How does the Bill define the Treaty principles?

The Bill defines the ‘principles’ of the Treaty. The Treaty principles are often mentioned in legislation, but they have never actually been defined in law. Instead, the task has been left to the unelected judiciary to interpret the principles in an ad hoc manner without input from New Zealanders.

Based on the three Articles of the Treaty, the Bill defines the Treaty principles as:

  1. Civil Government: The Government of New Zealand has full power to govern, and Parliament has full power to make laws. They do so in the best interests of everyone, and in accordance with the rule of law and the maintenance of a free and democratic society.
  2. Rights of Hapū and Iwi Māori: The Crown recognises, and will respect and protect, the rights that hapū and iwi Māori had under the Treaty of Waitangi at the time they signed it. If those rights differ from the rights of everyone, it will only be when agreed in the settlement of a historical treaty claim under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975.
  3. Right to Equality: Everyone is equal before the law and is entitled to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination. Everyone is entitled to the equal enjoyment of the same fundamental human rights without discrimination.