Three Māori-led organisations have lodged shadow reports to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), detailing what they describe as “an unprecedented and ideologically driven attack on Māori rights, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and racial equity in Aotearoa.”

The reports – submitted by the People’s Action Plan Against Racism in Aotearoa (PAPARA), Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa (the Māori Law Society), and Te Puna Rangahau o Te Wai Ariki – Aotearoa Centre for Indigenous Peoples and the Law (University of Auckland) – will inform New Zealand’s 23rd and 24th periodic reviews before the United Nations CERD Committee in Geneva in November 2025.

Across all three reports, the organisations document the Government’s deliberate dismantling of Māori rights protections, highlighting a coordinated series of legislative and policy reforms that breach New Zealand’s obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Te Hunga Rōia Māori describe the reforms as a “scorched-earth approach” to law and policy that has “systematically targeted Māori-specific policies, institutions and rights across health, justice, education, and the environment.” Their report identifies the repeal of section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act, the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority), and the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Amendment Bill as emblematic of this regression.

“We are witnessing an unprecedented erosion of Māori rights in modern times. The deliberate dismantling of Te Tiriti-based frameworks represents not only a breach of international human rights obligations, but a direct attack on the rule of law and the constitutional foundations of Aotearoa. As Māori lawyers, we cannot remain silent while legislation is being used as an instrument of racial discrimination” says Natalie Coates, co-president of Te Hunga Rōia Māori.

Te Wai Ariki’s submission argues that New Zealand’s constitutional framework is structurally racist, founded on “the erroneous assumption that the Crown legally acquired sovereignty in 1840.” It calls for constitutional transformation, not incremental reform, to protect Māori tino rangatiratanga and prevent further legislative breaches of human rights.

Their report warns that “without transformation, Parliament remains unchecked and continues to pass laws in breach of Indigenous peoples’ rights.” It also highlights the Government’s open hostility to UN oversight, including Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour’s disparaging response to the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples earlier this year.

Co-director of Te Wai Ariki, Dr. Claire Charters states:
“As the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has repeatedly found, constitutional transformation is needed to achieve equality for Māori both as individuals and as Indigenous peoples. The breaches of Māori rights by this Government are profound. They include an egregious abuse of its power to deliberately, explicitly and brazenly trample on our rights under te Tiriti and international law. It will undoubtedly be of concern to the Committee that the Government can do so with impunity given the lack of constitutional protections of Māori rights.”

The People’s Action Plan Against Racism in Aotearoa, supported by the National Iwi Chairs Forum, describes the current situation as “a coordinated campaign of Treaty racism” – the use of state power to redefine, suppress, or delegitimise Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the distinct political status of Māori as Treaty partners. Lead advisor Tina Ngata reiterated the call for constitutional change, stating:

“The fact that we could not fit the many acts of racism by this government into the limitations of the report indicates that racism is being churned out systematically by this government, on a daily basis. This will continue to be the case, because our current constitutional settings are fundamentally racist”.

Collectively, the reports ask the CERD Committee to:

· Record that the 54th Government’s reforms are racially discriminatory and in breach of ICERD;

· Reaffirm the constitutional status of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Waitangi Tribunal;

· Recommend an independent investigation into racial discrimination and legislative harm in Aotearoa;

· Urge constitutional transformation consistent with Matike Mai Aotearoa;

· Establish enhanced UN monitoring and in-country consultations with Māori and affected communities.

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