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.
