On the face of it, the government’s desire to make references to te Tiriti o Waitangi consistent across all legislation sounds reasonable.

As Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith argued, current laws variously require decision-makers to “give effect to”, “recognise and provide for”, “honour” or “have particular regard to” the Treaty and its principles.

The cabinet quietly agreed to the advance the policy in February, after a ministerial advisory group suggested it might be helpful to promote consistent wording for each standard of obligation to the Treaty in legislation.

But the group did not recommend reducing those clauses to a single (low) standard of obligation, merely to “take into account” the Treaty principles.

Concerns had already been raised about this review of the law, including by the Waitangi Tribunal and the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

With legislation confirming the changes due to be introduced before this year’s general election, one of the National-led coalition’s most controversial policies may again ignite the campaign trail.

Predetermined policy?

The origins of the issue lie in the coalition agreement between National and New Zealand First which sought to “reverse measures taken in recent years which have eroded the principle of equal citizenship”. Specifically, it committed the government to:

Conduct a comprehensive review of all legislation (except when it is related to, or substantive to, existing full and final Treaty settlements) that includes “The........

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