Every question, every answer, every source

As of 5 October 2026, the major parties are quite far apart on this question. The central divide is whether Te Tiriti should be an active constitutional framework shaping government, or primarily a historical founding agreement whose modern legal effects should be limited and applied equally to everyone.

Party	Te Tiriti	Māori–Crown relationship	Racial discrimination / equality
Te Pāti Māori	Wants Te Tiriti at the centre of constitutional arrangements; supports stronger rangatiratanga and entrenchment.	Māori should have substantially greater authority and decision-making power alongside the Crown.	Supports Māori-specific rights and institutions where they arise from Te Tiriti and Māori collective rights.
Green Party	Strongly pro-Te Tiriti; wants it at the heart of government and constitutional reform.	Emphasises genuine Crown–Māori partnership and rangatiratanga of iwi/hapū.	Supports targeted measures to address Māori inequity, viewing equal treatment as sometimes requiring different treatment to achieve equity.
Labour	Supports Te Tiriti as a founding document and opposes reducing its role.	Wants a partnership model and greater Māori participation/leadership in areas affecting Māori.	Supports equity-oriented Māori policies and rejects the idea that Te Tiriti-based measures are simply racial discrimination.
National	Recognises Te Tiriti as a founding document but favours a more limited and clearly defined role for Treaty principles in legislation.	Emphasises Crown sovereignty and equal citizenship, while maintaining existing Treaty settlements and engagement with iwi.	Generally stresses equal treatment regardless of ethnicity; its government has removed or reduced several Māori-specific mechanisms.
ACT	Wants Treaty principles defined narrowly in law and constitutional arrangements changed toward equal citizenship and parliamentary sovereignty.	Rejects an ongoing partnership model that gives Māori distinct political authority beyond specifically settled Treaty rights.	Strongly “one law for all”: opposes race-based legal distinctions and argues everyone should have equal rights before the law.
NZ First	Wants substantially less institutional influence for Te Tiriti and Treaty-related bodies.	Wants Crown authority and Parliament's sovereignty clearly paramount; proposes abolishing the Waitangi Tribunal and replacing it with a settlement-completion body.	Strongly colour-blind approach: equal rights irrespective of race and opposition to race-based political arrangements, including the Māori electorates.

The key differences

1. What does Te Tiriti actually mean for today's government?

The Greens, Te Pāti Māori and Labour broadly see Te Tiriti as a living constitutional commitment. They argue that the Crown's obligations extend beyond historical Treaty settlements and should influence how government makes decisions today. The Greens, for example, explicitly say government structures should uphold the rangatiratanga of iwi and hapū. Manifesto 2026 - Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

National, ACT and NZ First put considerably more emphasis on parliamentary sovereignty and equal citizenship. National still describes Te Tiriti as a founding document, but its government has been systematically reducing or clarifying Treaty references in legislation. In May 2026 it announced changes to 19 Acts: seven Treaty references would be removed and ten would be limited to obligations no stronger than “take into account”. Ensuring Treaty references are consistent | National Party

ACT goes further. Its 2026 policy proposes constitutional principles stating that Parliament is sovereign, the rule of law is fundamental and all New Zealanders are equal before the law. ACT New Zealand

2. Partnership versus sovereignty

This is probably the biggest conceptual difference.

Labour/Greens/Te Pāti Māori generally use the language of partnership, rangatiratanga and shared decision-making. Labour, for example, says decisions affecting Māori should be made in partnership with Māori and has committed to greater Māori leadership in education. Release: Labour will partner with Māori in education

National/ACT/NZ First place greater weight on Crown/Parliamentary sovereignty. National has supported Treaty settlements and consultation with iwi, but its current direction is toward making Treaty obligations more specific rather than allowing broad Treaty principles to generate new governmental obligations. Ensuring Treaty references are consistent | National Party

ACT's position is especially explicit: its proposed Treaty principles say the government has full power to govern and Parliament has full power to make laws, while Māori Treaty rights that differ from everyone's rights would be confined to rights recognised through historical Treaty settlements. ACT New Zealand

3. What counts as racial discrimination?

This is where superficially similar statements—“everyone is equal”—lead to very different policies.

ACT and NZ First use a largely colour-blind equality concept: the law should not confer different rights or privileges according to ancestry. ACT's proposed Treaty principles explicitly guarantee equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination. ACT New Zealand NZ First similarly describes its philosophy as “one people, one law” and a “colourblind state.” "Power to the People" - Winston Peters - State of the Nation 2026 - New Zealand First

That position leads them to oppose things such as Māori-specific political representation. NZ First is campaigning for a binding referendum on the Māori seats at the 2026 election. New Zealand First to Campaign for Referendum on Māori Seats - New Zealand First

The Greens, Te Pāti Māori and Labour make a different distinction: equal treatment isn't necessarily the same as identical treatment. Their argument is that Māori-specific measures can be legitimate where they reflect Te Tiriti obligations, collective Māori rights, or attempts to remedy demonstrable inequities. The Greens' current programme explicitly links Te Tiriti, rangatiratanga and addressing the consequences of Crown breaches. Manifesto 2026 - Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

So the disagreement isn't simply “for or against equality.” Both sides claim equality as a principle; they disagree about what substantive equality requires and whether collective rights can legitimately differ by whakapapa.

4. Where National sits between the two camps

National is worth treating separately from ACT and NZ First.

It has not adopted ACT's Treaty Principles Bill as its own constitutional position. National refused to support that bill beyond its first reading, and the bill was ultimately defeated in Parliament with ACT alone supporting it. Treaty Principles Bill voted down amid fiery MP debate

But National's government has nonetheless moved policy in a direction closer to the equal-treatment/limited-Treaty-effects side: among other changes, it removed section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act, removed ethnicity/race as explicit health-prioritisation factors, ended compulsory Treaty education, and changed Māori-ward arrangements. Where political parties stand on Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Spinoff

That makes National's position somewhat different from both Labour and ACT: it accepts Te Tiriti's foundational status but is seeking narrower, more predictable legal consequences from it.

5. NZ First is now proposing the most extensive institutional rollback

NZ First's September 2026 policy goes beyond opposition to new Treaty-based arrangements. It proposes abolishing the Waitangi Tribunal, replacing it with a Treaty of Waitangi Completion Commission intended to finish historical claims before 2008. It also proposes returning Crown–Māori relations to the Ministry of Māori Development. Ending the Waitangi Make-Work Industry - New Zealand First

That's a substantially different conception of the Crown–Māori relationship from the Greens or Te Pāti Māori, which see Treaty institutions and rangatiratanga as part of an ongoing constitutional relationship.

In one sentence

The spectrum is roughly:

Te Pāti Māori → Greens → Labour → National → ACT → NZ First

with the important caveat that this is not a ranking—it represents a shift from Te Tiriti-centred constitutional partnership and Māori collective authority toward individual equal citizenship, parliamentary sovereignty and a colour-blind state. The parties overlap considerably on some practical matters, particularly honouring completed Treaty settlements and opposing outright racial prejudice.

The most important thing to watch in the 2026 election is therefore not whether a party says it supports equality or respects Te Tiriti, but what legal and constitutional consequences it thinks those principles should have. Where political parties stand on Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Spinoff