Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi

The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi (in Māori: ngā mātāpono o te tiriti) are partly an attempt to reconcile the different te reo Māori and English language versions of the Treaty of Waitangi, and allow the application of the Treaty to a contemporary context.

The principles of the Treaty are often mentioned in contemporary New Zealand politics.

The Treaty of Waitangi itself cannot be used as the basis for law, for two reasons: first, "the English and Māori versions are not exactly the same", and second, "it focuses on the issues relevant at the time it was signed."

The principles originate from the famous case brought in the High Court by the New Zealand Māori Council (New Zealand Maori Council v Attorney-General) in 1987. There was great concern at that time about the ongoing restructuring of the New Zealand economy by the then Fourth Labour Government, specifically the transfer of assets from former Government departments to State-owned enterprises. Because the state-owned enterprises were essentially private firms owned by the government, there was an argument that they would prevent assets which had been given by Māori for use by the state from being returned to Māori by the Waitangi Tribunal and through Treaty settlements. The Māori Council sought enforcement of section 9 of the State Owned Enterprises Act 1986 which reads: "Nothing in this Act shall permit the Crown to act in a manner that is inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi".

The Court of Appeal, in a judgement of its then President Sir Robin Cooke, decided upon the following Treaty principles:

In 1989, the Fourth Labour Government adopted the "Principles for Crown Action on the Treaty of Waitangi". Therese Crocker has argued that Labour's publication of the principles "comprised one of a number of Crown responses to what is generally known as the 'Maori Renaissance'." Prime Minister David Lange, in an introduction to the document said of the principles that:

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