New Zealand’s Māori Party is demanding the establishment of a parliamentary commissioner for the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document. It will make this a condition of any future coalition agreement if a major party—most likely Labour—seeks its support to govern.
Like the ombudsman or auditor-general, commissioners are independent of government, scrutinising the government’s activity and reporting to Parliament.
At present, the only commissioner is one with responsibility for the environment.
Still, as Māori from all over New Zealand met with politicians at Waitangi ahead of New Zealand’s national day (Waitangi Day), Māori Party co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer demanded the establishment of a Commissioner for the Treaty.
“This Commissioner will be an independent advocate, ensuring that Te Tiriti [the Treaty] is honoured across all government policies and decisions made in Parliament,” Ngarewa-Packer said.
“The commissioner would have the role of auditing the government in being honourable of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It will provide independent advice to Parliament, and ensure Māori voices are central to decision-making processes.”
Meaning of the Treaty Still Debated
However, the precise meaning of the Treaty signed 185 years ago, which is comprised of just three clauses, is still being debated today.While Parliament already receives advice as to how every piece of proposed legislation impacts the Crown’s Treaty obligations, the two Maori party leaders said the Commissioner’s role would be a “Te Tiriti auditor.”
“We want to give this commissioner some teeth and what it does is it becomes the arbiter for anything when it comes to legislation being created,” he told reporters. “It should be a Tiriti veto.”
That would give the new commissioner powers well in excess of those of the commissioner for the environment, the ombudsman or the auditor-general, who can only report their findings and propose changes.
It would also breach the doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty, established in the UK by the Bill of Rights in 1688, which asserted that Parliament is supreme over the sovereign.
“We make a promise to Aotearoa [New Zealand] that a bottom line for Te Pāti Māori [the Maori party] heading into any coalition kōrero [discussion] and agreements with any party will have to ensure that Te Tiriti o Waitangi is at the centre of any of the decision-making,” Waititi said.
While Labour has made gains to 28.5 percent (up from 26.9 percent in 2023) it would need the Greens and the Māori Party to have any hope of governing.
At present, that grouping has 46.5 percent support as against the ruling coalition of National, ACT, and NZ First on 50.
Opposition Against Veto Powers
Opposition Leader Chris Hipkins told Radio NZ the Labour Party will not support the Māori Party’s idea.“I don’t think that we should be creating a body that has a veto right that can overturn laws created by the Parliament. Parliament has stopped short, for example, of allowing the Supreme Court of New Zealand to overturn laws.
“Ultimately, we’re not going to support a veto over decisions by the democratically elected government, and we’re not going to support them in this context,” he said.
The absence of Prime Minister Chris Luxon from the Feb. 5 Waitangi events did little to cool tempers.
Previous years have seen prime ministers jostled and a range of things—from mud to various objects—hurled at senior politicians.
On Feb. 5, ACT Leader David Seymour bore the brunt of protesters’ anger, with many turning their backs while he spoke, some singing in an attempt to muffle him, and one man snatching away his microphone twice, even though a respected elder returned it.
Luxon will instead spend Waitangi Day at Ōnuku Marae in Akaroa on New Zealand’s South Island.
