Bob Edlin: Sovereignty and The Treaty.....

.....the Maori Party aims to nobble Parliament while ACT wants to rid NZ of the Waitangi Tribunal

The Māori Party intends undermining the sovereignty of Parliament – if it can muster the support to implement such a policy – by establishing a “Tiriti Commission” empowered to stall or challenge Government policies and bills presented to Parliament.

Furthermore, it would establish a $220 million fund for “Māori-led constitutional transformation” discussions and working groups.

Richard Prebble: Abolish the Tribunal, Preserve the Treaty

ACT will complete the historical Treaty claims filed before 1 September 2008, end the Waitangi Tribunal’s contemporary jurisdiction, and wind it up once its historical work is finished, announced ACT Leader David Seymour.

I was a member of the Lange Government that extended the Tribunal’s jurisdiction back to 1840. Despite the difficulties that decision created, on balance I think it was the right decision.

We should be proud that New Zealand was founded not by conquest, but by treaty.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Will ACT's big plan actually scrap the Waitangi Tribunal?

You know what ACT's Waitangi Tribunal policy is? In my opinion, it's the kind of policy you release when you don't actually want to do the thing the policy gives the impression you're going to do.

ACT's headline policy is that it will scrap the Waitangi Tribunal, which many people, including me, may see as a good idea because the tribunal has gone completely off piste. It has started to resemble a branch of the Māori Party, finding in real time that one Government policy after another breaches the Treaty of Waitangi.

David Harvey: The Limits Una Jagose KC Cannot Name

Why Parliament, Not the Courts, Must Prevail

When former Solicitor-General Una Jagose KC told a Law Association breakfast on 2 July 2026 that New Zealand risks “sleepwalking” towards a collapse of the separation of powers, she framed herself as the constitution’s anxious guardian. The framing deserves scrutiny.

Mike Butler: The treaty principles crossroads again

The Waitangi Tribunal’s declaration that the review of treaty principle clauses breaches treaty principles is both predictable and shines a light on the constitutional crossroads that 50 years of treaty policy have brought us to.

AI told me that evaluating whether the review is the "correct" course of action involves navigating one of the most significant, complex, and deeply polarizing constitutional debates in modern New Zealand history.

Geoff Parker: From the Lands Case to Treaty Partnership

How a Judicial Observation Became a Constitutional Doctrine

Introduction: How a Legal Interpretation Became a Constitutional Debate

Few court decisions have had a greater impact on New Zealand’s constitutional debate than the 1987 Court of Appeal decision in New Zealand Māori Council v Attorney-General, commonly known as the Lands Case.

Barrie Davis: Crown Counsel, the Tribunal and the Treaty

There has recently been a significant increase in the influence of Rangatiratanga in national and local government and it seems that will continue. The present understanding of Rangatiratanga is based on a partnership with the Crown and hence our representative Parliament. The Waitangi Tribunal claim that partnership was agreed by the Treaty of Waitangi 1840, which has prompted me to take a closer look at the relevant Tribunal report, Wai 1040.

John McLean: Jagose Stays Close

The frightful former Solicitor-General who refuses to go way

The New Zealand Law Association is doing an admirable job enabling subversive, activist lawyers to expose themselves. The Association is a divine reincarnation of the former Auckland District Law Society. Unlike the New Zealand Law Society, the NZ Law Assn has no statutory authority and doesn’t try to hound un-Woke lawyers out of the legal profession. I’ve previously covered the Law Society’s brutal, unlawful hounding of heterodox lawyers:

Bob Edlin: What the Treaty industry is costing us.....

The Waitangi Tribunal and those urgent claims – what the Treaty industry is costing us

Readers were short-changed by a 1News report which said the Government has spent well over $4 million defending legal challenges by Māori since taking office, “with the number of urgent inquiries by the Waitangi Tribunal soaring to record highs”.

The report said:

David Harvey: The Culture of Complaint

An Institutional Problem

I have a book on my shelf entitled “Culture of Complaint” by Robert Hughes. I purchased it in September 1993 shortly after it was published.

It was an interesting book because although it argued primarily about problems in the United States of America, the issues Hughes describes resonate today. The book was prescient in that respect.

Robert Hughes was an Australian-born art critic, writer and producer of television documentaries. He was art editor for Time magazine and is known to television audiences for his TV series on modern art entitled “The Shock of the New” which was brilliant.

John McLean: UNDRIP On The Sly

National, Labour & ACT are sneaking the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into New Zealand law

The signed Free Trade Agreement between New Zealand and India will come into force in New Zealand when approved by New Zealand’s Parliament. The National, Labour and ACT political parties have each committed themselves to voting in favour of legislation adopting the FTA. It’s therefore virtually certain that Parliament will entrench the FTA in New Zealand’s indigenous law before the next general election scheduled for 7 November 2026.

Guy C Charlton, Tim Fadgen: A landmark US court ruling on birthright citizenship is coming. What does NZ law say?

The US Supreme Court is poised to deliver its much anticipated and debated decision on the question of birthright citizenship.

At the centre of the case (known as Trump v. Barbara) is an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on his first day of office in 2025, barring citizenship for children born to parents illegally in the United States or on long-term visas.

Geoff Parker: Constitutional Transformation or Constitutional Drift?

The push for constitutional change through Matike Mai Aotearoa is often framed as a reasonable evolution — a move toward “partnership” grounded in the Treaty of Waitangi. Many of its advocates present it as a balanced and inclusive vision for New Zealand’s future.

But the issue is not intent. It is direction — and how key concepts are being reinterpreted to justify structural change.

Guest Post: One Thing Leads to Another

A guest post on No Minister by Kerry Butler

When those in positions of power enact a policy that is meant to be “limited” to specific groups involving exceptional circumstances, such benevolence invariably ends up extending beyond the original intent.

We‘ve witnessed a classic example of this incremental creep in Welfare.

Maori Activists are very aware of the fact that when they push for “special” treatment of whatever sort for Maoridom, that’s really just about getting their foot in the door, i.e. knowing that it will lead to more.

Pee Kay: This is a social and financial fraud of massive proportions…

It was no surprise to see the “usual suspects” swiftly turn to their harmonised friends in the MSM to condemn the coalition governments, 2025 announced, review of the Waitangi Tribunal.

“This review is not about efficiency or clarity, it is about control.”

“For nearly 50 years, the Waitangi Tribunal has played a vital role in advancing justice for Māori.”

Geoff Parker: Special Māori Privilege? Minister Overrides Law To Grant Citizenship To Overseas-born Children

A lengthy fight for recognition has ended in relief for one Māori family, after New Zealand’s citizenship system left three overseas-born children in legal limbo.

John Bryers Ruddock, a Ngāpuhi father, has secured full citizenship for his three children following intervention by Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden, but the case exposes the strict limits of the Citizenship Act 1977 — and raises questions about the scope of special treatment for Māori under New Zealand law.

Mike Butler: Rights body polls treaty thinking

A new treaty poll commissioned by the Human Rights Commission is intended to change your mind on the treaty, according to the commission's “indigenous rights governance partner”, Dayle Takitimu, who fronted the poll.

“Many of the results tell a different story to the narrative of division we have been fed over the past two years,” Takitimu said.

Pee Kay: The Waitangi Tribunal also emerged as the most trusted source of accurate information about Te Tiriti

This article by the Human Rights Commission perfectly illustrates how phrasing questions is so important when aiming for a desired outcome in a poll!

The phrasing of a poll question is a critical factor that can significantly influence, guide, and determine the answers provided by poll respondents. Small and deliberate changes in wording will sway data, leading to different interpretations of how people feel about an issue but more importantly, what the poll results show!

David Farrar: Waitangi Tribunal is now officially racist

The Waitangi Tribunal has officially recommended that New Zealand have tow standards of citizenship – superior and inferior. This would be based on ancestry.

They recommend:

Simon O'Connor: Are whakapapa and citizenship the same?

I explore why one's ancestry and heritage are not the same as citizenship. I also ask, do we need the Waitangi Tribunal anymore?

The Waitangi Tribunal recently has ruled that the government should change the law for New Zealand citizenship, notably that citizenship by decent rules should be broadened. Importantly and controversially, the Tribunal ruled that this broadening of rules should apply to Māori only.