guarantees a flexibility and simplicity that makes New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements the envy of nations across the globe.
Our unwritten constitution also gives us one of the world’s strongest Parliamentary democracies. In New Zealand, the elected Members of Parliament who make the laws are answerable to the public through the ballot box. This gives New Zealanders a power over law-making that is not found in countries with written constitutions, where judges, who cannot be sacked, are in charge of law-making.
Judges would be in charge here too, if Sir Geoffrey’s gets his way......
Continue reading Dr Muriel Newman’s NZCPR newsletter here > www.nzcpr.com/parliamentary-sovereignty-under-attack/#more-20770