Treaty Principles Bill Report, Trade tariffs and Andrew Hoggard's potential conflict w/ The ACT Party’s Simon Court: 7 April, 2025

After months of hearings, submissions and debate, the Justice Select Committee has released its report into the Treaty Principles Bill, recommending that the bill not proceed. 

The report found that of all submissions, nearly 90% were opposed, around 8% in support and just over 3% were unstated. 

Despite this final damning backlash against the bill, David Seymour and the ACT party maintain that there is a place for the bill in Aotearoa, saying submissions often don’t reflect the majority view of the country. 

For our weekly catch up, Producer Evie spoke to ACT’s Simon Court about the report, and what the ACT party intend to do next. 

They also spoke about the tariffs imposed on trade by Donald Trump last week, and how the government expects them to impact New Zealand. 

Finally, they spoke about an unfolding situation concerning ACT MP and Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard. An RNZ investigation late last week found a potential conflict of interest between the minister and his sister who is the executive director of a dairy company. The investigation found that her company had lobbied against the minister's office introducing tougher regulations on baby formula.