The Government has spent well over $4 million defending legal challenges by Māori since taking office, with the number of urgent inquiries by the Waitangi Tribunal soaring to record highs.
But critics say the real cost is the strain on the Māori-Crown relationship and a former senior National minister agrees. Māori and Government have collided on a number of issues since the coalition Government came into office in 2023.
Information obtained by 1News under the Official Information Act reveals the Government has spent $4,425,404 on legal fees defending its Māori-related policies before the Waitangi Tribunal and the courts.
Five of the highest Crown expenditures on legal advice and representation are:
- The repeal of section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act – including proceedings in the High Court and Court of Appeal over the summons to Minister Karen Chhour: $353,275
- Proposed amendments to the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 – including High Court proceedings brought by iwi: $761,584
- The disestablishment of the Māori Health Authority – including High Court proceedings: $991,854
- Policy changes relating to the use of te reo Māori in the public sector - including proceedings brought by iwi: $636,401
- The Treaty Principles Bill: $778,660
In less than three years, the Waitangi Tribunal has undertaken 10 urgent inquiries. These are granted only in exceptional circumstances when Māori claimants can demonstrate they are likely to suffer significant and irreversible prejudice.
In comparison, the Ministry of Justice said six were granted during the time of the former Labour-led government over a six-year period – between October 2017 and November 2023.
Critics say the real price is the strain on the Māori-Crown relationship. (Source: 1News)
Claimant lawyer David Stone said he has never seen so many urgent inquiries granted in such a short period of time and it’s a direct response to the actions taken by the Government.
“When you look at some legislation that's literally been pushed through under the cover of darkness, under urgency without consultation and all that sort of stuff – this is what you get.”
He believes there is more to come beyond the financial burden.
“It's not just the cost of having these hearings, there's the cost to Māori, there's the cost to wider New Zealand, there's the cost that's yet to come in terms of the impact of the legislation that the government's passing under urgency.”
'High threshold'
Lawyer Harry Clatworthy has represented claimants in six urgent inquiries so far.
He said for the Waitangi Tribunal to grant so many in a short amount of time is significant due to claimants’ requirement to meet strict criteria.
“It is a really high threshold and the tribunal does not grant it easily, so the fact that there's been so many granted really does say a lot.”
He said a lot of work goes into preparing for an urgent hearing and for claimants especially it’s “basically unpaid”.
He said some claimants have been involved in several inquiries. “They're just really sick and tired of having to keep coming back and fight for their rights.
“They see it has a continuation of the fighting their tipuna did to maintain their rights, the continuation of the protest that we've seen since 1975, since that land march, and there's a real taumaha (heaviness), and weight on their heart and their manawa and their spirit.”
He said Māori taxpayers probably would rather see that money better spent in the community as opposed to being spent in the court room.
“Most importantly, the true cost is something that can't be seen yet – that's the cost of not honouring Te Tiriti and the damage that that's going to have on Māori in years to come.”
Former National government minister Chris Finalyson said the Māori-Crown relationship in general hasn’t been “too flash”.
He appeared on Breakfast this week, promoting a new collection of essays from the Helen Clark Foundation called ‘Facing the Future’. The book includes a chapter he wrote which says the coalition has gravely damaged the relationship with Māori.
“I just regret that the National Party didn't heed the excellent advice of John Key in August 2024 when he said at the National Party conference 'tone it down, stop it, use different language because the way you express yourself can be very harmful',” he said.
He added: “We just need to get real, grow up. We don't need this aggressive, nasty stuff. If you're going to be speaking about these things, speak with the language of [Abraham] Lincoln, not the language of [Donald] Trump.”
Government doesn't agree 'at all'
Treaty Negotiations and Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said he doesn’t agree “at all” that Māori-Crown relationship has been greatly harmed over the tenure of the coalition Government and doesn’t believe the number of urgent inquiries is an indication of a strained relationship.
“It’s an indication the Waitangi Tribunal like to grant urgent inquiries whenever something comes up. The Government campaigned on various things and we're doing what we campaigned on.”
Of the millions spent on legal fees, he said: “I don't think New Zealanders would expect us not to defend claims against the Government and the Crown and defend our ability to get on with the legislation and changes that we're elected to do.”
He was questioned further on whether the nearly $800,000 spent defending claims on the Treaty Principles, a legislation the Prime Minister was adamant they would not support beyond first reading, was a waste of money.
He said: "No, it is how our democracy works when parties campaign on things. You form a coalition government based on agreements and you get on with it and that's absolutely appropriate.”
Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka defended the figure. "There was $320 million invested into a light rail project that didn't build ten metres of light rail, so I think we need to just square that up."
A follow up question on whether the two things were comparable went unanswered.
Of the relationship between Māori and the Crown, Potaka listed a number of Government initiatives that he said served Māori, including investing into marae, advancing treaty settlements, and the effort to increase two-year-old immunisation rates.
“There’s been some massive challenges but there’s also been some massive growth and progress," he said of the relationship.
Tribunal criticised, Greens 'shocked'
NZ First MP Shane Jones said his party campaigned on "curbing the writ" of the Waitangi Tribunal, saying the organisation has gone "well beyond" its constitutional reservation.
"We do believe that the recalibration, in terms of changing the number of references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in law is necessary, and I sort of feel that the Waitangi Tribunal is sort of like a farmer’s collie, lame, chasing every passing car - and we’ll deal with that after the next election."
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said she was shocked.
“Flabbergasted at the harm, the time, and the money - the millions that have been spent for this government to be racist," she said.
“And I'm looking at the list, the Māori Health Authority, the Marine and Coastal Bill, the use of te reo in public sector, and so much more, and I'm thinking about not only the fiscal cost, and what that could have instead have gone to. Especially when we've got community services who are desperately crying out for funding, the funding that our people need, but I'm also thinking about the relationship harm.”
She said the Government’s spending on the Treaty Principles Bill alone was “obscene”.
“It's a real lack of leadership. It just shows the lack of skill too though in being able to put a principled approach in front of the country.
“What a slap in the face spending that amount of money on an absolute waste of time, something that even the Prime Minister knew was never going to support it. What an absolute slap in the face for people who are doing hard, for community organisations who are doing it hard right now when that sort of waste of money on something that was extremely racist and was never going to see the light of day as it was.”
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