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Review of legislation including reference to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi
Review of legislation including reference to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi
The Government has completed its review of provisions in legislation that reference the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and made decisions on next steps.
The review is part of the Coalition Agreement between the National and New Zealand First parties. The agreement includes a commitment to a review of all legislation that includes “the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi” and either replace the reference with specific wording that explains the relevance and application of the Treaty principles or to remove them.
This review is not related to the Treaty Principles Bill previously before Parliament.
How was the review undertaken?
The Ministry of Justice supporting the Minister of Justice, Hon Paul Goldsmith, who is leading the review.
The review has been overseen by a Ministerial Oversight Group which consists of the Minister of Justice, the Attorney-General, initially Hon Judith Collins KC, and now Hon Chris Bishop, the Minister for Regional Development, Hon Shane Jones, and the Minister for Māori-Crown Relations, Hon Tama Potaka.
The Ministerial Oversight Group was assisted by a Ministerial Advisory Group, that consisted of four members with expertise in Māori issues, economic development, governance, and the Treaty of Waitangi. The members of the Ministerial Advisory Group were David Cochrane (Chair), Marama Royal, James Christmas, and John Walters.
Timeline
24 November 2023: National-New Zealand First coalition agreement signed which includes a commitment to: “Conduct a comprehensive review of all legislation (except when it is related to, or substantive to, existing full and final Treaty settlements) that includes ‘The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi’ and replace such references with specific words relating to the relevance and application of the Treaty or repeal the references.”
September 2024: Cabinet agreed to a review of legislation that includes references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. Cabinet agreed the purpose of the review was to ensure that ‘where it is appropriate to encapsulate te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi or the Treaty relationship in legislation’, provisions are ‘clear about how the Treaty applies.’ The review initially covered 28 Acts managed by 13 agencies.
May 2025: Cabinet agreed to establishment a Ministerial Advisory Group, and a Ministerial Oversight Group. The scope was refined to 23 Acts managed by 13 agencies. At this time Cabinet also include section 127(1) of the Education and Training Act 2020 in the review.
July 2025: The Minister of Justice confirmed all Treaty-related provisions in the Education and Training Act would be included in the review.
August 2025: The Ministerial Advisory Group reported to the Ministerial Oversight Group.
October 2025: Cabinet agreed that section 127 of the Education and Training Act be amended through the Education and Training Act Amendment Bill (No 2) at the Committee of the Whole House stage.
February 2026: Cabinet made policy decisions and invited the Minister of Justice to issue drafting instructions (see Review outcome below) with a final scope of 19 Acts managed by 11 agencies.
April 2026: The Minister of Justice wrote to the National Iwi Chairs Forum seeking to engage on the proposed changes before legislation is introduced to Parliament and referred to a select committee for public submissions.
Review outcome
Following consideration of the Advisory Group’s report by the Oversight Group, Cabinet decidedon 23 February 2026to:
amend references within the final scope of the review so that in situations where a Treaty standard is needed, no higher standard than “take into account” is used. “Treaty standards” indicate the strength or nature of the Crown’s Treaty obligation. Cabinet’s decision means that in instances where stronger standards like “give effect” are used, this would be replaced with “take into account”.
replace broad provisions with descriptive provisions. The proposal to make provisions more specific applies to section 8 of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, and section 14(a) of the Data and Statistics Act 2022.
standardise the drafting of provisions, including by ensuring a reference to both the Treaty of Waitangi and te Tiriti o Waitangi is used in all instances. Standardisation changes are drafting amendments that do not affect the underlying policy of each Act.
The Government is also proposing to repeala number ofprovisions, two of which duplicate other provisions in the same Acts.The provisions proposed for repeal are:
Section 84(b) of the Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998
Section 536A(1) of the Education and Training Act 2020
Section 6(d) of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act 2000
Sections 4 and 5(1)(b) of the Organic Products and Production Act 2023
Section 54 of the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022
Section 3AB of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990.
Cabinet also agreedthat the Minister of Justice wouldengage with the National Iwi Chairs Forumon Cabinet’s decisions prior to a Bill being introduced to Parliament and referred to a select committee for public submissions.
Legislation in scope
The Acts within the final scope of the review are:
Legislation that refers to the Treaty, as opposed to Treaty principles, has generally been excluded from the review. The exception is Treaty provisions in the Education and Training Act 2020 which Cabinet decided to include in this review.
Excluded legislation
Some legislation that references Treaty principles were excluded from the review at various points. The list of excluded legislation and the reasons why are:
Private Acts, Treaty settlement legislation were excluded from the review as were Acts that could underpin specific agreements between the Crown and Māori. These included the Public Finance Act 1989, the Royal Society of New Zealand Act 1997, the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Act 1996 and the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975.
Cabinet papers, briefings, and other official information