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References to Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Repeals) Amendment Bill

The single broad policy of this omnibus bill is to repeal statutory references to the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi/ the Treaty of Waitangi in a number of Acts.

This bill has been accorded urgency in the House, with referral to a select committee. First detected 15 September 2026, 4:25am UTC.

Member in charge: Hon Paul Goldsmith · Government bill · No. 348-1 · urgency accorded 15 Sep 2026 (the first reading, and referral to select committee of the)
Bill on parliament.nz → RSS

Want a say? This bill is still moving

Urgency compresses the timetable, not the politics. Until the third reading, the committee of the whole House can still amend the bill — changes are moved right up to the final vote. The channels that operate at this speed:

  • Contact the member in charge — Hon Paul Goldsmith — whose office decides what amendments are put, and your electorate MP. Members’ offices monitor correspondence while the House sits; a specific, clause-level point travels furthest.
  • Contact the opposition spokesperson for this portfolio — they speak and move amendments in the committee stage, and concrete problems raised by affected people are exactly what they put on the record.
  • Prepare a submission — this bill was referred to a select committee, so a public submission window is likely to open. Use the bill’s parliament.nz page (“Get notifications”) to catch it the moment it opens.
  • Start or sign a petition at petitions.parliament.nz — the formal channel that stays open regardless of the House’s timetable.

Stages observed

StageSitting dayRecord
Introduction 15 Sep 2026 Introduction of bills: References to Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Repeals) Amendment Bill source · debate & vote (Hansard)

Dates are sitting days as recorded by the Office of the Clerk; a sitting extended under urgency continues under its original day. Readings are decided by party vote: each party casts its members’ votes en bloc (proxies included), so the whole House needn’t be present and individual attendance isn’t recorded — the party-by-party tally for each reading is in that day’s Hansard, linked per stage above.

Who spoke in the debates

Members who took a call in this bill’s debates, from our Hansard corpus. Under urgency several bills are often debated together (a “cognate” debate), so speakers may be addressing the group of bills.

● Penny Simmonds National · 4 ● Casey Costello NZ First · 2 ● James Meager National · 2

What this touches

Topics in the OpenBrief corpus matched to this bill’s title, with their volume over the last six weeks — how loud the subject already was when urgency was moved. This is retrieval against our existing corpus, not model judgement.

TopicPress items · 6wkSocial posts · 6wk
landlord references 0 0
treaty of waitangi and foreign policy 0 0
treaty of waitangi and military service 0 0
treaty of waitangi site 1 2

What this bill changes

AI-assisted analysis · every claim links to primary source · corrections
Published 16 Sep 2026, 7:20pm UTC (separate from, and later than, the alert timestamp above) · model: claude-opus-4-8

In short: The bill repeals statutory references to Treaty of Waitangi principles across six Acts, removing related obligations on officials and DRS operators.

What changes
Removes an obligation The operator of a dispute resolution scheme is no longer required to perform its functions in a manner contributing to an education system that honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi and supports Māori-Crown relationships.
s 6 → Education and Training Act 2020, s 536A(1) · affects: dispute resolution scheme operators, Māori, students and parties to education disputes · confidence: high
The bill text this is based on
“6 Section 536A amended (How DRS operator must perform role) Repeal section 536A(1).”
Removes an obligation The Commissioner of Crown Lands is no longer required to take into account the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi when acting under Part 3 of the Crown Pastoral Land Act.
s 4 → Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998, s 84(b) · affects: Commissioner of Crown Lands, Māori, Crown pastoral land stakeholders · confidence: high
The bill text this is based on
“4 Section 84 amended (Matters to be taken into account by Commissioner) Repeal section 84(b).”
Removes an obligation Persons exercising responsibilities, powers, or functions under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act are no longer required to take into account the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
s 9 → Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act 2000, s 6(d) · affects: persons exercising functions under the Act, Māori · confidence: high
The bill text this is based on
“9 Section 6 amended (Sustainability principles) Repeal section 6(d).”
Removes an obligation The provision describing how the Crown's obligations under te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi are provided for in the Organic Products and Production Act, and its related outline reference, are repealed.
s 11 → Organic Products and Production Act 2023, s 4 · affects: Māori, organic products regulators and producers · confidence: medium
The bill text this is based on
“11 Section 4 repealed (Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi) Repeal section 4.”
Removes an obligation The provision describing how the Crown's obligations under te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi are provided for in the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act is repealed.
s 16 → Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990, s 3AB · affects: Māori, smokefree products regulators · confidence: medium
The bill text this is based on
“16 Section 3AB repealed (Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi)) Repeal section 3AB.”
Procedural The overview of Part 5 of the Plant Variety Rights Act is repealed.
s 14 → Plant Variety Rights Act 2022, s 54 · affects: plant variety rights applicants, Māori · confidence: medium
The bill text this is based on
“14 Section 54 repealed (Overview of Part 5) Repeal section 54.”
Procedural Disputes lodged with a DRS operator before commencement continue to be dealt with under the old law as if the repeal had not been enacted.
Schedule (new cl 211) → Education and Training Act 2020, Schedule 1 · affects: parties to education disputes lodged before commencement, DRS operators · confidence: high
The bill text this is based on
“continues to apply in respect of a dispute lodged with a DRS operator before commencement as if the References to Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Repeals) Amendment Act 2026 had not been enacted”
Who this affects
dispute resolution scheme operatorsMāoristudents and parties to education disputesCommissioner of Crown LandsCrown pastoral land stakeholderspersons exercising functions under the Actorganic products regulators and producerssmokefree products regulatorsplant variety rights applicantsparties to education disputes lodged before commencementDRS operators
Scrutiny

Taken under urgency; the compressed timetable limited scrutiny even where a committee stage existed.

Commencement: Comes into force 1 month after Royal assent.
Retrospective: no provision identified
Gaps we can see. Clauses whose effect could not be established from the bill text alone: cl 7(b) - 'make all necessary consequential amendments' to Schedule 1 (scope not specified in text), cl 12 - effect of repealing s 5(1)(b) outline reference depends on unquoted text of the Organic Products and Production Act.

Method: the model reads the bill as published (claude-opus-4-8); every claim above carries a verbatim span of that text, checked mechanically — claims that fail the check are dropped, not softened. Text analysed from an archived copy of the official text. Full methodology →

Source record — the urgency motion as published
15 September 2026 — scope: the first reading, and referral to select committee of the (First reading, Referral to select committee) 
A motion to accord urgency to the following business was agreed to:
- the remaining stages of the:
  - India Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill;
  - Local Government (System Improvements) Amendment Bill;
  - Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Amendment Bill; and
  - Summary Offences (Move-on Orders) Amendment Bill
- the first reading, and referral to select committee of the:
  - References to Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Repeals) Amendment Bill;
  - References to Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Strength of Legislative Obligations) Amendment Bill; and
  - References to Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Standardisation) Amendment Bill
- the second reading and committee stage of the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Amendment Bill;
- the remaining stages of the Public Works Amendment Bill;
- the committee stage of the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) (3 Day Postnatal Stay) Amendment Bill;
- the remaining stages of the:
  - Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill;
  - Policing Amendment Bill;
  - Corrections (Management of Prisoners, and Prisoners’ Property) Amendment Bill;
  - Immigration (Enhanced Risk Management) Amendment Bill;
  - Land Transport (Revenue) Amendment Bill;
  - Financial Markets Conduct Amendment Bill; and
  - Commerce (Promoting Competition and Other Matters) Amendment Bill.
Source: Daily progress in the House → · Hansard for this sitting day →