“For voters, the challenge is to stay focused on Te Tiriti,” writes Tina Ngata. Pictured is Whangārei resident Jenni Moore, who joined Māori ward supporters before the local council elections last year. (Photo: Peter de Graaf / RNZ)
For those who want to see Te Tiriti upheld in our country’s systems of power, it’s time to vote for the kaupapa, not a party, writes Tina Ngata. This is the first of an occasional series of election columns by Tina leading up to the general election on November 10.
Perhaps the only thing that could have out-stormed Māori politics in the past year was the actual storms.
This time last year, there was a sense of hope, purpose, and political momentum. The hīkoi of November 2024 had brought the nation together in a stirring commitment to Tiriti justice. The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill attracted a record number of submissions. Electoral enrolments (particularly for the Māori roll) were up, more rangatahi than ever were engaged, and people seemed clear about the path ahead.
Today, there’s a sense of despair. The way forward is less certain.
After multiple implosions within Te Pāti Māori, there’s been a significant exodus of support — some towards the Green Party or Labour — and sadly, many say they simply don’t see the point in voting anymore.
And because the coloniser boot doesn’t quit, a review of Treaty clauses in legislation is kicking into gear, intended to reduce the government’s legal obligations to the lowest possible level, and to lock that in across the board. Even, in some cases, removing Treaty obligations altogether.
The sense of despair is understandable, and to a degree, they were predictable.
Maintaining political momentum is hard. When fatigue sets in, it can be frustrating to see your abusers still in power, still abusing in spite of all your efforts. When fatigue combines with frustration, small differences can feel large. If they’re not addressed, they can eventually seem too large to overcome, and people drift away from each other and from the movement.
And yet, if we look closely enough, there are still reasons to hope.
For instance, the response to the Regulatory Standards Bill was also historic, despite the bill being significantly more complex, and resistance to it remained unwavering right through to its enactment in November.
Local body elections in 2025 saw Tiriti-positive candidates elected to councils up and down the country, and at the national level, support for Māori ward representation was undeniable.
And this year’s Waitangi Day saw another massive turnout. Tens of thousands of New Zealanders from all walks of life showed up for Te Tiriti. They got up for pre-dawn karakia and attended debates on the day’s pressing issues. They were there, in force, for solidarity and learning. Our rangatahi were there too, in full chorus, delivering statements and politicised slam poetry that cut to the chase on every political issue you can name.
Another hopeful sign was the third annual Horizon survey by the Human Rights Commission, which indicates that 78 percent of New Zealanders see Te Tiriti as important for our nation. Crucially, it also shows that 70 percent support constitutional protection of Te Tiriti.
More recently, we’ve seen National’s support drop to its lowest level. And if you look across to the United Nations, we have incredible wāhine and rangatahi holding power to account through their interventions on the world stage.
What this tells us is that the political motivation is still there. Love for Te Tiriti and commitment to justice are still there. What’s needed is direction.
When a small group of us ran the “Vote for Te Tiriti” campaign last year, we wanted to highlight the many wonderful Tiriti-positive candidates running for local council elections. The campaign aimed to move voters past personalities and billboards, and make the elections about kaupapa. One kaupapa — Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
It wasn’t just for Māori ward candidates — it was for all candidates. And it was to give people concerned about the attacks on Te Tiriti a way to ensure their vote went towards honouring Te Tiriti, at the local level.
Can we do the same for the general elections? Well, yes, we can, but it’s a little different this time.
In both cases, the primary challenge of enrolment remains the same. The typical profile of someone who isn’t enrolled is that they’re young, Māori, and income-restricted. While many might find it easy to say “Don’t complain if you don’t vote”, let’s face it, that line isn’t working, and it’s unfair. Income-restricted and young people are rarely included in meaningful ways, whether they vote or not, and are often used for political point-scoring even as they remain unincluded.
The challenge is not to lecture them, but to stand by them and ensure their visibility and inclusion in political spaces.
For voters, the challenge is to stay focused on Te Tiriti. When we ran the Vote for Te Tiriti campaign, all the candidates we profiled were asked two simple questions. What does Te Tiriti mean to you? And how do you plan to honour it in local government?
In a general election, candidates and parties to the left of National are generally quite polished in their responses. Their answers are well-rehearsed and tend to fall into broad categories. For example, we will support “abc” in health, and we will do “abc” for the environment.
But the problem we face is that, despite MMP, political power in this country consistently swings between the centre-right (Labour-led coalitions) and the far-right (National-led coalitions).
Since 2000, around the world, the pattern among right-wing governments coming into power has been to repeal, reverse, disestablish and defund progressive policy and legislation (as we saw here with the 2023 National-ACT-New Zealand First coalition agreement).
So everything that progressives promise, even if enacted, can (and likely will) be repealed a few years down the track when the political pendulum inevitably swings back to the right again.
That is, unless we change how we do government.
The Vote for Te Tiriti question then has to be not just “How do you plan to honour Te Tiriti?”, but also “How do you plan to protect Te Tiriti?” All Treaty promises must be accompanied by a plan to change our government to one that is constitutionally centred upon Te Tiriti.
Without a plan for constitutional protection of Te Tiriti, we risk any progress being laid to waste again within a few years. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to go through this again.
If you’re at this point saying: “Look, just tell me who to vote for,” you wouldn’t be the first.
But I can’t, and I won’t.
I can’t because if we make it about a party or a candidate, we stop making it about the kaupapa. If recent years have shown us anything, it’s that anything can happen at any time to completely change the game board, or indeed flip the entire table.
So when you build your political strategy around a person or a party, you’re very vulnerable. But if you build it around a kaupapa (like protecting Te Tiriti), and if you learn about that kaupapa, and take the time to understand what’s needed from a politician and party to advance that kaupapa, then you won’t need me to tell you who is best for the job. You’ll know.
And I won’t tell you who to vote for, because that denies you the most important power you have — the power to self-determine your own vote.
The submissions process for the Treaty principles bill and the Regulatory Standards Bill was so successful precisely because the power was put in the hands of the people to be their own voice. Tino Rangatiratanga, as a political movement, has never been about a person, or personalities, or a party. It has always been about the kaupapa.
True power has always been in the hands of the people. The missing piece is only ever whether we care deeply enough to become our own experts on the kaupapa, so that we know how to push for it, and how to vote for it.
I know my kaupapa for this election. Constitutional protection of Te Tiriti, through Matike Mai.
Whatever else any party wants to do for Te Tiriti may be noble and worthwhile, but if they don’t have a plan first and foremost to protect it at the constitutional level, I will be pressing them on that.
So, for the pathway ahead?
I have my kaupapa in one hand, and I’m ready with the other to fend off election tactics that try to block the way.
The fearmongering: “You won’t be able to feed your kids. There’ll be more crime.”
The racebaiting: “Iwi privilege. Ordinary kiwis don’t get scholarships. Butter chicken tsunami.”
The diverting: “Real New Zealanders are more worried about food on the table. What really matters is that rights and interests are protected.”
The delaying: “There will be a time for that discussion, but it’s not now. We’ll sort that after the cost of living crisis.”
And the misinformation: “Matike Mai is a radical takeover of New Zealand.”
My fending technique is strongest when I know what I’m talking about, which means staying up to date on Tiriti justice and immersing myself in Matike Mai.
That’s my electoral strategy. To make it about the kaupapa, not the person or party. To grab my own political power with both hands. Whatever happens, if I am pono or true to that, I win.
Tina Ngata (Ngāti Porou) is a researcher and scholar, and the author ofKia Mau: Resisting Colonial Fictions. Her work involves advocacy for environmental, Indigenous and human rights. This includes local, national and international initiatives that highlight the role of settler colonialism in issues such as climate change and waste pollution, and which promote Indigenous conservation as best practice for a globally sustainable future
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