TPM to Entrench Te Tiriti: Government’s Tiriti Purge is Constitutional Vandalism - Te Pāti Māori

TPM to Entrench Te Tiriti: Government’s Tiriti Purge is Constitutional Vandalism

Published by

May 15, 2026

Te Pāti Māori is condemning today’s announcement by Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith to strip or weaken Te Tiriti o Waitangi references across 19 pieces of legislation.

“This is not policy reform. It is constitutional vandalism.”

After failing to redefine Te Tiriti through the Treaty Principles Bill, the Government is now dismantling it clause by clause through legislative review instead. Different vehicle. Same destination.

Among the most aggressive changes are the repeal of Te Tiriti provisions in health, climate, mental health and education legislation, areas where Māori already face entrenched inequity.

Reducing Te Tiriti obligations to merely “take into account” fundamentally undermines partnership and allows the Crown to tick the box and carry on regardless.

They may hold power in this term of Parliament, but they do not hold the authority to erase Te Tiriti.

Every step this Government takes strips away more of the constitutional grounding that protects our people and our taiao.

When this Government moves to erase Te Tiriti, Te Pāti Māori will be there to entrench it.

Government Hid Its Own Evidence on LNG preview image

Government Hid Its Own Evidence on LNG

Te Pāti Māori is calling on the Government to release all remaining redacted advice on the proposed Taranaki LNG import terminal and halt the contract process until full public disclosure has occurred. This week RNZ revealed that officials redacted modelling commissioned by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment showing low need for LNG imports. In some scenarios, no need at all. That information was only made public after RNZ lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman. Parts of the document remain hidden. Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Energy Spokesperson said the Government had no mandate to proceed while its own evidence remained suppressed.

Seymour Admits He Never Checked Impact on Māori with Diabetes preview image

Seymour Admits He Never Checked Impact on Māori with Diabetes

David Seymour Associate Minister of Health confirmed in answers to Written Parliamentary Questions that he supported removing Māori and Pacific priority access to Type 2 diabetes medicines, without any equity analysis, without modelling of Māori complications, and holds no data on how many Māori currently rely on the pathway they're removing. Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the admissions were negligible. "They don't know who they're harming. They don't know how many Māori with diabetes rely on this. They haven't modelled the complications, the amputations, the renal failure, the early deaths. And they're proceeding anyway.”

If The Government Really Wants To Lower Power Bills, This Is The Way preview image

If The Government Really Wants To Lower Power Bills, This Is The Way

Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says the government’s LNG announcement today exposes a fundamental failure of energy policy leadership. “Simeon Brown says he has an answer to our energy security problem. A billion-dollar contract to import liquefied natural gas. From the Middle East. With no plan to pay for it. That’s not energy security, that’s energy dependency,” says Ngarewa-Packer. “Initially the government planned a levy on power bills to fund this facility. Now they want the same gentailers, companies they’ve spent three years refusing to regulate, to voluntarily fund something those same companies say they don’t need. Meridian said it publicly. They don’t need this terminal.

Govt will Erase Iwi Representation Across Aotearoa preview image

Govt will Erase Iwi Representation Across Aotearoa

Today the government announced that they will be removing the voting rights of iwi representatives from all councils across the country. They will be amending the Local Government (System Improvements) Bill after it has already gone through select committee, meaning that there will be no public submission process. “This is another gut punch, and our people are fed up” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Every time we think this government couldn’t possibly harm te iwi Māori any more, they always find more rights to take away. “They are doing everything they can to ensure that Māori get absolutely zero say in any decisions made on our whenua.

TPM to Entrench Te Tiriti: Government’s Tiriti Purge is Constitutional Vandalism preview image

TPM to Entrench Te Tiriti: Government’s Tiriti Purge is Constitutional Vandalism

Te Pāti Māori is condemning today’s announcement by Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith to strip or weaken Te Tiriti o Waitangi references across 19 pieces of legislation. “This is not policy reform. It is constitutional vandalism.” After failing to redefine Te Tiriti through the Treaty Principles Bill, the Government is now dismantling it clause by clause through legislative review instead. Different vehicle. Same destination.

Te Pāti Māori responds to announcement of new political party preview image

Te Pāti Māori responds to announcement of new political party

Te Pāti Māori acknowledges Mariameno Kapa-Kingi’s announcement that she intends to contest the 2026 General Election under the newly announced Te Tai Tokerau Party. We wish Mariameno well. Te ao Māori has always carried many voices, many rohe, many whakapapa, and many expressions of mana motuhake. We respect the right of whānau, hapū, iwi, rohe and candidates to determine their own political pathway.

MP Govt Floats Nuclear Jones Must Front Up preview image

MP Govt Floats Nuclear Jones Must Front Up

Te Pāti Māori is demanding answers after Shane Jones casually floated nuclear fission in the House today. Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said, “Aotearoa is not neutral on nuclear. We are proudly anti-nuclear. That position was fought for, defended, and embedded in who we are as a nation.” “Is this Government marching us away from our nuclear-free legacy? Because Aotearoa deserves to know,” said Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

Maipi-Clarke Backs Tribunal Scrutiny of Education Reform preview image

Maipi-Clarke Backs Tribunal Scrutiny of Education Reform

MP for Hauraki-Waikato and Te Pāti Māori Education Spokesperson, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, stands in support of the urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearings taking place this week into Wai 3553. The claim, brought forward by Northland iwi and hapū Ngāti Hine and Te Kapotai alongside NZEI Te Riu Roa and education advocates, raises serious concerns that education reforms will impact how schools uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and weaken support for Māori learners, language, and culture. “These hearings are a critical opportunity to ensure that Māori voices are heard, and the Crown is held a to its Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations” says Maipi-Clarke.

Government Using Outdated Fuel Data While Diesel Likely Below Emergency Levels preview image

Government Using Outdated Fuel Data While Diesel Likely Below Emergency Levels

Te Pāti Māori is calling for the immediate release of real-time fuel data, as the Government continues to rely on figures already six days old. The last published data from 8 April showed onshore diesel at just 21.7 days of cover, sitting on the international emergency threshold. Today is the 14th. “At the rate diesel has been dropping, we are likely already below 20 days, and the Government still doesn’t have real-time visibility,” said Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

Govt Bill will Suppress Māori Voters preview image

Govt Bill will Suppress Māori Voters

Te Pāti Māori are deeply concerned that the Electoral (District Boundaries) Amendment Bill will restrict the representation of all Māori roll voters until 2032 and beyond if it is not amended. There have been enough voters on the Māori roll to warrant an 8th Māori seat since January 2025, but the electoral boundaries were calculated using outdated data from April 2024. This Bill will delay the next boundary review from 2029 until 2032, fixing the number of Māori seats at 7 for the next two election cycles. It will also link all future boundary reviews to every second election cycle (every six years), rather than every five years, ensuring that electoral boundaries will continue to lag behind the growth of the Māori roll indefinitely.