The Waitangi Tribunal has found that New Zealand’s citizenship law breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and fails to recognise Māori as tangata whenua, recommending urgent reform to ensure whakapapa is reflected in national identity and immigration law.
In its report He Tangata, He Whenua – The Citizenship Report, the Tribunal ruled that the Citizenship Act 1977 and associated processes are inconsistent with Treaty principles, including rangatiratanga, partnership, good government, active protection, equal treatment, and options.
The urgent inquiry, held in Wellington in September, was sparked by the claim of John Ruddock (Ngāpuhi), a New Zealand citizen by descent whose children, born overseas, were denied automatic citizenship because neither parent was born in Aotearoa.
The Tribunal found that the Act’s one-generation limit on citizenship by descent and the absence of any recognition of Māori as tangata whenua were significant breaches of Te Tiriti.
Judge Alana Thomas, presiding officer, wrote that “the wording of the legislation is void of any recognition of Māori as tangata whenua, and of any recognition of te Tiriti as our founding document.”
The Tribunal has urged the Crown to amend the Citizenship Act 1977 through a co-design process with Māori, stating that the current law “is outdated and requires amendment.”
Its key recommendations include:
- a full legislative review of the Citizenship Act 1977
- inclusion of a Treaty clause recognising Māori as tangata whenua
- the creation of a whakapapa-based pathway for Māori born offshore to reconnect with their tūrangawaewae
- and co-decision-making with Māori in all future policy and legislative changes relating to citizenship and belonging.
Judge Thomas cited Pou Tikanga Waihoroi Shortland, who told the Tribunal, “Me whakatika te ture kia tika ai te ture – the law requires reform in order for it to be just.”
Legal implications and government accountability
Hunga Rōia Māori Co-President and counsel in the inquiry, Season-Mary Downs, says the Tribunal’s findings are a positive outcome for claimants and others impacted by the law.
“One really unique feature of this particular report is that the Tribunal articulated that Māori are equally entitled to be here and to have their whakapapa recognised. When some Māori can and others who are overseas can’t, that’s not fair and that’s not equal treatment under Te Tiriti o Waitangi,” she said.
Downs said the “clearest and most obvious” breach was the absence of any Treaty provision in the Citizenship Act.
“The Tribunal found that that is a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. There is now an expectation that the Crown and the Government engage with Māori and work with Māori to develop a regime that includes a provision for Te Tiriti, and to consider Māori citizenship pathways moving forward.”
She added that while the Tribunal’s recommendations are not binding, they now sit on record.
“Whether or not this particular Government has an appetite for it, when they’ve already said there will be no preferential treatment or whakapapa-based pathway, that can’t be sustained with this report. They’re going to have to read it and engage with it. That is the obligation of Government. What they do about it is up to them, but this report is an important step in ensuring the laws of this country are aligned with Te Tiriti o Waitangi.”
Downs said the findings also highlight the responsibility of the Department of Internal Affairs, noting that “it was the first government department established under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and there’s now a clear obligation for this significant Crown agency to engage with this report and address Māori policy issues as they arise.” She added.
“It validates our experience” - Keisha Castle-Hughes
Actor and producer Keisha Castle-Hughes, who gave evidence at the hearing, says the findings confirm what many Māori whānau have been saying for years.
“We are really interested to see how these findings are taken on board, but it really validates the experience of whanaunga who have gone through this,” she said.
She told Te Ao Māori News that the process exposed systemic barriers and a lack of tikanga within institutions meant to serve all New Zealanders.
“Along the process, a big part for me was about how do we engage this kōrero at a larger level, because I was really fortunate to have access to resources and support. It became really apparent to me that this wasn’t a simple process and that there was no kind of tika practice within this institution. After the initial Tribunal hearing, I got so much feedback from people who had been through this process and just had no idea that they had somewhere to go to talk about it.”
Castle-Hughes says the Tribunal’s report is a chance to create change.
“I think what happens next is really important. The Citizenship Act in Aotearoa hasn’t been addressed since the seventies. We’d like to think we’re living in a really different Aotearoa now, and that it’s really important in these processes that there is honouring Te Tiriti and honouring tangata whenua.” She said.
‘No plans to review the Act’ - Minister
Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, says she respects the findings of the Waitangi Tribunal.
But says she has no plans to review and open up the Act.
In a statement she said she has put her efforts into speeding up applications.
“Where I have focused my efforts is on ensuring all applicants, no matter their race, receive more timely responses to their application. In October 2023, people were waiting an average of 180 days to get a decision on their citizenship by grant application. Now, the average wait time is 69 days,” she said.
At the time of the hearing in September, she was clear on her stance, and despite the findings of the Tribunal, they are unchanged.
Pressed on whether ethnicity should be a factor at the time, the Minister pushed back.
“I don’t believe it should. I look at all of the facts that are in front of us, and I don’t believe anybody, when they’re going for citizenship, should be given citizenship based on their race. It should be based on the facts of the case, not because someone was wanting something different.” Brooke van Velden stated in September, before the report was completed.
The whānau behind the claim
The Tribunal’s decision follows powerful testimony from whānau who described the emotional and cultural toll of being told their children had no right to belong in their own country.
John Ruddock told the Tribunal last month he faced “demeaning” processes and major barriers when trying to secure citizenship for his three children, born in the United States.
After becoming their sole caregiver, he brought his tamariki home in April 2025, only to find they were not automatically recognised as citizens.
“I had always believed they were entitled to be recognised as tangata whenua here… We are tangata whenua, not tangata tiriti,” he said.
His evidence described “the emotional toll” of watching his children isolated from school while applications for visas and ministerial interventions dragged on.
“My daughter had just been accepted into a gifted HiCap programme in Washington before we left – now she sits at home, confused and feeling excluded.”
The claim, supported by expert evidence from Professor Claire Charters and Professor Tahu Kukutai, argued that whakapapa-based belonging, iwi and hapū self-determination, and rights to land, culture, and non-discrimination are undermined when Māori children born overseas cannot lawfully live in Aotearoa without ministerial discretion.
The report concludes that Aotearoa as a nation would benefit from a comprehensive review of the meaning of citizenship, ensuring “our founding document and position of Māori as tangata whenua is appropriately acknowledged.”
