> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # "The Coalition Conveyor Belt: How “Equal Citizenship” Became A Machine For Downgrading Te Tiriti" - 21 August 2026 - URL: https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/the-coalition-conveyor-belt-how-equal-citizenship-became-a-machine-for-downgrading-te-tiriti-21-august-2026/ - Published: 2026-08-20T20:43:36.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-20T20:43:36.000Z - Description: They Call Rangatiratanga A Fantasy So They Can Strip Treaty Protections In The Real World — And Leave Whānau To Carry The Cost. - Author: Ivor Jones The Māori Green Lantern ## The Crown’s Rusted Machine Is Running Again ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/08/Illuminating_the_Treaty_Rollback_-_Slide_1.jpg) Mōrena Aotearoa, As I begin to write this essay and I look at the bloated face of Shane Jones, the immediate thought comes to mind: > "Shane Jones should never be allowed proximity to power ever again". [‘Parallel sovereignties belong in a parallel universe’: Shane Jones warning to the Waitangi TribunalNZ First’s Shane Jones warns the Waitangi Tribunal to show restraint as a government review of its role proceeds; ministers consider ITAG findings, with a focus on unity and nation![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/icon/favicon-3db24103-eca9-426d-b192-20842e19014d.ico)Te Ao Māori NewsTumamao Harawira![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/thumbnail/D27EA7LOSJHITALJNTLV5D5JFU-f5468e77-0048-482c-9514-532542f00895.png)](https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2026/08/19/parallel-sovereignties-belong-in-a-parallel-universe-shane-jones-warning-to-the-waitangi-tribunal/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) > I write this as Ivor Jones, The Māori Green Lantern: Te Arawa, Ngāti Pikiao and Welsh whakapapa; a kaitiaki using evidence to expose the Crown narratives that diminish Māori rights. This essay concerns public statements by a minister, coalition policy, statutory institutions and the rights of whānau, hapū and iwi. My opinions are plainly identified and anchored in the public record. --- ## Parallel Sovereignties Belong In A Parallel Universe ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/08/Illuminating_the_Treaty_Rollback_-_Slide_2.jpg) I know this machine. Every whānau knows this machine, even when they have never seen the inside of Parliament. > First, the Crown takes power. Then it calls the people who demand an account “divisive”. Then it wraps the taking in words such as *unity*, *fairness*, *growth*, and *equal citizenship*. Shane Jones has now supplied the latest piece of colonial theatre. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/08/Illuminating_the_Treaty_Rollback_-_Slide_3.jpg) Te Ao Māori News reported that the New Zealand First deputy leader told the Waitangi Tribunal to > “show restraint”, warned that it was “imperilling” its own existence if it thwarted the “democratic mandate” of small parties, and dismissed “parallel sovereignties” as belonging in a “parallel universe”. [Read Te Ao Māori News’ Report On Shane Jones’s Warning To The Waitangi Tribunal](https://www.teaonews.co.nz/2026/08/19/parallel-sovereignties-belong-in-a-parallel-universe-shane-jones-warning-to-the-waitangi-tribunal/?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) > I call this what it is: political intimidation dressed up as national cohesion. > A minister warning a statutory watchdog about its institutional survival while it is under ministerial review is an attempt to chill scrutiny, not a serious answer to the evidence that scrutiny produces. > The Treaty of Waitangi Act does not make the Tribunal a rival Parliament. It establishes a body to inquire into claims that Crown laws, policies, acts and omissions are inconsistent with Treaty principles, and to make recommendations. **Verified:** the Act’s long title and core provisions establish this purpose. [Read The Treaty Of Waitangi Act 1975](https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1975/0114/latest/DLM435368.html?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) > Most Tribunal recommendations do not bind the Crown. **T**he Tribunal’s practice guide says recommendations are generally non-binding, apart from limited statutory land-related exceptions. [Read The Waitangi Tribunal’s Practice And Procedure Guide](https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Guide-to-Practice-2023.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) > So let us remove the fog. Jones is not battling an all-powerful Māori state. He is attacking an already constrained process through which whānau can put Crown harm on the record. --- ## The Number Audit Before The Verdict | Numerical Claim | Formula Or Source Validation | Status | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | | **18 statutes** were included in the proposed Treaty/Tiriti clause repeal or downgrade programme | No calculation. The Tribunal’s 31 July 2026 public release explicitly says **18 statutes**. [Read The Tribunal’s Treaty Principles Reform Release](https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/news/new-tribunal-releases-report-on-the-governments-proposed-repeal-or-downgrading-of-treatytiriti-provisions-in-18-statutesnews-page?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) | **Verified** | | **More than 2,000 claims** had been addressed by February 2025 | No calculation. This is a stated total in the ITAG terms of reference. [Read The ITAG Terms Of Reference](https://www.tpk.govt.nz/pages/download/pages-3170-A/Independent%20Technical%20Advisory%20Group%20-%20Terms%20of%20Reference%20%2819%20May%202025%29.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) | **Verified** | | **More than 130 inquiries** had been completed | No calculation. This is a stated total in the ITAG terms of reference. [Read The ITAG Terms Of Reference](https://www.tpk.govt.nz/pages/download/pages-3170-A/Independent%20Technical%20Advisory%20Group%20-%20Terms%20of%20Reference%20%2819%20May%202025%29.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) | **Verified** | | **More than 150 reports** had been issued | No calculation. This is a stated total in the ITAG terms of reference. [Read The ITAG Terms Of Reference](https://www.tpk.govt.nz/pages/download/pages-3170-A/Independent%20Technical%20Advisory%20Group%20-%20Terms%20of%20Reference%20%2819%20May%202025%29.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) | **Verified** | | **19 inquiries** were underway, excluding urgency inquiries | No calculation. The ITAG terms of reference state the number as at 6 February 2025\. [Read The ITAG Terms Of Reference](https://www.tpk.govt.nz/pages/download/pages-3170-A/Independent%20Technical%20Advisory%20Group%20-%20Terms%20of%20Reference%20%2819%20May%202025%29.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) | **Verified** | | Claims were unlikely to be completed by **2035** under the then-current settings | No calculation. This is the official review’s projection, not a certainty or a claim by me. [Read The ITAG Terms Of Reference](https://www.tpk.govt.nz/pages/download/pages-3170-A/Independent%20Technical%20Advisory%20Group%20-%20Terms%20of%20Reference%20%2819%20May%202025%29.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) | **Verified Projection** | | Tribunal jurisdiction now reaches back to **6 February 1840**, rather than being confined to breaches since **10 October 1975** | No calculation. Te Ara records the original limit and the 1985 extension; the ITAG document confirms the historical jurisdiction to 1840\. [Read Te Ara’s History Of The Waitangi Tribunal](https://teara.govt.nz/en/waitangi-tribunal-te-ropu-whakamana/print?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) [Read The ITAG Terms Of Reference](https://www.tpk.govt.nz/pages/download/pages-3170-A/Independent%20Technical%20Advisory%20Group%20-%20Terms%20of%20Reference%20%2819%20May%202025%29.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) | **Verified** | > There is no numerical shortcut around the political truth. A process that has dealt with more than 2,000 claims is not a “fairy tale”. It is a record of Crown conduct that Māori have had to fight, evidence and carry for generations. --- ## The Coalition Agreement Is The Blueprint ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/08/Illuminating_the_Treaty_Rollback_-_Slide_5.jpg) The National–New Zealand First coalition agreement does not hide the direction of travel. > Under its “Equal citizenship” section, it promises to amend Tribunal legislation to refocus inquiries to the “original intent”. > It also promises a comprehensive review of laws referring to Treaty principles, replacing those references with specific wording or repealing them. > Both commitments are in the signed coalition agreement. [Read The National–New Zealand First Coalition Agreement](https://assets.nationbuilder.com/nzfirst/pages/4462/attachments/original/1700784896/National%5F%5F%5FNZF%5FCoalition%5FAgreement%5Fsigned%5F-%5F24%5FNov%5F2023.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) This is the scam of the slogan. > “Equal citizenship” sounds like a warm blanket. In practice, it is being used as a solvent: pour it over the Crown’s Treaty obligations until Māori authority disappears from the page, then tell the public the blank paper is fairness. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/08/Illuminating_the_Treaty_Rollback_-_Slide_4.jpg) > Te Tiriti is not a race-based privilege that can be removed in the name of equality. > It is the constitutional relationship between the Crown and tangata whenua. > Calling Treaty obligations a breach of equal citizenship turns the Crown’s obligations into an inconvenience and Māori rights into a political target. The same agreement links its “equal citizenship” programme to ending co-governance arrangements, ending work on He Puapua, and reviewing or repealing Treaty references in legislation. These commitments appear in the agreement’s “Equal citizenship” section. [Read The National–New Zealand First Coalition Agreement](https://assets.nationbuilder.com/nzfirst/pages/4462/attachments/original/1700784896/National%5F%5F%5FNZF%5FCoalition%5FAgreement%5Fsigned%5F-%5F24%5FNov%5F2023.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) > That is the whakapapa of the policy. This is not one loose sentence from Shane Jones. It is a programme. --- ## The Deep Dive Podcast Waitangi Tribunal and the Treaty Standoff 0:00 /1218.977959 1× > Listen to a lively conversation between two hosts, unpacking and connecting topics in the sources of this essay. I apologise in advance for the AI's very harsh pronounciation of reo. Please dont shoot me, :). ## Youtube Video > Like video? Here is a short video suppporting the essay. Again, don't shoot the messenger please because of AI's pronounciation. :) --- ## Koha To Keep The Tribunal’s Truth From Being Buried ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/08/Illuminating_the_Treaty_Rollback_-_Slide_10-1.jpg) Every koha helps support independent Māori truth-telling when the Crown’s policy machine would rather downgrade Te Tiriti, weaken accountability and leave whānau to carry the harm alone. It says rangatiratanga includes the power to support our own truth tellers — people willing to follow the paper trail, name the damage, and stand with whānau when the institutions of power refuse to listen. Kia kaha, whānau. Stay vigilant. Stay connected. If you are able, consider a koha so this voice can keep tracing the Crown’s conveyor belt and defending the accountability Te Tiriti requires. If you cannot koha, kei te pai. Subscribe or follow [The Māori Green Lantern](https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/), kōrero about this with your whānau and friends, and share the mahi. That is koha too. - Support This Mahi With A Voluntary Koha Through [Koha — Support The Māori Green Lantern](https://app.koha.kiwi/events/the-maori-green-lantern-fighting-misinformation-and-disinformation-ivor-jones?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) - Receive Essays Directly And Support Through [Subscribe To The Māori Green Lantern](https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/#/portal/support) - Support By Direct Bank Transfer: **Ivor Jones — 03-1395-0099387-000** - Follow And Subscribe On [The Māori Green Lantern Facebook Page](https://www.facebook.com/Themaorigreenlantern/subscribe/) --- ## The Review Is Not Floating Above Politics > Te Puni Kōkiri’s April 2025 Cabinet paper says the review was designed to implement the National–NZ First coalition commitment. The paper identifies the coalition commitment as the proposal’s purpose. [Read The Cabinet Paper On The Waitangi Tribunal Legislation Review](https://www.tpk.govt.nz/pages/download/pages-3170-A/Cabinet%20Paper%20-%20Coalition%20Commitment%20-%20Review%20of%20the%20Waitangi%20Tribunal%20Legislation%20%28April%202025%29.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) > The same paper identifies Shane Jones as a member of the Ministerial Advisory Group overseeing the review, alongside Tama Potaka, Judith Collins and David Seymour. The ministerial group is listed in the paper. [Read The Cabinet Paper On The Waitangi Tribunal Legislation Review](https://www.tpk.govt.nz/pages/download/pages-3170-A/Cabinet%20Paper%20-%20Coalition%20Commitment%20-%20Review%20of%20the%20Waitangi%20Tribunal%20Legislation%20%28April%202025%29.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) > The Cabinet paper itself records the risk that the review could be seen as politically motivated restructuring of a quasi-judicial body, creating legal and reputational risk. That risk is recorded in the paper. [Read The Cabinet Paper On The Waitangi Tribunal Legislation Review](https://www.tpk.govt.nz/pages/download/pages-3170-A/Cabinet%20Paper%20-%20Coalition%20Commitment%20-%20Review%20of%20the%20Waitangi%20Tribunal%20Legislation%20%28April%202025%29.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) > There it is. The Crown’s own paperwork foresaw the danger. Then Jones walked straight into that danger, shouting the quiet part through a loudhailer. --- ## The “Original Intent” Trap ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/08/Illuminating_the_Treaty_Rollback_-_Slide_9.jpg) > Whenever the Crown says it wants to restore an “original” arrangement, Māori must ask: original for whom? Original before what was fixed? Original before whose pain was allowed into the room? > The Tribunal began in 1975 with power to investigate only claims arising after 10 October 1975\. Te Ara records this original jurisdictional limit. [Read Te Ara’s History Of The Waitangi Tribunal](https://teara.govt.nz/en/waitangi-tribunal-te-ropu-whakamana/print?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) > In 1985 Parliament extended the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to claims dating back to 6 February 1840\. Te Ara and the ITAG terms record the extension. [Read Te Ara’s History Of The Waitangi Tribunal](https://teara.govt.nz/en/waitangi-tribunal-te-ropu-whakamana/print?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) [Read The ITAG Terms Of Reference](https://www.tpk.govt.nz/pages/download/pages-3170-A/Independent%20Technical%20Advisory%20Group%20-%20Terms%20of%20Reference%20%2819%20May%202025%29.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) The review’s own terms say the 1985 change enabled historical claims from 1840 to be heard. This is stated in the terms of reference. [Read The ITAG Terms Of Reference](https://www.tpk.govt.nz/pages/download/pages-3170-A/Independent%20Technical%20Advisory%20Group%20-%20Terms%20of%20Reference%20%2819%20May%202025%29.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) > So I say this plainly: “original intent” is not neutral language. In this context it risks becoming a polite code for returning Māori claims to a narrower doorway — one Parliament had already recognised was inadequate. --- ## Eighteen Statutes, One Direction Of Travel ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/08/Illuminating_the_Treaty_Rollback_-_Slide_8.jpg) On 31 July 2026, the Waitangi Tribunal released its report into Cabinet’s proposed repeal or downgrading of Treaty/Tiriti provisions across 18 statutes. The number and scope appear in the Tribunal’s release. [Read The Tribunal’s Treaty Principles Reform Release](https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/news/new-tribunal-releases-report-on-the-governments-proposed-repeal-or-downgrading-of-treatytiriti-provisions-in-18-statutesnews-page?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) The Tribunal says Cabinet agreed on 23 February 2026 that, where Treaty/Tiriti provisions remained, their weighting should be lowered to no more than “take into account”. The decision and wording are reported in the Tribunal’s release. [Read The Tribunal’s Treaty Principles Reform Release](https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/news/new-tribunal-releases-report-on-the-governments-proposed-repeal-or-downgrading-of-treatytiriti-provisions-in-18-statutesnews-page?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) > The Tribunal found Cabinet breached good government and active protection by acting on a flawed rationale, without supporting evidence, without adequate assessment of impact on Māori, and by giving coalition commitments priority over properly informed policy decisions. The Tribunal’s release sets out these findings. [Read The Tribunal’s Treaty Principles Reform Release](https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/news/new-tribunal-releases-report-on-the-governments-proposed-repeal-or-downgrading-of-treatytiriti-provisions-in-18-statutesnews-page?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) > That is not the Tribunal playing politics. That is a Tribunal explaining why the Government’s process fails its legal and constitutional obligations. > When a Government is told by its own statutory inquiry that it has acted without evidence, without adequate impact assessment and without meaningful partnership, the answer is not to threaten the inquiry. The answer is to stop, listen and repair the breach. --- ## Three Examples For The Western Mind ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/08/Illuminating_the_Treaty_Rollback_-_Slide_6-1.jpg) ### Example One: The Smoke Alarm > **The Point:** A smoke alarm is not the fire. It does not invent the flames, create the smoke or burn the house down. It tells you the house is burning. > The Waitangi Tribunal’s general recommendations are non-binding. Its published practice guide says that, except for limited statutory situations, its recommendations do not bind the Crown. [Read The Waitangi Tribunal’s Practice And Procedure Guide](https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Guide-to-Practice-2023.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) **The Harm:** If a Minister threatens the institution for reporting Crown breaches, the message to every future claimant is clear: the Crown may punish the alarm rather than deal with the fire. That damages trust in the only purpose-built forum through which many whānau can have Crown harm formally examined. **The Solution:** Keep the Tribunal independent, answer its evidence openly, and publish any proposed legislative changes alongside the final ITAG advice and a clause-by-clause explanation of what will change. Transparency is the minimum democratic standard for legislation that affects Treaty accountability. **The Tikanga Impact:** Tikanga requires relationships to be maintained through responsibility, truthfulness and the restoration of balance. A Crown that silences the forum where breach is named is not restoring balance; it is deepening whakamā, mamae and distrust. ### Example Two: The Landlord Who Rewrites The Lease > **The Point:** Imagine a landlord signing a lease, taking the rent, then returning years later to cross out every clause that requires repairs, access or fair treatment — while calling it “equal tenancy”. That is not equality. It is unilateral power pretending to be neutral. > The coalition agreement promises to review Treaty-principle references in legislation, replace them with specific wording or repeal them. That is a stated coalition commitment. [Read The National–New Zealand First Coalition Agreement](https://assets.nationbuilder.com/nzfirst/pages/4462/attachments/original/1700784896/National%5F%5F%5FNZF%5FCoalition%5FAgreement%5Fsigned%5F-%5F24%5FNov%5F2023.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) > The Tribunal’s 2026 report concerns proposals across 18 statutes, and it says Cabinet contemplated reducing surviving Treaty/Tiriti clauses to no more than “take into account”. The Tribunal’s release states this. [Read The Tribunal’s Treaty Principles Reform Release](https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/news/new-tribunal-releases-report-on-the-governments-proposed-repeal-or-downgrading-of-treatytiriti-provisions-in-18-statutesnews-page?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) **The Harm:** The Tribunal found that, if the programme proceeds without meaningful co-design, it would breach good government, active protection and partnership; it also found potential harm to Māori health, environmental outcomes, kaitiakitanga and rangatiratanga. These findings are published by the Tribunal. [Read The Tribunal’s Treaty Principles Reform Release](https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/news/new-tribunal-releases-report-on-the-governments-proposed-repeal-or-downgrading-of-treatytiriti-provisions-in-18-statutesnews-page?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) **The Solution:** Pause the programme, retain Treaty/Tiriti protections, and co-design any reform with Māori before Cabinet chooses the destination. These are consistent with the Tribunal’s published recommendations. [Read The Tribunal’s Treaty Principles Reform Release](https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/news/new-tribunal-releases-report-on-the-governments-proposed-repeal-or-downgrading-of-treatytiriti-provisions-in-18-statutesnews-page?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) **The Tikanga Impact:** Kaitiakitanga is not a decorative Māori word for an environmental strategy. It is the lived responsibility to care for whenua, wai and future generations. Removing duties that require the Crown to take Te Tiriti seriously makes it easier for extractive decisions to be made over Māori objections. ### Example Three: The Hospital Queue > **The Point:** If a hospital has a long queue, the humane answer is more staff, better triage and genuine access. The cruel answer is to close the clinic for the people who have waited longest, then blame them for the queue. > The review’s ITAG terms say the Tribunal had addressed more than 2,000 claims, completed more than 130 inquiries, issued more than 150 reports, and had 19 inquiries underway as at 6 February 2025, excluding urgency inquiries. Every figure is stated in the terms of reference. [Read The ITAG Terms Of Reference](https://www.tpk.govt.nz/pages/download/pages-3170-A/Independent%20Technical%20Advisory%20Group%20-%20Terms%20of%20Reference%20%2819%20May%202025%29.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) > The same terms say claims were unlikely to be completed by 2035 under existing settings. That is the review document’s forecast, not a certainty asserted by me. [Read The ITAG Terms Of Reference](https://www.tpk.govt.nz/pages/download/pages-3170-A/Independent%20Technical%20Advisory%20Group%20-%20Terms%20of%20Reference%20%2819%20May%202025%29.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) **The Harm:** Long waits are real. But using those waits to justify narrowing the Tribunal’s reach is the Crown turning its own resourcing and process failures into another barrier for claimants. **The Solution:** Separate efficiency reform from Treaty rollback: properly resource inquiry capacity, claimant participation, research and legal assistance; then measure whether whānau reach resolution sooner without losing the right to be heard. Delay requires investment and partnership, not the disappearance of rights. **The Tikanga Impact:** A hearing is not merely paperwork. It can be a pathway for kaumātua, uri and communities to place whakapapa, memory and harm on the record. Curtailing that pathway depletes mauri by telling people their history is an inconvenience to Crown timetables. --- ## This Is Why The Tribunal Is Under Attack ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/08/Pressure_on_Waitangi_Tribunal.png) > In 2024, the Tribunal found the Treaty Principles Bill policy breached partnership and reciprocity, active protection, good government, equity, redress and the article 2 guarantee of rangatiratanga. > It found the Bill lacked a policy imperative, rested on flawed rationales, and distorted both history and te Tiriti’s text. These findings are set out in the Tribunal’s public release. [Read The Waitangi Tribunal’s Treaty Principles Bill Report](https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/news/tribunal-releases-report-on-treaty-principles-bill?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) > The Tribunal said the Treaty Principles Bill policy and the Treaty-clause review policy together showed an alarming pattern of using policy process and parliamentary sovereignty against Māori rather than meeting Treaty obligations. That conclusion is stated in the Tribunal’s release. [Read The Waitangi Tribunal’s Treaty Principles Bill Report](https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/news/tribunal-releases-report-on-treaty-principles-bill?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) That is why the Tribunal becomes inconvenient to this Government. It writes down what the press release tries to erase. This is the white-supremacist logic of neoliberal government in its bureaucratic uniform. It treats Māori authority as a cost centre, Treaty protections as regulatory friction, and collective rights as obstacles to whoever is waiting to profit from weakened accountability. The language is polished; the purpose is the old one — Crown power without meaningful Māori constraint. [“THE TRAFFIC LIGHT TAIAHA: How a White Supremacist Government Built a Punishment Machine That Creates No Jobs, Finds No Work, and Feeds Only on Brown Bodies” - 28 February 2026They slashed 7,000 public sector jobs. They watched unemployment climb to a decade-high. Then they built a traffic light system to punish the people they threw out of work for not finding the jobs they destroyed — and called it “accountability.”![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/icon/wRBaxmzNFf2merz1-4d6886b3-ae04-44e6-9aa5-3481664e6893.png)The Māori Green LanternIvor Jones The Māori Green Lantern![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/thumbnail/Have-benefit-sanctions-actually-worked-RNZ-News-02-28-2026_11_03_AM-342d129b-2c53-493b-87e0-e552db6868ca.png)](https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/the-traffic-light-taiaha-how-a-white-supremacist-government-built-a-punishment-machine-that-creates-no-jobs-finds-no-work-and-feeds-only-on-brown-bodies-28-february-2026/) > I have written before about how this Government turns systemic failure into individual punishment in [The Traffic Light Taiaha: How A White Supremacist Government Built A Punishment Machine That Creates No Jobs, Finds No Work, And Feeds Only On Brown Bodies](https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/the-traffic-light-taiaha-how-a-white-supremacist-government-built-a-punishment-machine-that-creates-no-jobs-finds-no-work-and-feeds-only-on-brown-bodies-28-february-2026/). That essay documents my earlier analysis of the Government’s punitive policy direction. [Read The Traffic Light Taiaha](https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/the-traffic-light-taiaha-how-a-white-supremacist-government-built-a-punishment-machine-that-creates-no-jobs-finds-no-work-and-feeds-only-on-brown-bodies-28-february-2026/) This Treaty rollback is the same machine operating at constitutional scale. Instead of sanctioning one whānau at a time, it seeks to weaken the rules that require the Crown to see Māori rights at all. The Māori Green Lantern archive shows this is not a passing concern: it has repeatedly tracked how ministerial rhetoric, neoliberal restructuring and weak accountability combine to harm whānau. The site’s current archive includes political analysis focused on Crown policy and its impacts. [Browse The Māori Green Lantern Archive](https://www.themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz/) --- ## What I Demand From This Government ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/08/mhvRElDmMfq77sKz-4.png) **Release The Final ITAG Report And The Government’s Full** > The public should see the advice, the alternatives considered, the evidence and the Ministerial decisions before any Bill is introduced. **Opinion and public-interest recommendation:** secrecy is not a mandate. **Stop Using Tribunal Workload As A Pretext For Treaty Retrenchment** > The Cabinet paper itself identifies case load, long waits and resourcing pressures. **Verified:** these issues are recorded in the review documentation. [Read The Cabinet Paper On The Waitangi Tribunal Legislation Review](https://www.tpk.govt.nz/pages/download/pages-3170-A/Cabinet%20Paper%20-%20Coalition%20Commitment%20-%20Review%20of%20the%20Waitangi%20Tribunal%20Legislation%20%28April%202025%29.pdf?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) **Pause The Eighteen-Statute Treaty-Clause Programme.** > The Tribunal has recommended pausing the programme, not repealing or downgrading Treaty/Tiriti provisions, and engaging meaningfully with Māori. These recommendations appear in the Tribunal’s release. [Read The Tribunal’s Treaty Principles Reform Release](https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/en/news/new-tribunal-releases-report-on-the-governments-proposed-repeal-or-downgrading-of-treatytiriti-provisions-in-18-statutesnews-page?ref=themaorigreenlantern.maori.nz) **End The Threats And Answer The Evidence.** > Jones can disagree with the Tribunal. But **opinion:** he should meet it with facts, law and reasoned argument — not with a political warning about its survival. --- ## The Moral Line The Waitangi Tribunal did not create the Crown breaches that come before it. It did not confiscate whenua. It did not write policies that reduce Treaty obligations. It did not tell the Crown to put coalition bargains ahead of evidence. It investigates the consequences when the Crown does those things. > The real “parallel universe” is the one Shane Jones is selling: a country where Māori can be told Te Tiriti matters while the legal duties that give it force are rubbed out; where the Tribunal is called divisive for reporting breach; where the Crown calls a retreat from responsibility a shared future. > I reject it. Ko te Tiriti is not a fairy tale. Rangatiratanga is not a threat. Accountability is not division. And whānau will not be made invisible because this Government finds the evidence politically inconvenient. The taiaha is raised — not against ordinary people, but against lies told in the name of ordinary people. The truth has a whakapapa. It has evidence. And it has consequences for every Crown minister who tries to turn Māori rights into ash and call the smoke democracy. Māuri Ora! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/b1/cd/b1cd2cb0-95e8-4ee7-ad91-84123e3121bd/content/images/2026/08/W_MBJll3xOxsUJ30-1.png) Ivor Jones The Māori Green Lantern Fighting Misinformation And Disinformation From The Far Right --- ## **Legal Disclaimer** This is public-interest commentary on Government policy, public figures and public institutions. Linked sources support factual claims. Interpretive statements are identified as opinion and are based on the disclosed evidence. Corrections will be made promptly if credible evidence identifies an error.