Cameron Slater: The Waitangi Tribunal’s Day of Reckoning - Time to Clip Its Wings

Well, well, well, it looks like the Waitangi Tribunal’s ivory tower is finally getting a shake-up. The government has announced a review into the tribunal’s role, and ACT’s David Seymour isn’t mincing words, calling it ‘activist’ and out of control.

About bloody time! For too long, this unelected, self-important body has strutted around like it’s the ultimate arbiter of all things Māori – lording it over New Zealand with a sanctimonious air that’d make even the most pious preacher blush. The truth is, we reached Peak Māori years ago, and the public is fed up with the endless pandering to what the late, great, Sir Bob Jones called “Māori wonderfulness”. The tribunal’s had its day – it’s time to wind it up and send it packing.

Let’s not sugarcoat it: the Waitangi Tribunal has gotten too big for its britches. Established in 1975 to investigate breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, it was meant to be a mechanism for addressing historical grievances. Fair enough – some of those grievances were real and settlements were needed. But most of those settlements are done, dusted and banked. So why is the tribunal still here, puffing out its chest like it’s the Supreme Court of Māoridom? It’s morphed into a bloated bureaucracy, poking its nose into every policy it fancies and acting like it’s above parliament itself. Newsflash: you’re not a court and you’re definitely not the boss of us.

David Seymour’s got it bang on. The tribunal’s become an activist outfit, weaponised by iwi, grifting lawyers and a judiciary that’s drunk the cultural Kool-Aid. It’s not just meddling – it’s actively undermining the democratically elected government. Take the recent kerfuffle over the Regulatory Standards Bill. Māori claimants, egged on by the tribunal, screamed that it’d breach the Treaty and cause “significant prejudice”. Really? A bill that hasn’t even been drafted yet? That’s not justice: that’s clairvoyance dressed up as jurisprudence. The tribunal granted an urgent hearing on 6 June, knowing full well it loses jurisdiction once the bill hits parliament. It’s a desperate power grab, plain and simple.

And let’s talk about that jurisprudence for a sec. The tribunal loves to act like it’s a proper court, handing down lofty pronouncements as if they’re binding law. But here’s the kicker: there’s almost no legal expertise on that panel. It’s a mishmash of academics, iwi reps and Treaty enthusiasts who wouldn’t know a legal precedent from a pōwhiri. They’re not interpreting law: they’re inventing it, spinning Treaty principles into whatever suits their narrative. Former ACT leader Richard Prebble saw through the charade, resigning in March because the tribunal was “creating endless grievances” and turning the Treaty into a “socialist manifesto”. Good on him for calling it out.

So, what’s the review about? Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka and Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith are leading it, with a report due by March 2026. They’ll look at the tribunal’s role, functions, and whether it’s still fit for purpose. Spoiler alert: it’s not. With most Treaty settlements finalised, the tribunal’s original job is done. Keeping it around is like paying a builder to sit on your finished house, looking for cracks that don’t exist. Shane Jones, NZ First’s Māori affairs spokesman, nailed it when he told the Guardian the tribunal’s become an “unnecessary impediment” to lawmaking, bogged down in “legalistic, highly litigious” nonsense.

The left will wail, of course. They’ll cry ‘racism’ and clutch their pearls, claiming this review is an attack on Māori rights. Rubbish. This isn’t about denying history; it’s about stopping a runaway train that’s derailing democracy. The tribunal’s own reports, like its scathing take on Seymour’s failed Treaty Principles Bill, show it’s more interested in grandstanding than delivering justice. That bill, by the way, was voted down 112-11, proving even parliament’s sick of the tribunal’s moralising.

Here’s the bottom line: the Waitangi Tribunal’s had a good run, but it’s time to pull the plug. It’s not a court, it’s not elected and it’s not above the law. The review must be bold – recommend winding it down and redirecting its resources to something useful, like infrastructure or healthcare. New Zealanders want a government that governs, not one kowtowing to an activist clique pretending to speak for all Māori. Seymour’s right to call it out, and the sooner we clip the tribunal’s wings, the better. Let’s move on from Peak Māori and get back to being one nation, not two.

Cam Slater is a New Zealand-based blogger, best known for his role in Dirty Politics and publishing the Whale Oil Beef Hooked blog, which operated from 2005 until it closed in 2019. Cam blogs regularly on the GoodOil - where this article was sourced.