The Waitangi Tribunal

On Friday 28 November 2025, the Waitangi Tribunal released the pre-publication version of The Interim Report on the Crown’s Draft Geothermal Strategy for stage 3 of the National Freshwater and Geothermal Resources (Wai 2358) Inquiry.

The Tribunal had held a discrete hearing on 7 November on the Crown’s draft geothermal development strategy: From the Ground Up – A Draft Strategy to Unlock New Zealand’s Geothermal Potential. In the hearing, the Crown noted the Minister’s objective to finalise the strategy later this year for Cabinet approval. The strategy was developed by the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment and has a set of strategic outcomes and an action plan aimed at doubling New Zealand’s geothermal energy by 2040. The Tribunal’s interim report aims to assist the parties, Crown and Māori, in their deliberations before the strategy is finalised.

The Tribunal noted that most of the claimants at the hearing supported the draft strategy but disagreed with some of its content. The strategy is a very promising initiative in terms of Māori economic development, the Tribunal stated. If successful, it would make a significant contribution to developing the Māori economy as proposed. The Tribunal found that the opportunity for both Treaty partners to benefit from geothermal development through the strategy is consistent with the Treaty principle of mutual benefit. However, the report notes that there are few specific opportunities in the strategy for iwi and hapū as distinct from Māori landowners and that the specific actions for Māori economic development in the action plan are significantly underdone. The Tribunal left it to the parties in their ongoing engagement to consider what particular Māori-specific actions should be added to the plan in order to achieve its development outcomes for the Māori economy, which in turn will increase the strategic outcomes of regional development and geothermal energy production.

The Tribunal further found that the strategy concerns the development of geothermal taonga of immense significance to Māori, the exercise by Māori of tino rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga in respect of those taonga, and Crown–Māori cooperation on a major economic development platform. The Tribunal therefore found that the Crown’s decision to exclude the Treaty from the strategy would be a Treaty breach. The Tribunal did not consider this exclusion reasonable when the same Ministry team and Minister included the Treaty in the Minerals Strategy seven months earlier. In particular, the Tribunal found that the Treaty partnership, which requires the utmost good faith and mutual respect of each other’s authority, should be reflected in any strategy aimed at the Crown and Māori working together to achieve important outcomes. The Tribunal found that there is still time for this and other omissions to be corrected before the draft strategy is finalised. It proposes that a specific Treaty partnership mechanism or mechanisms for implementing and guiding the strategy be added.

On the specific issue of kaitiakitanga, the report notes that the Treaty principle of active protection requires the Crown to actively protect taonga, and that this is a particularly serious issue in a strategy designed to double geothermal energy in 15 years. The Tribunal found that protection was not integrated in the action plan. It found that the plan needed strengthening to ensure practical actions, such as national environmental standards for geothermal development and kaitiaki monitoring, are carried out. The Tribunal also found that the Crown incorrectly characterised the geothermal taonga in the strategy as limited to ‘surface features’ (such as geysers) and found that this would breach the Treaty unless the definition is corrected.

Ko te Ngawha te kanohi o te taonga, engari ko tona whatumanawa,

ko tona mana hauora, nō raro.

While the Ngawha (geothermal springs) is the visible ‘eye’ of the taonga,

its true essence and life force comes from its deep, hidden ‘heart’ from below.

The report states that the issue of Māori rights and interests, in particular the question of Māori customary title or ownership issues, needs to be addressed. As this interim report has been released part way though the Tribunal’s hearings, the Tribunal said that it is not yet in a position to make findings on these issues. The Tribunal welcomed the Crown’s inclusion of an action to consider the findings and recommendations of its stage 3 report when this is released. In the meantime, the Tribunal said that the Crown should engage directly with the groups who hold those rights.

Finally, the Tribunal found that, given the degree of Māori support for the draft strategy but the disagreement on specific aspects, the Crown will breach the principle of partnership if it does not now take the time to work through the completion of the strategy with Māori to resolve the matters raised in the Tribunal’s findings and any other matters. The Tribunal recommended that the Crown take the time necessary to do so.

On Friday, 31 October 2025, the Waitangi Tribunal released He Tangata, he Whenua: The Citizenship Report (Wai 3513) in pre-publication format. The inquiry was granted urgency in the Waitangi Tribunal’s inquiry programme, with the hearing being held in September 2025. The Tribunal panel comprised Judge Alana Thomas (presiding), Professor Tafaoimalo Tologata Leilani Tuala-Wareen, Professor Emeritus David Williams, and Ken Williamson.

The Citizenship Act 1977 provides for four types of citizenship – citizenship by birth, descent, grant, and special grant – but it limits citizenship by descent to one generation. This means that children of parents with citizenship by descent who are born overseas are not automatically New Zealand citizens and must apply for citizenship by grant or special grant. The Act makes no mention of the Treaty of Waitangi or the status of Māori as tangata whenua. Claimant John Ruddock (Ngāpuhi) was born in Australia and became a New Zealand citizen by descent through his Māori mother. However, despite their whakapapa, Mr Ruddock’s children are not New Zealand citizens under the Act as they were born in the United States. A range of others have been affected, and some gave evidence, including actress Keisha Castle-Hughes (Ngāti Porou, Tainui, Ngāpuhi).

Overall, with only passive and culturally inappropriate mechanisms and procedures in place to ensure that overseas Māori are not disconnected from their tūrangawaewae, the Tribunal found that the Crown breached the Treaty principles of partnership, active protection, rangatiratanga, good government, equal treatment, and options.

To give effect to Treaty principles, the Tribunal recommended that the Crown enter into consultation with Māori to provide for the co-design of, or full reflection of Māori views in, amendments to the Citizenship Act 1977:

• to include an acknowledgement of the status of Māori as tangata whenua;
• to include a provision requiring the Act to give effect to the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles; and
• to establish a tikanga pathway to citizenship that allows for hapū and iwi to assess whakapapa evidence.

The Tribunal also made three further recommendations for the Crown to action immediately while the above consultation is taking place:

• amend section 8(2)(e) of the Citizenship Act 1977 to include ‘or te reo Māori’;
• provide Mr Ruddock with citizenship by grant if he wants it; and
• extend citizenship by descent to two generations for Māori.

Nō te 23 o Whiringa-ā-nuku 2025, i puta i Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi a TAKU REO KURA, TAKU REO KAHURANGI, he pūrongo mō ngā kaupapahere a te Karauna e pā ana ki te whakamahinga o te reo Māori ki roto i te ratonga tūmatanui. I whai whakaaro tēnei pūrongo ohotata ki ngā kerēme maha nā ōna kaupapahere, ritenga, mahi, hapa hoki, i whakangoikore te Karauna i te whakamahinga o te reo ki roto i te ratonga tūmatanui, he mea takahi i ngā mātāpono o te Tiriti/the Treaty. I arotahi te pūrongo ki ngā kaupapahere matua e toru o te Karauna:

• ki te whakangoikore, ki te tango rānei i te whakamahinga o te reo i ngā ingoa o ngā tari kāwanatanga me ngā hinonga Karauna;
• ki te whakamātāmua i te reo Pākehā i ngā whakawhitinga kōrero o te ratonga tūmatanui; ā
• ki te whakawhāiti i te āheinga ki ngā utu tāpui mō te reo Māori i te ratonga tūmatanui.

I whakamahara te pūrongo, ahakoa i te tīmatanga he takohanga ngā kaupapahere e rua tuatahi i roto i te whakaaetanga Haumi i waenganui i a Nāhinara me Aotearoa Tuatahi, i hohoro te huri hei kaupapahere a te Kāwanatanga, ā, ka whakatinanahia e ngā Minita takitahi. I ara mai te kaupapahere tuatoru i tētahi kōrero a te Minita mō te Ratonga Tūmatanui ki te hunga pāpāho, he tohu o te takune a te Karauna.

I whakapae ngā kaikerēme i whakararu ngā mahi a te Karauna i te mana o te reo hei taonga, ā, i whakamōrearea i ngā whakapaunga kaha ki te whakarauora i te reo i roto i ngā tekau tau maha. Ahakoa i whakaae te Karauna he taonga te reo Māori, kāore te Karauna i whakaae i takahia ōna takohanga o te Tiriti/the Treaty. I tohe te Karauna kāore e nui te pānga o āna mahi tautoko i te reo Māori. I whakahē Te Rōpū Whakamana i te tūnga o te Karauna.

I kite Te Rōpū Whakamana nā ēnei kaupapahere e toru i takahi te Karauna i ngā mātāpono maha o te Tiriti/the Treaty – tae atu ki te tino rangatiratanga, te rangapū mahitahi, te matapopore moroki, te wairua tōkeke, me te kāwanatanga pai. Hei tā Te Rōpū Whakamana, nā te whakangoikore i te whakamahinga o te reo i te ratonga tūmatanui, i whakapuaki te Karauna i te korenga o tōna ū ki te whakarauora i te reo, ā, i whakakaha anō i ngā tautika-kore i waenganui i te mana o te reo Pākehā me te reo Māori i Aotearoa New Zealand. I whakamahara Te Rōpū Whakakamana e herea ana te Karauna ki te whakatika i te noho mōrearea o te reo, kaua ki te turaki i te reo, i raro i te Tiriti/the Treaty me ngā takohanga ā-ture a te Karauna i roto i Te Ture mō te Reo Māori 2016, ā ka mutu, kāore te Karauna i whiriwhiri kōrero ki te Māori mō ēnei panonitanga ki ngā kaupapahere i whakaarahia. Mō ēnei take, i tua atu i ētahi atu take, i kite Te Rōpū Whakamana nā ngā mahi a te Karauna i takahia te Tiriti/the Treaty me ōna mātāpono.

I kite Te Rōpū Whakamana nā ngā takahitanga a te Karauna ki te Tiriti/the Treaty kua hua mai te whakahāweatanga ki te Māori, tae atu ki ngā Māori e whakamahi ana i ngā ratonga tūmatanui. I kī Te Rōpū Whakamana nā te noho mōrearea o te reo Māori me whakapakari ake i te reo, ā, me akiaki i tōna whakamahinga. I kite Te Rōpū Whakamana nā ngā mahi a te Karauna i whakaitihia ēnei whāinga, ā, he mea whakahāwea i te whakarauoratanga o te reo Māori. I whakamahara anō Te Rōpū Whakamana ki ngā āwangawanga i hua mai i ngā mahi a te Karauna, arā i whakatinanahia i roto i ngā kōrero taunaki a ngā kaikerēme ki mua i Te Rōpū Whakamana.

Hei whakatika i te whakahāweatanga i hua mai, i tuku Te Rōpū Whakamana i ngā tūtohunga maha. I karangahia kia whakamutua ināia tonu nei ngā mahi ki te whakangoikore i ngā ingoa reo Māori o ngā tari me te whakamahinga o te reo ki ngā whakawhitinga kōrero o te Kāwanatanga. I tūtohu anō Te Rōpū Whakamana kia whakapakarihia te takotoranga o ngā kupu o Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori 2016, kia kaha ake ngā haepapa a te Karauna ki te tiaki me te whakauka i te reo Māori. I tūtohu anō Te Rōpū Whakamana kia panoni te Karauna i te 2024 Tauākī Kaupapahere Rāngaimahi Kāwanatanga, kia haere tonu ngā utu tāpui mō te reo ahakoa he herenga ki tō rātou tūranga mahi ngā pūkenga reo.

Hei whakaatu i te noho o te reo Māori ki te iho o tēnei ruku tātari, ka whakaputahia te pūrongo o Te Rōpū Whakamana ki roto i te reo Pākehā me te reo Māori.

On 23 October 2025, the Waitangi Tribunal released TAKU REO KURA, TAKU REO KAHURANGI, a report on Crown policies concerning the use of te reo Māori in the public service. This urgent report considered several claims that, through its policies, practices, actions, and omissions, the Crown has discouraged the use of te reo in the public service, in breach of the principles of te Tiriti/the Treaty. The report focused on three main Crown policies:

• to deprioritise or remove from common usage te reo from the names of public service departments and Crown entities;
• to prioritise communications in English in the public service; and
• to limit access to te reo Māori allowances in the public service.

The report noted that, while the first two matters were initially commitments in the 2023 coalition agreement between National and New Zealand First, they quickly became Government policy and were applied by individual Ministers. The third policy arose from a comment to the media by the Minister for the Public Service, which marked it as a statement of the Crown’s intent.

The claimants asserted that the Crown’s actions undermined the status of te reo as a taonga and threatened decades of hard work to revitalise the language. While the Crown agreed that te reo Māori is a taonga, it did not accept that it had breached its te Tiriti/Treaty obligations. The Crown argued that its actions would not have a significant impact on its support for te reo Māori. The Tribunal rejected the Crown’s position.

The Tribunal found that the Crown breached several principles of te Tiriti/the Treaty through these three policies – including those of tino rangatiratanga, partnership, active protection, equity, and good government. The Tribunal commented that, by deprioritising the use of te reo in the public service, the Crown had expressed a lack of commitment to the revitalisation of te reo and had reinforced existing inequities between the status of English and te reo Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Tribunal noted that the Crown is obliged to take active steps to address the vulnerable state of te reo, not to contribute to its decline, under both te Tiriti/the Treaty and the Crown’s own legislative commitments in Te Ture mō te Reo Māori 2016. The Tribunal similarly observed that the Crown’s intention to limit access to te reo Māori allowances did not align with the standards set in Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori 2016 and that the Crown had failed to consult with Māori about these proposed policy changes. For these reasons, among others, the Tribunal found that the Crown’s conduct had breached te Tiriti/the Treaty and its principles.

The Tribunal found that the Crown’s breaches of te Tiriti/the Treaty have caused prejudice to Māori, including to Māori as users of public services. It commented that the fragility of te reo Māori means that the language must be bolstered and its use encouraged. The Tribunal found that the Crown’s actions have detracted from these goals in a way that is prejudicial to the overall revitalisation of te reo Māori. The Tribunal also noted the emotional distress caused by the Crown’s actions, manifested in the evidence claimants gave before the Tribunal.

To address the prejudice caused, the Tribunal made several recommendations. It called for an immediate reversal of actions to deprioritise te reo Māori agency names and the use of te reo Māori in Government communications. It also recommended that the wording of Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori 2016 be strengthened to make the Crown’s responsibilities to protect and preserve te reo Māori more explicitly obligatory. The Tribunal further recommended that the Crown amend the 2024 Government Workforce Policy Statement so that the payment of te reo allowances to officials continues regardless of whether te reo skills are a requirement of their role.

To reflect the centrality of te reo Māori in the inquiry, the Tribunal’s report was released in both English and te reo Māori.