David Farrar: An interesting Treaty poll

An interesting poll from Radio NZ.

Reid Resarch asked:

Do you think the Treaty of Waitangi has too much, about the right amount, or too little influence over government decision making?

Now this was asked in 2026, so is a reflection on the current Government. The one accused every day of genocide by Te Pati Maori because it did something they say breaches the Treaty etc.

The results were:

• Too much 38%

• About right 34%

• Too little 17%

So only one in six New Zealanders think the Treaty has too little influence over government decision making.

The net score (too much minus too little) is 38% – 17% = +21% for too much influence. Let’s look at how that breaks down by party vote:

• ACT +77%

• NZ First +55%

• National: +51%

• Labour: -3%

• TPM: -29%

• Greens: -32%

So ACT, NZF and National voters all very strongly think the Treaty has too much influence on government decision making. TPM and Green voters strongly think it doesn’t have enough.

Labour voters actually seen the most happy, where around equal numbers think it has too much and too little influence.

David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders