Government caps Treaty obligations at 'take into account' across 19 Acts

Coalition origins and Advisory Group

The review originated in the National–NZ First coalition agreement signed on 24 November 2023. The agreement committed the Government to a comprehensive review of all legislation referencing the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, to replace such references with specific wording or repeal them outright, excluding full and final Treaty settlements.

A Ministerial Advisory Group chaired by lawyer David Cochrane, and comprising Marama Royal, James Christmas, and John Walters, reported its findings in August 2025. The Spinoff reported that the Advisory Group strongly urged against removing references to Treaty principles and recommended meaningful consultation with Maori. A Ministerial Oversight Group comprising Goldsmith, then-Attorney-General Judith Collins, Shane Jones, and Tama Potaka oversaw Cabinet deliberations.

Over the last 30 or 40 years, Parliament has made all sorts of references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. Sometimes it's 'honour', or 'have regard to', or 'give effect to', or 'take into account'. We need to create some consistency here, in the interests of increasing certainty and supporting compliance. — Paul Goldsmith, Justice Minister, Beehive press release, 15 May 2026

The Government also agreed that a reference to both the Treaty of Waitangi and te Tiriti o Waitangi is preferable and should be used in all relevant provisions going forward, according to the Beehive release.

Tribunal inquiry and Tribunal report

The Waitangi Tribunal granted an urgent inquiry into the review, citing the potential for significant and irreversible prejudice to Maori if the reforms proceed without scrutiny, according to Te Ao News reporting on 7 May 2026. The inquiry, named Te Tinihanga o Nga Matapono o te Tiriti, was initiated by a claim originally filed by Ngati Hine and subsequently joined by 18 other interested parties.

On 14 May 2026, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim stage one report on Treaty clause changes affecting the Education and Training Act 2020. The Tribunal found the Crown breached the Treaty principles of partnership, active protection, and good government in its approach to changing Treaty obligations in education, and called for an immediate halt to the proposed legislative changes, according to RNZ.

The Tribunal's report also found Cabinet agreed to the proposals despite clear and repeated advice from its own officials that not enough was known about the potential impacts, according to RNZ. The Government had not publicly responded to the Tribunal's findings at the time of publication.

The National Iwi Chairs Forum called for the review to be immediately halted, arguing the Crown had not properly engaged with iwi and hapu on reforms that directly affect Treaty obligations, according to Newsroom. Ministers Paul Goldsmith and Shane Jones initially gave the Forum just 20 days to provide written feedback, later extended by one week, according to Newsroom.

Legislative timeline

Draft legislation is not expected to be introduced to the House before early August 2026, according to evidence submitted to the Waitangi Tribunal as reported by RNZ. The legislation is expected to proceed before the next general election. Goldsmith described the 23 February decisions as a first step, with further conversations expected on how the review could go further.

The legislation will undergo a full select committee process where all New Zealanders can provide submissions, according to the Beehive release. The Conservation Act 1987 and Resource Management Act 1991 are excluded from the current review and are being addressed through separate processes, according to the Ministry of Justice.

For businesses and agencies operating under the affected statutes, the select committee phase and the pending Waitangi Tribunal inquiry represent ongoing sources of legal and compliance uncertainty. Any surge in Tribunal claims or judicial review proceedings arising from the legislation could offset near-term compliance savings for both government and private-sector entities.