Te Pāti Māori are promising major constitutional reform by entrenching Te Tiriti o Waitangi into lawmaking and binding the Crown to honour it, if elected.

The party would set up an independent Te Tiriti Commission with power to investigate Treaty breaches by the Crown, make Waitangi Tribunal recommendations binding, and set a 2040 target for constitutional transformation.

They also want to set a $220 million Mātike Mai Fund over four years to resource constitutional reforms and properly implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) within their first 100 days in power.

The Mātike Mai Fund who be used to set up and resource an independent Mātike Mai secretariat, fund Māori-led "constitutional kōrero" across the country and begin a Māori Constitutional Convention to facilitate formal talks with tangata Tiriti, local government and the Crown.

In a policy document, the party said an independent Te Tiriti Commission would not "define" Te Tiriti, but enforce the Crown's "minimum statutory obligations" relating to it.

The commission would operate independently from Government and have the power to:

  • Investigate Crown decisions, policy and Executive action for Te Tiriti compliance
  • Require information and evidence from Ministers, departments and Crown agencies
  • Report directly to Parliament on breaches
  • Require "remedial action" where Crown processes fail to meet Te Tiriti obligations
  • Stop Executive decisions where a serious breach is found
  • And, create "Te Tiriti Compliance Orders"

The policy document said the compliance orders would stop "serious" breaches of Te Tiriti, and if the Crown "disagreed" they would need to apply to the High Court to have the order overturned.

The documents states that the legislation would not "not constitute, define, replace, limit or domesticate" Te Tiriti, but bind Minister, their departments and other Crown Agencies to obligations that "arise from Te Tiriti itself".

Te Pāti Māori would also amend the Treaty of Waitangi ACT 1975 to make Waitangi Tribunal recommendations are binding on the Crown, giving the Tribunal more power to investigate and enforce breaches.

In a statement, co-leader Debbie Ngārewa-Packer said a mature Aotearoa should be able to honour its history.

"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 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." she said.