Over 150 New Zealand organisations have issued an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, urging the cessation of efforts on a controversial bill designed to define the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi in statutory form. The letter, published by ActionStation Aotearoa, labels the proposed Treaty Principles bill as “constitutionally destructive” and calls for its withdrawal prior to public consultation at the select committee stage.
The proposed legislation derives from a commitment within the coalition agreement between ACT New Zealand and the New Zealand National Party, aligned with existing ACT policy. The bill’s proposed principles state:
- The New Zealand Government has the right to govern New Zealand;
- The New Zealand Government will protect all New Zealanders’ authority over their land and other property; and
- All New Zealanders are equal under the law, with the same rights and duties.
However, constitutional scholars, historians, and the Ministry of Justice argue that the draft principles diverge significantly from both the Māori and English texts of te Tiriti/Treaty. The Maori text, signed by most Maori chiefs, acknowledged a limited Crown governance (kāwanatanga) while ensuring Maori sovereignty (tino rangatiratanga) over their lands and granting them the rights of British subjects. The Waitangi Tribunal notes that Maori did not cede sovereignty to the Crown in 1840.
Concerns have been raised by signatories of the open letter about the bill’s potential to spread misinformation. A poll conducted by the New Zealand Human Rights Commission in 2023 revealed that 87 percent of New Zealanders had not read the Maori version of the Treaty text.
The task of defining Treaty principles has traditionally rested with the judiciary and the Waitangi Tribunal, a quasi-judicial body focused on Treaty breaches. The landmark 1987 case, New Zealand Maori Council v. Attorney-General, was the court’s inaugural elaborate exposition of the Treaty principles, emphasizing active protection and partnership.
An exposure draft of the Treaty Principles bill is expected soon, though its release was initially scheduled for July 22 based on a Ministry of Justice memo leaked in January 2024. For more detailed information, the original article is available here.