Honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Quakers in Aotearoa New Zealand recognise Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a living document fundamental to the life of this nation. We advocate for change to the constitutional arrangements in Aotearoa to properly reflect the rights guaranteed to Maori in Te Tiriti.

We believe that indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination, to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. You can read our Statements on Maori-Pakeha Issues and Bicultural Issues here. Meetings have undertaken many different activities in support of Tino Rangatiratanga.

Nationally, The Treaty Relations Group is active on behalf of Friends in lobbying, networking, and educating Meetings and the community on Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This has included writing and presenting submissions to government bodies, and to local councils, providing Meetings with resources for their activity, running sessions at Summer Gathering, and an annual weekend workshop at the Whanganui Settlement.

Most recently, in 2025, the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Te Hāhi Tūhauwiri made a corporate submission and individual submissions to the Select Committee considering the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill. Quakers oppose the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill in its entirety, because its introduction, without negotiation, proposes to unilaterally diminish the rights negotiated in good faith by Māori and the Crown, as articulated in Te Tiriti o Waitangi 1840. The process demonstrably lacks integrity.