{"id":495681,"date":"2026-06-25T23:52:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T23:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/495681\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T23:52:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T23:52:25","slug":"govt-spends-millions-on-unprecedented-waitangi-tribunal-inquiries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/495681\/","title":{"rendered":"Govt spends millions on unprecedented Waitangi Tribunal inquiries"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Government has spent well over $4 million defending legal challenges by M\u0101ori since taking office, with the number of urgent inquiries by the Waitangi Tribunal soaring to record highs.<\/p>\n

But critics say the real cost is the strain on the M\u0101ori-Crown relationship and a former senior National minister agrees. M\u0101ori and Government have collided on a number of issues<\/a> since the coalition Government came into office in 2023.<\/p>\n

Information obtained by 1News under the Official Information Act reveals the Government has spent $4,488,573 on legal fees defending its M\u0101ori-related policies before the Waitangi Tribunal and the courts.<\/p>\n

Five of the highest Crown expenditures on legal advice and representation are:<\/p>\n

– The repeal of section 7AA<\/a> of the Oranga Tamariki Act \u2013 including proceedings in the High Court and Court of Appeal over the summons to Minister Karen Chhour<\/a>: $353,275<\/p>\n

– Proposed amendments<\/a> to the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 \u2013 including High Court proceedings brought by iwi: $761,584<\/p>\n

– The disestablishment<\/a> of the M\u0101ori Health Authority \u2013 including High Court proceedings: $991,854<\/p>\n

– Policy changes relating to the use of te reo M\u0101ori in the public sector<\/a>: $605:391<\/p>\n

– The Treaty Principles Bill<\/a>: $778,660<\/p>\n

In less than three years, the Waitangi Tribunal has undertaken 10 urgent inquiries. These are granted only in exceptional circumstances when M\u0101ori claimants can demonstrate they are likely to suffer significant and irreversible prejudice.<\/p>\n

In comparison, the Ministry of Justice said six were granted during the time of the former Labour-led government over a six-year period \u2013 between October 2017 and November 2023.<\/p>\n

Critics say the real price is the strain on the M\u0101ori – crown relationship. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Claimant lawyer David Stone said he has never seen so many urgent inquiries granted in such a short period of time and it\u2019s a direct response to the actions taken by the Government. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at some legislation that’s literally been pushed through under the cover of darkness, under urgency without consultation and all that sort of stuff \u2013 this is what you get.\u201d<\/p>\n

He believes there is more to come beyond the financial burden.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not just the cost of having these hearings, there’s the cost to M\u0101ori, there’s the cost to wider New Zealand, there’s the cost that’s yet to come in terms of the impact of the legislation that the government’s passing under urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Claimant<\/p>\n

Claimant lawyer David Stone. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

‘High threshold’<\/p>\n

Lawyer Harry Clatworthy has represented claimants in six urgent inquiries so far. <\/p>\n

He said for the Waitangi Tribunal to grant so many in a short amount of time is significant due to claimants\u2019 requirement to meet strict criteria.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a really high threshold and the tribunal does not grant it easily, so the fact that there’s been so many granted really does say a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said a lot of work goes into preparing for an urgent hearing and for claimants especially it\u2019s \u201cbasically unpaid\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said some claimants have been involved in several inquiries. \u201cThey’re just really sick and tired of having to keep coming back and fight for their rights. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey see it has a continuation of the fighting their tipuna did to maintain their rights, the continuation of the protest that we’ve seen since 1975, since that land march, and there’s a real taumaha (heaviness), and weight on their heart and their manawa and their spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said M\u0101ori taxpayers probably would rather see that money better spent in the community as opposed to being spent in the court room.<\/p>\n

\"Claimant<\/p>\n

Claimant lawyer Harry Clatworthy. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

\u201cMost importantly, the true cost is something that can’t be seen yet \u2013 that’s the cost of not honouring Te Tiriti and the damage that that’s going to have on M\u0101ori in years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former National government minister Chris Finalyson said the M\u0101ori-Crown relationship in general hasn\u2019t been \u201ctoo flash\u201d.<\/p>\n

He appeared on Breakfast this week, promoting a new collection of essays from the Helen Clark Foundation called \u2018Facing the Future\u2019. The book includes a chapter he wrote which says the coalition has gravely damaged the relationship with M\u0101ori.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just regret that the National Party didn’t heed the excellent advice of John Key in August 2024 when he said at the National Party conference ‘tone it down, stop it, use different language because the way you express yourself can be very harmful’,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe just need to get real, grow up. We don’t need this aggressive, nasty stuff. If you’re going to be speaking about these things, speak with the language of [Abraham] Lincoln, not the language of [Donald] Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

Government doesn’t agree ‘at all’<\/p>\n

Treaty Negotiations and Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said he doesn\u2019t agree \u201cat all\u201d that M\u0101ori-Crown relationship has been greatly harmed over the tenure of the coalition Government and doesn\u2019t believe the number of urgent inquiries is an indication of a strained relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an indication the Waitangi Tribunal like to grant urgent inquiries whenever something comes up. The Government campaigned on various things and we’re doing what we campaigned on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Treaty<\/p>\n

Treaty Negotiations and Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Of the millions spent on legal fees, he said: \u201cI don’t think New Zealanders would expect us not to defend claims against the Government and the Crown and defend our ability to get on with the legislation and changes that we’re elected to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was questioned further on whether the nearly $800,000 spent defending claims on the Treaty Principles, a legislation the Prime Minister was adamant they would not support beyond first reading, was a waste of money. <\/p>\n

He said: “No, it is how our democracy works when parties campaign on things. You form a coalition government based on agreements and you get on with it and that’s absolutely appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

M\u0101ori Development Minister Tama Potaka defended the figure. “There was $320 million invested into a light rail project<\/a> that didn’t build ten metres of light rail, so I think we need to just square that up.”<\/p>\n

A follow up question on whether the two things were comparable went unanswered.<\/p>\n

\"Māori<\/p>\n

M\u0101ori Development Minister Tama Potaka. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Of the relationship between M\u0101ori and the Crown, Potaka listed a number of Government initiatives that he said served M\u0101ori, including investing into marae, advancing treaty settlements, and the effort to increase two-year-old immunisation rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been some massive challenges but there\u2019s also been some massive growth and progress,” he said of the relationship.<\/p>\n

Tribunal criticised, Greens ‘shocked’<\/p>\n

NZ First MP Shane Jones said his party campaigned on “curbing the writ” of the Waitangi Tribunal, saying the organisation has gone “well beyond” its constitutional reservation. <\/p>\n

“We do believe that the recalibration, in terms of changing the number of references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in law is necessary, and I sort of feel that the Waitangi Tribunal is sort of like a farmer\u2019s collie, lame, chasing every passing car – and we\u2019ll deal with that after the next election.”<\/p>\n

\"NZ<\/p>\n

NZ First MP Shane Jones. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said she was shocked.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlabbergasted at the harm, the time, and the money – the millions that have been spent for this government to be racist,” she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I’m looking at the list, the M\u0101ori Health Authority, the Marine and Coastal Bill, the use of te reo in public sector, and so much more, and I’m thinking about not only the fiscal cost, and what that could have instead have gone to. Especially when we’ve got community services who are desperately crying out for funding, the funding that our people need, but I’m also thinking about the relationship harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/p>\n

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

She said the Government\u2019s spending on the Treaty Principles Bill alone was \u201cobscene\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a real lack of leadership. It just shows the lack of skill too though in being able to put a principled approach in front of the country. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a slap in the face spending that amount of money on an absolute waste of time, something that even the Prime Minister knew was never going to support it. What an absolute slap in the face for people who are doing hard, for community organisations who are doing it hard right now when that sort of waste of money on something that was extremely racist and was never going to see the light of day as it was.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Government has spent well over $4 million defending legal challenges by M\u0101ori since taking office, with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4432,111,43,139,69,76216],"class_list":["post-495681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-maori-issues","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-te-tiriti-o-waitangi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}