Lady Tureiti Moxon has welcomed the acceptance of her complaint by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The complaint, she says, highlights systemic racism, violations of international law, and breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
The 42-page submission details alleged breaches by the National-led government, including the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora, the removal of Te Tiriti references from the Oranga Tamariki Act, and the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) Principles Bill.
“Legislative changes have eliminated any semblance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi without any consultation or kōrero with the treaty partner.”
“On the one hand, they will say the Waitangi Tribunal is the authority on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and yet here they are ignoring it completely. That’s the foundation document of our country.”
Tina Ngata, Lead Advisor on the People’s Action Plan Against Racism and long-standing participant at the UN, supports the complaint, saying she also submitted one similar to the National Iwi Chairs Forum Working Group. Ngata highlights the need for Māori to participate in the UN.
“It’s particularly relevant right now, particularly from Māori perspectives, but not only from Māori, for many racialised minority communities here in Aotearoa, we are all kind of saying the same thing, which is this is the most racist government that we have had to deal with in a long time,” says Ngata.
“What we have seen is that this government, particularly David Seymour, Winston Peters, obviously Christopher Luxon, ...have taken the language of racism and anti-racism, flipped it on its head, inverted it, and then weaponised it against the very groups that it is intended to protect,” says Ngata.
Both the reports from Moxon and Ngata are calling for the ‘early warning urgent action’ procedure, a procedure Ngata says is reserved for extreme acts of racism by a government.
“What that says is that there is a persistent, targeted pattern of racism by elected officials and the government, over an extended period of time, that requires urgent intervention in order to avert racialised harm. The other part of the early warning urgent action mechanism is that it is related to imminent risk of racialised conflict, and what we have seen just within this last month is that there have been two instances where we have narrowly averted acts of mass violence, particularly against mosques.”
What happens next
With the complaint now accepted, CERD will formally request a response from the New Zealand government. The government will be asked to address the allegations, explain its actions, and provide evidence or justification for the legislative changes in question.
Once the government responds, the Committee will review the submission, along with any supporting documentation from Moxon and other stakeholders. After careful consideration, CERD may issue “views” or recommendations to the government, highlighting breaches of international obligations and suggesting ways to remedy them.
While these findings are not legally binding, they carry diplomatic weight, and New Zealand will be expected to report back on any actions taken to comply.
Lady Tureiti is confident that this course of action will bring about some change.
“There needs to be an honouring of the Treaty, and there is absolutely none of that that’s happening right now, and the rest of it is Māori are being blamed for being the racists in the country, that a lot of what they’re doing is very anti-Māori Māori.”
Speaking with RNZ, Moxon says she plans to meet the UN working group in Geneva ahead of New Zealand’s CERD review scheduled from 17 November to 5 December 2025. Ngata will also be in attendance, alongside a number of other organisations.
The World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education (WIPCE) is also set to take place in Tāmaki Makaurau for the first time in 20 years on 16-20 November, hosting thousands of indigenous leaders and educators from around the world to discuss issues faced by indigenous peoples today. Ngata raises the need to protect our education systems.
“WIPCE is an important opportunity for us to look at the role of education and social justice, why it is so important that we maintain that front line to make sure that actually we’re growing new generations and citizens for a future Aotearoa that is just and equitable for all people.”
