NZ government introduces bill to reinterpret the Treaty of Waitangi

Wellington: New Zealand’s coalition government has introduced legislation to define the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, the 1840 agreement between indigenous Māori and the British Crown that is considered the nation’s founding document.

The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, advocated by junior coalition partner the ACT Party, was tabled in parliament on Thursday in Wellington as opponents protested outside.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s National Party has said it won’t support the bill past its first reading, but allowing its introduction has fuelled racial tensions. It is one of several government actions that have angered Māori, including abolishing the Māori Health Authority and reversing moves that gave greater prominence to Māori language.

A boy celebrates Waitangi Day which marks the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on February 6, 1840 by Maori chiefs and the British Crown. It granted the Maori people the rights of British Citizens and ownership of their ancestral lands.Credit: Getty Images

ACT leader David Seymour says the way the treaty is being interpreted gives greater rights to Māori on the basis of race.

Courts and the Waitangi Tribunal, the body that hears claims of treaty breaches, “have been able to develop principles that have been used to justify actions that are contrary to the principle of equal rights,” Seymour said in a statement. “Those actions include co-governance in the delivery of public services and ethnic quotas in public institutions.”

The purpose of the bill is for parliament to define the principles of the treaty to provide certainty and clarity “and promote a national conversation about their place in our constitutional arrangements,” he said.

But critics are scathing of what they see as an attempt to undermine a greater voice for Māori after decades of discrimination that has resulted in them being over-represented in poverty and crime statistics.

People protest the Treaty Principle Bill being introduced to the NZ parliament on Thursday.Credit: THE POST/STUFF

Luxon has distanced himself from the legislation, saying it was a compromise agreed to in negotiations to form the coalition after last year’s election. The National Party will support the bill to first reading, allowing it to go to public submission before a select committee, but no further, meaning it has no chance of progressing into law.

MP Chris Hipkins, a former prime minister, said the bill undermined decades of progress made to recognise and compensate for past breaches of the treaty and restore relations. “It’s a major leap backwards,” he wrote on X.

In a report this week, the Waitangi Tribunal said the principles outlined in the bill, if enacted, would harm Māori and recommended it be abandoned.

“Even if the bill were not enacted, cabinet’s decision to introduce the bill would prejudice Māori by further damaging the Māori-Crown relationship,” the tribunal said. “Māori would also feel the brunt of the social disorder and division caused by the introduction of the bill, including through the select committee process.”

The bill proposes three principles for the treaty.

The first is that the government and parliament have full power to make laws “in the best interests of everyone”.

The second allows for differing rights for Māori only if those rights are agreed in the settlement of a historical treaty claim.

The third principle states that everyone is equal before the law.

The bill first reading will be on November 14.

Bloomberg