Racial discrimination escalating in Aotearoa – report

A significant, ideologically driven attack on Māori rights, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and racial equity is occurring in Aotearoa New Zealand, according to the co-authors of a shadow report for the UN.

The report, written by members of the Aotearoa Centre for Indigenous Peoples and the Law (Te Wai Ariki), will inform the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Te Wai Ariki co-director Professor Claire Charters (Auckland Law School) says the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has repeatedly found that constitutional transformation is needed in New Zealand to achieve equality for Māori.

She says the report will inform New Zealand’s 23rd and 24th periodic UN reviews, scheduled for November 2025.

The breaches of Māori rights by this Government are profound, says Charters:

“They include an egregious abuse of its power to deliberately, explicitly, and brazenly trample on our rights under Te Tiriti and international law. It will undoubtedly be of concern to the Committee that the Government can do so with impunity, given the lack of constitutional protections of Māori rights.”

Te Wai Ariki’s submission argues that the current Coalition Government’s policies negatively impact Māori rights and remove certain protections. It states: “the Government is actively and profoundly aggravating New Zealand’s constitutionally racist foundation in a way we have not seen for at least half a century.”

It calls for constitutional transformation, not incremental reform, “to protect Māori tino rangatiratanga and prevent further legislative breaches of human rights”.

The report warns that “without transformation, Parliament remains unchecked and continues to pass laws in breach of Indigenous peoples’ rights.”

It also says the Government has been openly hostile to UN oversight, pointing to Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour’s controversial response to the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples in July 2025.

Two other reports – submitted by the People’s Action Plan Against Racism in Aotearoa (PAPARA), Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa (the Māori Law Society) will also inform the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Across all three reports, the organisations highlight legislative and policy reforms by the Government that they say breach New Zealand’s obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Te Hunga Rōia Māori describe the reforms as a “scorched-earth approach” to law and policy that has “systematically targeted Māori-specific policies, institutions and rights across health, justice, education, and the environment.”

In particular, their report cites the repeal of section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act (removing statutory obligations to support Māori children in state care), the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora (the Māori Health Authority), and the introduction of the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Amendment Bill, which would alter legal recognition of customary marine title.

The People’s Action Plan Against Racism in Aotearoa, supported by the National Iwi Chairs Forum, describes the current situation as “a coordinated campaign of Treaty racism”.

Collectively, the reports ask the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to:

• Record that the 54th Government’s reforms are racially discriminatory and in breach of ICERD;
• Reaffirm the constitutional status of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Waitangi Tribunal;
• Recommend an independent investigation into racial discrimination and legislative harm in Aotearoa;
• Urge constitutional transformation consistent with Matike Mai Aotearoa;
• Establish enhanced UN monitoring and in-country consultations with Māori and affected communities.