New Zealand local councils have no obligation to the Treaty of Waitangi. The Crown has some obligation but councils are not the Crown and have no legal requirement to allow the influence of the treaty in their day-to-day administration.
The High Court of New Zealand last year supported that point of view with a very orthodox ruling.
Yet for years, Local Government New Zealand and similar bodies have told councils – and the public – the opposite.
They have pushed the idea that councils are Treaty partners and have a legal duty to ‘give effect’ to the Treaty in their everyday decision-making.
Local Councils Are Not Liable to the Treaty
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