Politics blog November 13
Watch: Treaty referendum would be 'a disaster', warns former National minister
Former National Government Minister Chris Finlayson has told David Seymour it would be "a disaster" if ACT's proposed Treaty referendum goes ahead.
Finlayson was the Attorney General and Treaty Negotiations Minister under the John Key-led Government.
He stopped to talk to Stuff about the negotiations this afternoon, saying that if the parties agreed to a referendum on the Treaty of Waitangi it would "bring all the nutcases out" and cause division.
"It would be a bit of a disaster really, and I like David Seymour and have told him so," Finlayson said.
"It would bring all the nutcases out of the woodwork... and it would cause unnecessary division."
Finlayson said there was no reason for a Treaty principles referendum, and said he'd told Seymour it was a bad idea.
Finlayson left Parliament in 2019, to return to his career in law. But while saying he continued to support National since leaving politics, Finlayson has spoken publicly against National and ACT's positions on co-governance - which he said was nothing new.
Finlayson was the Attorney General and Treaty Negotiations Minister under the John Key-led Government.
He stopped to talk to Stuff about the negotiations this afternoon, saying that if the parties agreed to a referendum on the Treaty of Waitangi it would "bring all the nutcases out" and cause division.
"It would be a bit of a disaster really, and I like David Seymour and have told him so," Finlayson said.
"It would bring all the nutcases out of the woodwork... and it would cause unnecessary division."
Finlayson said there was no reason for a Treaty principles referendum, and said he'd told Seymour it was a bad idea.
Finlayson left Parliament in 2019, to return to his career in law. But while saying he continued to support National since leaving politics, Finlayson has spoken publicly against National and ACT's positions on co-governance - which he said was nothing new.