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New Zealand law explained for everyone

This page is about a bill. That means that it's not the law yet, but some people want it to be the law. It could change quickly, and some of the information is just a draft.

Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill

Introduction

You could also call this:

“Explaining what the Treaty of Waitangi means for New Zealand's laws”

This bill wants to make clear what the Treaty of Waitangi principles mean in New Zealand law. Right now, these principles help make sense of the Treaty, but they’re not clearly defined. The bill aims to fix this by writing out what these principles are.

If this bill becomes law, it would say that the government can make laws for everyone, and that Māori groups (hapū and iwi) have rights that were promised in the Treaty. It would also say that everyone should be treated equally under the law.

The bill wants to help people understand New Zealand’s laws better and create more agreement about how the Treaty fits into our country’s rules. It’s not changing the Treaty itself, but it’s trying to make it clearer how to use the Treaty when making new laws or decisions.

For this bill to become law, most people would need to vote for it in a special vote called a referendum. If most people don’t want it, the bill would be cancelled. If people do want it, it would start working six months after the vote.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1003432-general-policy-statement.

Topics:
Māori affairs > Treaty of Waitangi
Government and voting > Elections
Rights and equality > Anti-discrimination
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Departmental disclosure statement, or

“Ministry of Justice must make a special report explaining the bill”

General policy statement

The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill implements the Government policy to introduce a Treaty principles Bill, based on existing ACT Party policy, and to support it to a select committee as soon as practicable.

The overarching objective of the Bill is to define what the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi are in statute to—

  • create greater certainty and clarity to the meaning of the principles in legislation:

  • promote a national conversation about the place of the principles in our constitutional arrangements:

  • create a more robust and widely understood conception of New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements, and each person’s rights within them:

  • build consensus about the Treaty/te Tiriti and our constitutional arrangements that will promote greater legitimacy and social cohesion.

Parliament introduced the concept of the Treaty principles into legislation in the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975, partially to reconcile the differences between the 2 texts. Parliament, however, did not define those principles.

The Treaty principles, as defined at this time, help reconcile differences between the te reo Māori and English texts and give effect to the spirit and intent of the Treaty when applied to contemporary issues. They apply to policy and operational decisions by Government (exactly what this requires depends on the context and there is guidance available to assist decision makers). They are used in the interpretation of legislation and are used by the Tribunal to review proposed Crown action or inaction, policies, and legislation.

Civil government—the Government of New Zealand has full power to govern, and Parliament has full power to make laws. They do so in the best interests of everyone, and in accordance with the rule of law and the maintenance of a free and democratic society.

Rights of hapū and iwi Māori—the Crown recognises the rights that hapū and iwi had when they signed the Treaty/te Tiriti. The Crown will respect and protect those rights. Those rights differ from the rights everyone has a reasonable expectation to enjoy only when they are specified in Treaty settlements.

Right to equality—everyone is equal before the law and is entitled to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination. Everyone is entitled to the equal enjoyment of the same fundamental human rights without discrimination.

The Bill is an instrument of Parliament created for the purpose of interpreting Parliament’s intent when it passes legislation.

The defined principles would be used exclusively to assist with the interpretation of an enactment where Treaty principles would normally be considered relevant, in addition to legislation that refers to Treaty principles directly. This does not necessarily require Treaty principles to be explicitly referenced in the legislation in question. Their application in decision making is determined by the nature of the decision rather than the explicit reference in legislation.

The Bill does not alter or amend the text of the Treaty/te Tiriti itself and does not apply to the interpretation of a Treaty settlement Act.

The Bill will come into force if a majority of electors voting in a referendum support it. The Bill will come into force 6 months after the date on which the official result of that referendum is declared.

If a majority of electors voting in a referendum do not support the Bill, it will automatically be repealed.