Summarised by Centrist
The government has agreed to repeal some statutory references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and amend others to make them more specific.
Cabinet has also decided that future legislation should refer to both the Treaty of Waitangi and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The decisions appear to have been made without a public announcement at the time, despite at least one Cabinet decision dating back to February 23.
The review was part of the National-NZ First coalition agreement. It covered 23 pieces of legislation, excluding Treaty settlement laws, and was intended to assess laws containing references to Treaty principles. The stated aim, according to the Ministry of Justice, was to make those references “clear and specific” in order to support “better outcomes and more consistent decision-making”.
A Crown memorandum filed with the Waitangi Tribunal on March 12 said ministers had agreed to amend Treaty references in the Climate Change Response Act 2002 so that, where a Treaty standard is required, “no higher standard than ‘take into account’ should be used”. The government has not yet released the full findings or specified which other laws will be amended or repealed.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith told journalists that an advisory group had completed its work and that the government had agreed, “as a first step”, to make two references more specific and repeal “a number of references elsewhere”. He also said ministers were now consulting with iwi leaders before introducing legislation.
