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

References to Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Repeals) Amendment Bill EXPLANATORY NOTE GENERAL POLICY STATEMENT This Bill is an omnibus Bill and is introduced under Standing Order 267(1)(a) because the amendments deal with an interrelated topic that can be regarded as implementing a single broad policy. That single broad policy is to repeal statutory references to the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi (the Treaty ) in a number of Acts. The Bill repeals the following provisions: section 84(b) of the Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998: section 536A(1) of the Education and Training Act 2020: section 6(d) of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act 2000: sections 4 and 5(1)(b) of the Organic Products and Production Act 2023: section 54 of the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022: section 3AB of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990. The Bill gives effect to aspects of the National–New Zealand First coalition agreement to conduct a comprehensive review of all legislation that includes the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi , and to replace all such references with specific words relating to the relevance and application of the Treaty, or repeal the references. The Government agreed to review Treaty provisions for the purpose of ensuring that where it is appropriate to encapsulate the Treaty or the Treaty relationship in legislation, those provisions are clear about how the Treaty applies in the context of each legislative regime, to reduce uncertainty and support better compliance. The Government also agreed that the review will not affect agreed Treaty settlement commitments. Acts that have a relationship with Treaty settlements were therefore excluded from the review, as were Acts subject to separate review processes or where replacement this term was expected. Legislation that refers to the Treaty, as opposed to Treaty principles, was excluded from the review, with the exception of Treaty provisions in the Education and Training Act 2020, which the Government decided to include in the review. The Government concluded that the provisions listed above are not necessary and should therefore be repealed. Section 84(b) of the Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998 and section 54 of the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022 are considered unnecessary because they duplicate another provision in their respective Acts. In the case of section 54 of the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022, section 4 of the Act will be amended to include some of the detail currently provided for in section 54. The other provisions in the list above are considered unnecessary because the relevance and application of the Treaty within the context of the legislation is considered to be unclear. REGULATORY IMPACT STATEMENT The Ministry of Justice prepared a regulatory impact statement on 13 November 2025 to help inform the main policy decisions taken by the Government relating to the contents of this Bill. Copies of the regulatory impact statement can be found at— https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Regulatory-Impact-Statement_-providing-certainty-on-legislative-references-to-the-Treaty-of-Waitangi-SOU-10-Dec-marked-up_Redacted.pdf https://www.regulation.govt.nz/publications-and-resources/regulatory-analysis-summaries/ CONSISTENCY WITH PRINCIPLES OF RESPONSIBLE REGULATION The Ministry of Justice provided the following documents relating to its review of this Bill, and its process for developing it, for consistency with the principles of responsible regulation under the Regulatory Standards Act 2025: a consistency accountability statement in September 2026: a summary of underpinning analysis in September 2026. Copies of these documents can be found at— https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/Consistency-Accountability-Statement-Treaty-References-Bills.pdf https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/Summary-of-Underpinning-Analysis-Treaty-References-Bills.pdf The Minister of Justice prepared a statement in September 2026 that briefly explains the Government’s reasons for any inconsistency with the principles of responsible regulation that is identified in the consistency accountability statement. A copy of the document can be found at— https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/Statement-of-Reasons-Treaty-References-Bills.pdf CLAUSE BY CLAUSE ANALYSIS Clause 1 is the Title clause. Clause 2 provides for the Bill to come into force 1 month after Royal assent. REPEAL OF OPERATIVE PROVISIONS This Part repeals— section 84(b) of the Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998, which requires the Commissioner of Crown Lands to take into account the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi when acting under Part 3 of that Act: section 536A(1) of the Education and Training Act 2020, which requires the operator of a dispute resolution scheme to perform and exercise its functions, powers, and duties in a manner that contributes to an education system that honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi and supports Māori-Crown relationships by doing the things specified in that section: section 6(d) of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act 2000, which requires all persons exercising responsibilities, powers, or functions under that Act to take into account the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Schedule contains a savings provision that provides for section 536A(1) of the Education and Training Act 2020 to continue to apply in respect of a dispute that is lodged with a DRS operator before this Bill comes into force. REPEAL OF DESCRIPTIVE AND OVERVIEW PROVISIONS This Part repeals— section 4 of the Organic Products and Production Act 2023, which describes how the Crown’s obligations under te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi are provided for in that Act: section 54 of the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022, which sets out an overview of Part 5 of that Act: section 3AB of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990, which describes how the Crown’s obligations under te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi are provided for in that Act. This Part also consequentially repeals section 5(1)(b) of the Organic Products and Production Act 2023. The References to Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Standardisation) Amendment Bill relocates certain content from section 54 of the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022 to section 4 of that Act. The Parliament of New Zealand enacts as follows: 1 Title This Act is the References to Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Repeals) Amendment Act 2026 . 2 Commencement This Act comes into force 1 month after Royal assent. 3 Principal Act This subpart amends the Crown Pastoral Land Act 1998. 4 Section 84 amended (Matters to be taken into account by Commissioner) Repeal section 84(b). 5 Principal Act This subpart amends the Education and Training Act 2020. 6 Section 536A amended (How DRS operator must perform role) Repeal section 536A(1). 7 Schedule 1 amended In Schedule 1,— a insert the Part set out in the Schedule of this Act as the last Part; and b make all necessary consequential amendments. 8 Principal Act This subpart amends the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act 2000. 9 Section 6 amended (Sustainability principles) Repeal section 6(d). 10 Principal Act This subpart amends the Organic Products and Production Act 2023. 11 Section 4 repealed (Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi) Repeal section 4. 12 Section 5 amended (Outline of Act) Repeal section 5(1)(b). 13 Principal Act This subpart amends the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022. 14 Section 54 repealed (Overview of Part 5) Repeal section 54. 15 Principal Act This subpart amends the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990. 16 Section 3AB repealed (Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi)) Repeal section 3AB. New Part 11 inserted into Schedule 1 of Education and Training Act 2020 11 Provision relating to References to Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Repeals) Amendment Bill 211 Disputes lodged with DRS operator before commencement not affected 1 This Act (as in force immediately before commencement) 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. 2 In this clause, commencement means the date on which this Part comes into force.