The Treaty of Waitangi / Te Tiriti o Waitangi – considered New Zealand’s founding document – was signed in 1840 by the British Crown and about 540 Māori chiefs to establish a nation state. While not a legal document, some treaty principles have been developed and included in legislation. The treaty covers issues including land and cultural rights and Māori relations with the Crown. Interpretation of the treaty is often contested and New Zealand’s coalition government plans to review the treaty’s principles, raising fears over a roll-back of Māori rights.
There is an English and a Māori version of the treaty. These documents have fundamental differences, for example in the English version, Māori cede sovereignty to the Crown; in the Māori text they give governance to the Crown. The vast majority of Māori chiefs signed only the Māori version.
Translation errors and difficulties in conveying certain cultural concepts has led to debates and protest over the treaty’s meaning and application. Over the past 50 years, lawmakers, courts and the Waitangi Tribunal – an institution that investigates breaches of the treaty – have looked to the wider intention, or spirit, of the treaty, in order to define its principles and smooth out differences in interpretations.
The Act party, part of the governing coalition, wants to rewrite those principles , a move which has inflamed tensions with Māori. Act wants the principles to include all New Zealanders, believing the current principles give people different rights based on birth. Many Māori leaders say such changes would amount to a modern-day confiscation of treaty rights and prioritise those who already hold power.