The Treaty Principles Bill was the most constitutionally charged legislation of the 2023–2026 parliamentary term. Introduced by ACT leader David Seymour, it proposed to replace decades of judicially and tribunally developed Treaty principles with a fixed statutory definition — and then put that definition to a nationwide referendum. It triggered the largest public submission process in New Zealand parliamentary history, a nationwide hikoi of tens of thousands, and ultimately ended in a lopsided 112-11 defeat. The episode has reset the dividing lines heading into the 2026 election, with ACT promising to revive the issue and every other party firmly opposed.

What are the Treaty principles as they exist now?

The Treaty of Waitangi (1840) was never directly incorporated into New Zealand statute. Instead, since the 1970s Parliament has inserted "Treaty clauses" into specific legislation requiring government agencies to act consistently with the "principles of the Treaty." Those principles were not defined in one place; they were developed case-by-case by the Waitangi Tribunal (established 1975) and courts up to the Privy Council and Supreme Court. The three most widely cited principles are partnership (the Crown and Māori as partners in governance), protection (active Crown duty to protect Māori interests and rangatiratanga), and participation (Māori involvement in decisions affecting them). These principles underpin Treaty settlements, co-governance arrangements at bodies such as the Māori Health Authority, and numerous resource management and conservation statutes.

What did the Bill propose?

The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill (introduced to Parliament on 7 November 2024, Bill 94-1) proposed to replace that accumulated body of principle with three legislated definitions: (1) the New Zealand Government has the right to govern all New Zealanders; (2) the Crown will recognise and respect the rights that hapū and iwi Māori held under the Treaty at the time of signing, but only as confirmed through Treaty settlement processes; and (3) all New Zealanders are equal before the law with the same rights and duties. The Bill would come into force only if supported by a majority in a binding referendum, which ACT planned to hold alongside the 2026 general election. Critics argued the three principles fundamentally rewrote the Treaty relationship — eliminating partnership as an ongoing constitutional principle, capping Māori rights at what had already been settled, and using "equality" framing to roll back co-governance.

What's happening:

• August 2024 — The Waitangi Tribunal released its urgent report *Ngā Mātāpono – The Principles*, finding the Bill breached Treaty principles of partnership, reciprocity, active protection, good government, equity, and the Article 2 guarantee of rangatiratanga. The Tribunal said the Bill "does not accord with the text or spirit of the Treaty/te Tiriti" and recommended it be abandoned entirely.
• 14 November 2024 — The Bill passed its first reading 68-54. National (49 votes) and NZ First (8) joined ACT (11) to reach the threshold, as required by their coalition agreement with ACT. Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke performed a haka and tore the bill in two on the chamber floor, halting proceedings and drawing international attention.
• 19 November 2024 — The Hīkoi mō te Tiriti reached Wellington after 10 days of marching from Cape Reinga and Bluff simultaneously, covering approximately 1,060 km. Police estimates placed 42,000 people at Parliament grounds — one of the largest protests in New Zealand's history. Māori Queen Nga Wai Hono i te Pō, Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau, and multiple MPs attended.
• November 2024 – January 2025 — Public submissions exceeded 300,000, the largest submission count in New Zealand parliamentary history. Written submissions were 90% opposed, 8% supportive. The select committee heard 529 oral submitters over 80 hours across five weeks.
• 4 April 2025 — The Justice Select Committee recommended the Bill "does not proceed," publishing a 45-page report documenting 12 categories of concern including constitutional uncertainty, breach of Treaty obligations, and negative social cohesion effects.
• 10 April 2025 — The Bill was defeated at its second reading 112 votes to 11. Only ACT's eleven MPs voted in favour. National, NZ First, Labour, Greens, and Te Pāti Māori all voted against.

Where the parties stand:

ACT remains the Bill's sole champion. David Seymour argued throughout that the existing principles — developed by courts and tribunals rather than Parliament — created an unequal citizenship framework that gave Māori different rights from other New Zealanders, a position he frames as a matter of democratic legitimacy. After the second reading defeat he was defiant: "It hasn't failed," he told reporters, signalling ACT would campaign again on the issue in 2026, including the possibility of a standalone referendum on Treaty principles in future coalition negotiations. ACT's 2026 manifesto is expected to include a revised version of the proposal.

National and NZ First backed the Bill to first reading as required by the coalition agreement, but both parties were explicit that this was the limit of their support. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon described the Bill as "divisive" and confirmed at the Ratana celebrations in January 2025 that National would vote it down at second reading. NZ First's Winston Peters took a similar line. Their coalition agreement with ACT required them to support the Bill through select committee; it did not require them to pass it. This distinction — honouring the letter of the agreement while killing the Bill — was the mechanism that allowed the coalition to stay intact while the legislation fell.

Labour was uniformly opposed, with leader Chris Hipkins calling the Bill "a stain on our country" built on "a mythology" of Māori special privilege. Labour argued the existing principles framework was the product of decades of careful judicial and tribunal work that should not be dismantled by a single piece of legislation. Labour also raised procedural concerns: thousands of submissions were initially at risk of being excluded from the permanent parliamentary record before a unanimous motion added them all back.

Te Pāti Māori described the Bill as an act of constitutional aggression. Co-leader Rawiri Waititi said the Government was "waging war on our existence as Māori." The party was the driving force behind the hīkoi, urging supporters nationwide to join what became one of the most significant acts of Māori collective political mobilisation in decades. After the defeat, co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the Bill had been "absolutely annihilated." Te Pāti Māori's concern extended beyond the Bill itself: they saw it as part of a broader pattern including cuts to Te Aka Whai Ora (the Māori Health Authority) and reviews of co-governance arrangements.

The Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick called the Bill "desperate, divisive, imported culture war," aligning the Green position with the argument that the legislation borrowed rhetorical framing from overseas right-wing movements rather than addressing genuine New Zealand concerns. The Greens emphasised the 90% opposition rate in submissions as evidence of public rejection.

What to watch:

• ACT's 2026 election policy — Seymour has promised to "reignite the Treaty principles debate" before the 2026 election, with options including a new bill, a standalone referendum, or a referendum bundled with the election. The exact vehicle will shape how central the issue becomes in the campaign.
• Coalition negotiations after 2026 — Whether National again agrees to support any Treaty principles vehicle to first reading in a post-2026 coalition deal will be a key negotiating flashpoint. National's reluctance to revisit the issue may constrain ACT.
• Ongoing Treaty clause reviews — The current government has a parallel policy reviewing Treaty references across existing legislation. That review continues regardless of the Bill's defeat and could still produce significant changes to how Treaty principles operate in practice.
• Waitangi 2026 — Annual Waitangi Day commemorations in February 2026, just months before the election campaign begins in earnest, will be watched closely for how the Crown-Māori relationship is framed heading into the vote.
• Te Pāti Māori's electoral strategy — The party mobilised a generation of voters through the hīkoi. Whether that energy translates into increased Māori roll enrolment, stronger Māori electorate results, or transfers to party vote will shape the balance of power on the left bloc.