TE PĀTI MĀORI LAUNCHES TE TIRITI ENTRENCHMENT POLICY
Te Pāti Māori has today launched its Te Tiriti Entrenchment Policy, a major constitutional reform package that will make Crown obligations arising from Te Tiriti legally enforceable and resource the next stage of Māori-led constitutional transformation.
“Te Tiriti is the constitutional foundation of Aotearoa. Its mana does not rise and fall depending on who forms the Government,” Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Rawiri Waititi said.
“Our policy is about certainty, accountability and making sure the Crown keeps its promises.”
The policy will:
- establish a $220 million Mātike Mai Fund over four years to independently resource Māori-led constitutional transformation;
- establish an independent Te Tiriti Commission with powers to investigate serious Crown breaches, require remedial action and issue Te Tiriti Compliance Orders;
- make Waitangi Tribunal recommendations binding on the Crown;
- restore and resource a national action plan to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples within the first 100 days; and
- set 2040 as the target for constitutional transformation in Aotearoa.
Mātike Mai is an independent Māori-led constitutional kaupapa. Te Pāti Māori will not determine the constitutional destination. Its role is to resource iwi, hapū and Māori to lead that conversation, and to create the space for tangata Tiriti, local government and the Crown to participate in the national dialogue that follows.
“Under this Government we have seen Te Tiriti protections stripped from legislation and hard-won progress wound back. That has made this work more important than ever,” Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said.
“But this is bigger than one Government.
“A confident and mature Aotearoa should be able to honour its history, keep its promises and build its future together.
“Te Tiriti is not a threat to unity. Honouring Te Tiriti strengthens accountability, creates certainty and gives us a stronger foundation for the country we are building together. “This legislation binds the Crown, not Te Tiriti.”
