Media release: Government passing Treaty laws under urgency and without consensus breaks NZ’s constitution
The government introduced three bills of constitutional significance this week with little notice and effectively no press coverage. It appears that they intend to change our constitution under urgency with no Select Committee scrutiny and no notice to the public.
The three “References to Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi Amendment” bills have the same name except for the words between the brackets. One is “repeals”, the next “standardisation”, and the last “Strength of Legislative Obligations”. Collectively they remove, or weaken, references to Te Tiriti from 24 different laws. The Regulatory Impact Statement recommends against the bills, saying that instead of accomplishing their stated purpose of providing certainty the “proposed repeals may reduce legal certainty as it will become less clear how Parliament considers the Treaty to be relevant to each Act”
Aotearoa New Zealand does not have a constitution codified in a single document, but Te Tiriti o Waitangi is without question a founding element of our constitution. These bills propose to alter our constitutional arrangement but do so with disregard to the extensive work already done on this topic, including the 2013 Constitutional Advisory Panel and the 2020 Matike Mai report. These bills stand unsupported against a consensus which has been built over 50 years.
If any government can force through changes to our constitution in a single week with a simple majority and no public consultation, then such a constitution has no reliability. The government passing treaty laws under urgency and without consensus breaks our constitution.
The Council for Civil Liberties has been calling for constitutional reform for generations. However, changing the constitution rapidly and in secret is not legitimate. The Council can not help but point out the stark contrast between the government’s actions, and those of Te Pāti Māori, who recently announced a multi-year proposal for a nationwide discussion and a constitutional conference.
The New Zealand Council for Civil LIberties opposes these bills. Further the Council condemns the government for undermining our democracy with their approach to constitutional transformation.
References
References to Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Standardisation) Amendment Bill – https://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2026/346/en/latest
References to Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Strength of Legislative Obligations) Amendment Bill – https://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2026/347/en/latest
References to Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Repeals) Amendment Bill – https://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2026/348/en/latest
Te Pāti Māori’s Te Tiriti Entrenchment proposal – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1esXEFN0eAOtJFcdIYwYOzaVkyFtEx5vE/view
Regulatory Impact Statement – https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Regulatory-Impact-Statement_-providing-certainty-on-legislative-references-to-the-Treaty-of-Waitangi-SOU-10-Dec-marked-up_Redacted.pdf