NZEI Te Riu Roa says New Zealand First's proposal to abolish the Waitangi Tribunal will remove a critical, independent avenue through which Māori can seek redress for historical and contemporary injustices.
“From railroading curriculum changes in clear disregard for Māori voices and educators’ opposition to removing school boards’ Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations and stripping Aotearoa and other Māori words from the curriculum, there has been a sweeping dismantling of Māori language, culture, and partnership from our schools in the past three years,” NZEI Te Riu Roa President Ripeka Lessels said.
“As a union with a claim before the Tribunal, we view this proposal by New Zealand First to abolish the Tribunal as an attack on our members’ collective right to seek justice for breaches by the Crown in relation to education,” she said.
“We reject this political move to remove independent and robust oversight. This proposal further undermines the Crown’s promise of partnership. Silencing our voice will not erase the systemic inequities facing educators and learners, and we will defend the Tribunal’s role in holding the Crown accountable to Te Tiriti.”
Mrs Lessels said that since the Coalition Government was elected in 2023, “we’ve witnessed a systematic rollback of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and mātauranga Māori across our education system – removing the foundations of culturally responsive learning.”
Earlier this year, NZEI Te Riu Roa, Te Rūnunga o Ngāti Hine, and Te Kapotai sought an urgent Waitangi Tribunal inquiry into the Government’s decision to remove legal obligations for school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti under urgency last year.
The groups also challenged the deprioritisation of te reo Māori, tikanga, mātauranga Māori, and Aotearoa histories in the curriculum. They allege these unilateral changes constitute a breach of Te Tiriti and have caused “significant and irreversible prejudice” against Māori.
NZEI Te Riu Roa is seeking the following remedies through the Waitangi Tribunal:
- restore the mandatory obligation for state school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti.
- formally acknowledge through a public statement that removing these obligations breached the Government’s Te Tiriti duties.
- immediately halt the rollout of Te Mataiaho | The New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa pending genuine consultation with Māori.
- extend the consultation period for Te Marautanga o Aotearoa to be no less favourable than the timeframe provided to the English-medium New Zealand Curriculum.
- commission an independent review of curriculum documents to ensure they give effect to Te Tiriti.