Waitangi Tribunal Calls For Immediate Halt To Changes To Education Legislation Affecting Treaty

Friday, 15 May 2026, 3:22 pm
Article: RNZ

Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira, Māori news journalist

Pokere Paewai, Māori issues reporter

The Waitangi Tribunal has recommended an immediate halt to draft legislation weakening government obligations to the Treaty in education, which it says is as bad as the Treaty Principles Bill in its attempt to erase the Crown's duty to the Treaty.

In its stage one report, the Tribunal found the Crown breached the principles of partnership and good government when it planned to either weaken or entirely erase the Treaty clauses in the Education and Training Act (ETA).

In her letter addressed to Ministers Paul Goldsmith, Erica Standford, David Seymour, Tama Potaka and Shane Jones, presiding officer Rachel Mullins said the Tribunal only found out about the Crown plans the night before their inquiry was due to start.

"On the eve of hearing, Crown counsel filed a memorandum revealing your intention, as agreed by Cabinet on 23 February 2026, to downgrade the treaty standard in multiple sections of the Act to no higher than 'take into account', to amend or repeal section 536A(1), and to replace references to te Tiriti with a reference to both texts."

"Cabinet's decisions were new to us and had been made without any consultation or engagement with Māori," she said.

Comment has been requested from Goldsmith's office.

The report found the Crown failed to meaningfully engage with the Māori on the proposed changes by only reaching out to one national Māori body, the National Iwi Chairs Forum, after "substantive decisions" had been made.

"We found Minister Goldsmith's view that the select committee would otherwise provide a sufficient opportunity for others to provide input to be manifestly inadequate and an insult to Māori.

"We considered that the Crown acted contrary to officials' advice and demonstrated a reckless disregard for the (likely and advised) harm to the Māori-Crown relationship that would result from its approach," Mullins said.

The inquiry was filed by Ngāti Hine, Te Kapotai and education union NZEI Te Riu Roa and was originally set to look into the removal of school boards' legal obligation to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and plans to reset the national curriculum.

The Tribunal expanded the scope of the inquiry in light of last minute revelations and has granted urgency to a separate inquiry into proposed changes to Treaty clauses across eight other Acts.

'Ripple effects'

The report also found the Cabinet agreed to the proposals despite "clear and repeated" advice from its own officials that not enough was known about the potential impacts of the proposals.

"What was known, however, was the proposals carried a risk of harm to the Māori-Crown relationship and, as treaty provisions can act as safeguards for Māori interests, reducing or repealing obligations therein could disproportionately impact Māori. We agreed with officials that downgrading treaty standards in the Act to as low as 'take into account' would signal a shift in the Crown's commitment to the treaty as it applies to education."

"Minister Goldsmith is yet to make decisions on changes to the purpose provisions in the Act, which refer to giving effect to and honouring the treaty. He seems likely to downgrade those commitments too, the potential impact of which would send ripple effects across the Act."

Mullins wrote that the decision to diminish the Crown's treaty obligations in the Education and Training Act to one of the lowest standards of 'take into account' - despite the lack of engagement and the strongly worded official advice not to do so - represents a major breach of the treaty and its principles.

"It is as bad as the Treaty Principles Bill in its attempt to erase the Crown's duty to comply with the agreement made between Māori and the Crown in 1840. It may even be worse, because the Treaty Principles Bill in theory was never going to be enacted.

"It is, as we put it, an attempt by the Crown to takahi the mana of the treaty and its place in the laws of Aotearoa. We do not have jurisdiction to discuss the amendments intended for other pieces of legislation, but we would be surprised if our findings did not apply equally to those as well."

The Tribunal has recommended the Crown:

• Immediately halt the advancement of the amending legislation intended to effect the changes to the ETA
• Engage meaningfully with Māori in the co-design of Treaty provisions if the Crown intends to pursue amendments to the ETA Treaty provisions
• Take immediate steps to repair the Māori-Crown relationship.

After releasing its stage one report, the Tribunal will now turn its attention to reporting on the removal of school boards' Treaty obligations and the curriculum reforms in its stage two report.

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