The Herald’s political and specialist reporters examine the big issues facing New Zealand and how the main political parties plan to deal with them. Michael Neilson looks at kaupapa Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi policies.
What for many might be classed as the most progressive term in Government for Māori aspirations and upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi, for others the complete opposite holds true.
The fact that Labour launched its kaupapa Māori campaign without any new policies speaks to that tension, which Māori campaign chairman Willie Jackson has described to the Herald as a “tightrope” as the party seeks to gain back ground from National in the centre.
All parties on track to enter Parliament agree enormous inequities still face Māori, all are outraged by those facts and all parties agree with addressing breaches of the country’s founding document, Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
But ideas are vastly different about how to address the inequities, and even what is behind them.
Māori currently die on average seven years earlier than non-Māori. A recent briefing from Te Puni Kōkiri, Minsitry of Māori Development, says that is only on track to reduce to six years by 2040. The employment rate is expected to increase but the wealth gap widen, along with disparities in home ownership.
Māori are also over-represented in the criminal justice system and are seven times more likely to have force used on them in interactions with police.
Labour, with a majority Government and record number of Māori MPs and Cabinet ministers, started its most recent term with a range of reforms aimed at addressing these inequities and increasing Māori representation in governance.
These were framed as upholding obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, in particular around equality and tino rangatiratanga, or self-determination.
Bold initiatives included Te Aka Whai Ora/Māori Health Authority - within Te Whatu Ora, the new health system replacing 20 former district health boards. This responded directly to a Waitangi Tirbunal claim about inequities facing Māori in health, a breach of the equality principle under the Te Tiriti, along with self-determination in working with iwi and hapū health providers.
Labour also instigated reform in the justice space, launched a Māori housing strategy and consistently delivered at or near $1 billion Budgets for Māori-focused initiatives. It established Matariki, the country’s first indigenous public holiday, and increased funding for Te Matatini from $2.9m to $34m over two years making it the highest-funded arts service provider (National has pledged to match this).
It has also entered partnership arrangements with iwi and hapū in a range of public services, including Oranga Tamariki.
It also secured Māori wards at local council level along with a specific Ngāi Tahu law, alongside co-governance arrangements within the Three Waters, now Water Services Reform, programme.
Labour has pledged to defend and continue these policies if reelected.
While iwi had advocated for many of these reforms for years, many aspects - particularly around co-governance - were not expressly highlighted before the 2020 election and have since led to considerable debate, and none more so than with Labour’s work on adhering to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP).
This process began in 2010 under a National-led Government at the instigation of coalition partner Te Pāti Māori.
As per requirements under the declaration, Labour commissioned a report to advise it on what it could do to ensure it was fulfilling its obligations. This report, He Puapua, was signed off by Cabinet in 2019 with NZ First in Government at the time.
NZ First is now campaigning for New Zealand to withdraw from the Declaration, which itself is non-binding. Act meanwhile wants New Zealand to simply ignore it. National has not provided the Herald its current position. Labour says it will continue the process, while the Greens and Te Pāti Māori want it fully implemented.
Despite the authors encouraging the Government to be up front with the public about the process, Labour put off publicly releasing the document and public consultation. Briefings released to the Herald under the Official Information Act show in 2019 former Māori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta was uneasy about releasing it to the public, asking for “sharp edges” to be addressed.
Act obtained the report in 2021 and released it and with then-National leader Judith Collins started a narrative that He Puapua was a conspiratorial plan to establish separate systems.
Labour continued with its consultation but late last year put it on hold ahead of the election. Jackson has stated the Declaration itself is not binding, and the work it is doing is simply to consult with Māori and the public.
National and Act have called the plan “separatist” and akin to “apartheid”. Since then, National and Act have consistently attacked the Government over anything relating to co-governance. Act wants to define the Treaty principles in legislation and put them to a referendum, which National Party leader Christopher Luxon has ruled out.
Both parties are vowing to repeal the Māori Health Authority. National wants to replace it with a “Māori directorate” within the Ministry of Health, which Act hasn’t committed to supporting.
National says it wants to devolve more resources to iwi and hapū through the current system rather than creating another centralised system with the Māori Health Authority.
Both parties also want to repeal laws around local government representation for mana whenua, including Māori wards.
National says it does not support co-governance arrangements involving public services, but does so regarding natural resources as per existing Treaty settlements. Act also says it supports those rights for Māori, along with customary rights.
National also wants to speed up the settlement process of established Treaty breaches, arguing other unsettled iwi are falling further behind. It wants to settle with all those willing by 2030.
A stark difference from the previous National-led Government was that many of Labour’s initiatives took a pan-Māori approach, as opposed to at an iwi level. National says it will look to better engage at an iwi level again.
There are some questions about how much funding will continue for kaupapa Māori under a National-led Government, with the party pledging 6.5 per cent cuts across sectors including Te Puni Kōkiri and the Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for Te Arawhiti/Office of Māori Crown Relations and Treaty settlements. Te Arawhiti was established in 2019 and funding for its makes up a significant part of the increase in funding provided to Justice.
The Green Party meanwhile has a range of in-depth policies relating to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and in particular land issues. The party’s Hoki Whenua Mai policy wants the Waitangi Tribunal to be able to make rulings on private land make rulings on Crown land binding. The party also wants tangata whenua to be given first right of refusal over any land wrongfully alienated.
It has pledged to abolish perpetual leases, which have been seen as another way of alienating Māori from their land.
The party supports the Labour Government’s approach to co-governance in addressing inequities, such as the Māori Health Authority, but has advocated for greater devolvement to iwi and hapū - which Te Pāti Māori also supports.
Te Pāti Māori has an “inter-generational” approach in its policies, meaning many are not expected to be implemented immediately.
Like the Greens, the party wants reform in the Treaty settlements space to ensure it is “fair and durable” with a better focus on reconciliation and relationship-building. it also wants relativity clauses into all Te Tiriti settlements, to ensure all iwi have parity with Ngāi Tahu and Waikato-Tainui.
It would make Waitangi Tribunal recommendations binding on the Crown, and implement all unaddressed claim recommendations.
Te Pāti Māori also wants to establish a Māori Parliament, fulfilling the right to right to self-governance and self-determination - similar to Scotland and Wales within the United Kingdom.
These are based on what is available online and provided by the parties. It will be updated as more policies are released.
Labour
National
Green Party
Act Party
NZ First
Te Pāti Māori
Labour wants the Govt to denounce the US attack as a breach of international law.