Public submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill close on Tuesday night, despite complaints people have had trouble with the website accepting their submissions. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
An unprecendented number of submissions have been made to Parliament's website on Monday, as the deadline to submit on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill draws close.
Tuesday 7 January is the final day to submit on the Bill online, with the opportunity for the New Zealand public to have their say through Parliament's website closing at 11.59pm.
However, hard copies sent through the post or delivered to Parliament can be submitted until 5pm Wednesday.
The legislation - which proposes to rewrite the treaty principles as they are defined by the courts - has attracted widespread opposition and criticism.
Tens of thousands of people marched against the legislation when it passed its first reading in Parliament, at the end of last year.
RNZ has heard from people who have encountered problems while trying to send through their submissions on Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Some received an error message when they attempted to send through their submission, while others were unable to reach the final page to submit it at all.
One submitter, who did not want to be identified, said they had tried to put through a submission today and yesterday and lost everything, despite using a different web browser on each occasion.
They said none of the information they filled out was left on the webpage.
The website's advice to wait and attempt again in a few minutes was not good enough, they said, as the user has to start from scratch each time.
Another person who tried to send their response to the Bill said that they also experienced technical issues.
When they tried to report the problem to the contact provided on the site they received an auto-reply stating the email was not being monitored.
They described the lack of support as shabby.
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The Clerk of the House of Representatives, David Wilson, said the website submission portal is open and working correctly, but did acknowledge some people had experienced some difficulties.
"Yesterday, some submitters may have encountered an error message or other issue while making a submission due to an unprecedented number of submissions made in a single day," Wilson said.
But he said the portal had not crashed and no submissions had been lost.
"If users do encounter an error message or other issue, please wait and try again in a few minutes."
Wilson said staff would be able to assist with any repeated issues on Wednesday, when the Office of the Clerk reopened, and the deadline for submissions made via the website remains 11.59pm Tuesday.
He could not provide any details about the number of submissions it had received, with that information remaining confidential until they have been presented to the committee.
University of Otago law expert Professor Andrew Geddis said he was expecting there to be a high number of submissions, given the public interest on the issue. He estimated that they could number into the tens of thousands.
Groups had organised to help people submit on the bill, which would drive up numbers, he said.
The Office of the Clerk has not yet responded to RNZ's questions about what happens to the submissions of those whom have been unable to have their say due to repeated issues with the website portal on Monday and Tuesday, considering staff would not be available to help until submissions had closed.
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