Te Pāti Māori 2026 Policies: Key Issues for Democracy and Equal Citizenship

• Mana motuhake - strengthen Māori political authority and governance structures. “Mana motuhake means power must return to where it belongs: with tangata whenua, hapū, iwi, whānau, and our people.”
• Constitutional transformation: Te Pāti Māori supports replacing or fundamentally transforming New Zealand’s existing constitutional arrangements, rather than making changes within the current parliamentary system.
• Matike Mai: Its approach draws on Matike Mai Aotearoa, the report of the Independent Working Group on Constitutional Transformation established by the National Iwi Chairs Forum.
• Shared authority: Matike Mai proposes a constitutional system based on shared authority between Māori and the Crown, rather than the current system in which Parliament is elected by, and accountable to, all voters.
• Complete overhaul by 2040: Te Pāti Māori proposes a complete constitutional transformation by 2040.
• Māori-led process: It proposes $220 million over four years for a Māori-led constitutional transformation process, including a Māori Constitutional Convention and further working groups and public discussions.
• Proposed outcomes: The programme includes:
  • a national framework to implement UNDRIP;
  • binding Waitangi Tribunal recommendations with implementation timeframes and judicial enforcement where necessary;
  • enforceable mechanisms to address serious Crown breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi; and
  • Entrenchment of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the constitution.
• Establish an independent Te Tiriti Commission with power to stop or suspend Government decisions: The Commission would be able to investigate Crown decisions and, where it finds a serious breach of Te Tiriti, issue compliance orders stopping or suspending executive decisions. Government would have to go to the High Court to challenge such an order.
• Progress land back and rangatiratanga commitments under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
•  Freshwater policy: Assert Māori rights and authority over freshwater. Stop making decisions without Māori consent.
•   Build Māori-led justice authority and community solutions

 Read more at Te Pāti Māori Policies

Media coverage

Stuff: Te Pāti Māori says major constitutional reform a ‘bottom line’ for coalition deals

Te Ao Māori News: Te Pāti Māori’s Te Tiriti entrenchment plan: How would it work, and could it happen?