Tribunal finds school curriculum rewrite breached Treaty principles
The Waitangi Tribunal has found the Government's rewrite of the school curriculum was ideological and breached multiple Treaty principles.
Presiding officer Rachel Mullins set out the findings in a letter to ministers. The findings were reported on 17 September 2026 ahead of the Tribunal's Stage Two, Part I report, Hūtia te Rito o te Harakeke, kei Hea te Kōmako e Kō? RNZ
The Tribunal found a breach of partnership, which in Treaty terms means the Crown must engage properly with Māori, over the new draft national curriculum. It found a breach of active protection, which means the Crown must guard Māori interests, by pushing a knowledge-rich curriculum with no evidence it will cut inequities for Māori.
The Tribunal described that knowledge-rich approach as one where all students learn the same knowledge in the same sequence and structure and move ahead together. Think of it as everyone on the same page on the same day. It said the choice was predetermined. It called it a return to one-size-fits-all education.
What the Tribunal found
The Tribunal said Government talk of restoring balance in teaching Aotearoa New Zealand's histories cut back the focus on local and Māori experience, including the Treaty itself. It said ministers drove the changes through despite opposition from Māori and from the education sector.
It was critical of the Curriculum Ministerial Advisory Group appointed by Education Minister Erica Stanford. The Tribunal said the group included members who were unenthusiastic about mātauranga Māori or openly hostile to it.
The Tribunal also found the Crown did not meet its duties under the Kawa Whakapūmau with Ngā Kura ā Iwi. It found little sign the Crown had used the findings of the Huia Kaimanawa report when it pushed the knowledge-rich plan. Te Marautanga o Aotearoa is the curriculum designed for Māori-medium and kaupapa Māori settings.
Its recommendations are for the Crown to commit again to partnership with Māori in education. It also asked the Crown to work again with Māori on a Māori-medium and kaupapa Māori curriculum through Te Marautanga o Aotearoa.
How the inquiry ran
The Stage Two, Part I inquiry covers the Crown's reform of the national curriculum. That covers both Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and the New Zealand Curriculum. A pre-publication copy was released on 16 September 2026.
The panel was Judge Rachel Mullins, Gerrard Albert, Derek Fox, Dr Paul Hamer and Kevin Prime.
Te Kapotai and Ngāti Hine first sought urgency, a fast-track hearing, on 19 November 2025. Kaimahi Māori of Te Riu Roa / New Zealand Educational Institute sought urgency on 3 December 2025. The Crown opposed urgency.
The Tribunal granted urgency on 2 March 2026. It heard the claims on 15 and 17 April 2026. It heard oral closing submissions on 28 April 2026.
A forthcoming Stage Two, Part II report will deal with the removal of school boards' Treaty duties formerly in section 127(1)(d) of the Education and Training Act 2020.
What came before and what comes next
The curriculum report follows the Tribunal's Interim Stage One Report, released on 14 May 2026. That inquiry was brought by Te Kapotai, a hapū based in the Bay of Islands. Waitangi Tribunal
Te Kapotai said the Crown breached te Tiriti by removing the section 127(1)(d) duty for school boards to give effect to te Tiriti o Waitangi. It also said the Crown de-prioritised te Tiriti, te reo Māori and mātauranga Māori in the national curriculum through the refresh of the New Zealand Curriculum / Te Mātaiaho.
The Stage One report dealt with Cabinet decisions on 23 February 2026. Cabinet agreed to water down Treaty provisions in the Education and Training Act 2020 to a take into account standard. It agreed to remove Treaty duties for dispute resolution service operators. It agreed to replace references to Te Tiriti o Waitangi with a reference to both texts. Three extra purpose provisions were left for Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith to decide.
Officials told Cabinet that tight timeframes had blocked in-depth study and that too little was known about likely harm. The Tribunal said the Crown acted against that advice and showed reckless disregard for likely harm to the Māori-Crown relationship.
The Crown had advice from the Ngā Matapono Tribunal on how to run a Treaty-compliant review of Treaty clauses. It talked with the National Iwi Chairs Forum as the single national Māori body only after key decisions were made. The Justice Minister said the select committee process, where MPs take public submissions on a Bill, would give Māori enough input. The Tribunal called that inadequate and an insult to Māori.
The Tribunal recommended the Crown halt the amending law at once. It recommended steps to repair the Māori-Crown relationship. It said if change was objectively needed, the Crown should design it jointly with Māori. In that earlier report it found breaches of Te Tiriti principles and of good government, and prejudice to Māori. It said the Treaty overhaul in education law may be worse than the Treaty Principles Bill. NZ Herald
The broader context here is leverage and timing. Tribunal reports do not bind ministers. They build a record ministers must answer in the House, in court and in the next consultation. Stanford now holds adverse findings on process and teaching method while Goldsmith holds adverse findings on the law change. How the Government answers the call to re-engage on Te Marautanga o Aotearoa will set the terms for Part II, which goes to the future of section 127(1)(d).
