Jones commits to bill forcing Ngāpuhi into Treaty settlement

New Zealand First deputy leader Shane Jones has committed to introducing a bill that would force Ngāpuhi to sign a Treaty of Waitangi settlement, if the party is re-elected to government. Jones made the commitment during TVNZ's Kaupapa Māori Debate on Thursday night.

Jones said he would "deal to it in the first hundred days after the election". The bill would be introduced in the first 100 days of the next government. Ngāpuhi is the largest iwi in Aotearoa.

The proposed legislation is a member's bill, a bill put forward by an individual MP rather than by a minister. New Zealand First is drafting it. In June 2025, RNZ reported that Jones had said the bill would force Ngāpuhi into a single commercial structure. He also said it would make no mention of hapū sovereignty, the authority of hapū, or subtribes.

Jones said after the debate that the bill had been worked on and would "crystalise" the cost and the way forward for the Ngāpuhi claim. If the bill is introduced, it would go to a select committee, a group of MPs that examines proposed laws. Jones said all factions of Ngāpuhi would be able to apply to appear before that committee. He cited the original Ngāi Tahu bill as the precedent for that process.

The John Key-led National government sought a Ngāpuhi settlement in 2009 by recognising a mandate known as Tuhoronuku. That mandate was initiated by a previous rūnanga leader, Sonny Tau. The Tuhoronuku mandate failed. A mandate is the authority a group needs from its people to negotiate a settlement, and rūnanga are the iwi's governing councils.

The current Ngāpuhi rūnanga say they are not currently seeking a mandate to settle the iwi.

Jones said in June 2025 that after 20 years, Ngāpuhi was no closer to a settlement.