Part 1: Why we did this audit

How public organisations are fulfilling Treaty settlements.

1.1
Te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi is an agreement that the British Crown and rangatira reached in 1840. It set out terms for establishing British government in New Zealand.

1.2
Since te Tiriti was signed, the Crown has not met its obligations. In modern times, this has led to claims against the Crown through the Waitangi Tribunal. Since 1989, successive Governments have sought to resolve these claims through settlements with iwi and hapū.

1.3
The Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 (the Act) established a process for Māori to make claims about the Crown's actions and omissions that they allege are inconsistent with the principles of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi. The Act established the Waitangi Tribunal as a permanent commission of inquiry to hear and decide on these claims.4

1.4
A 1985 amendment to the Act enabled Māori to make claims about historical breaches going back to 6 February 1840, when te Tiriti was first signed.5 Claimants can also approach the Government to settle their historical claims, regardless of whether the Waitangi Tribunal has considered them.

1.5
Claims are settled through a deed of settlement (which is generally enacted through a settlement Act) that provides redress and seeks a renewed relationship between the Crown and iwi and hapū. Redress can take the form of financial payments, one-off commitments (such as transferring public land or restoring a traditional place name), or ongoing commitments (such as co-governance arrangements for a natural feature, like a river or mountain).

1.6
Today, public organisations are responsible for about 12,000 individual commitments to provide redress. Multiple public organisations are responsible for some commitments, leading to an overall number of about 18,000 individual responsibilities. Meeting these contractual and legal obligations is a complex task for public organisations to carry out alongside their other legislative responsibilities.

1.7
Successive Governments have invested significant resources into settling historical claims. The settlement process includes hearing claims, negotiating settlements, and meeting settlement commitments. As of late 2024, $2.738 billion of financial and commercial redress had been transferred through settlements.

1.8
We wanted to provide assurance about whether public organisations were well positioned to meet their legal and contractual commitments and fulfil settlements as intended. We also wanted to provide assurance about how well they understood any risks associated with meeting their commitments.

What we looked at

1.9
We wanted to answer the question "How effective are the public sector arrangements that support the delivery of Treaty settlement commitments?".

1.10
To answer this question, we developed three lines of inquiry:

  • How well do the Crown and public organisations understand their Treaty settlement commitments?
  • How well do public organisations' internal accountability arrangements, resourcing, policies, systems, and processes enable them to meet Treaty settlement commitments?
  • How well do public sector arrangements provide assurance, transparency, and accountability for meeting Treaty settlement commitments?

1.11
We carried out a performance audit of two public organisations with key leadership roles for oversight and support for meeting commitments (Te Arawhiti and Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission) and six public organisations with settlement commitments.

1.12
Together, these organisations are responsible for about 70% of total individual commitments (see paragraphs 2.35-2.36).

1.13
We spoke with three post-settlement governance entities about their settlements and associated commitments.6 They were:

  • Te Kawerau Iwi Settlement Trust, the post-settlement governance entity for Te Kawerau ā Maki;
  • Te Uru Taumatua Trust (Te Uru Taumatua), the post-settlement governance entity for Tūhoe; and
  • Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira, the post-settlement governance entity for Ngāti Toa Rangatira.

1.14
These post-settlement governance entities represent iwi of differing sizes (from about 350 members of Te Kawerau ā Maki to about 51,000 members of Tūhoe), in different geographic areas (Auckland, the north-east North Island, and the lower North Island and top of the South Island). The financial redress in their settlements also ranges in value (for example, the financial redress in Tūhoe's settlement is about $170 million, and Te Kawerau ā Maki's is about $6.5 million).

1.15
We also spoke with another eight public organisations about their experience in meeting their settlement commitments. These organisations are collectively responsible for about 18% of all commitments.

1.16
We looked at information about public organisations' progress in contributing to a range of settlement commitments. We also looked at the oversight and guidance that supports these commitments, their reporting and accountability arrangements, and the effects of delayed or unmet commitments.

What we did not look at

1.17
We did not look at:

  • settlement negotiations, agreements, deeds, or legislation;
  • applications and awards provided for under the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 or the Ngā Rohe Moana o Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Porou Act 2019;
  • the Crown Law Office's role or the advice that it provides to public organisations;
  • whether all of the commitments under the settlements that we looked at have been met as intended; or
  • whether commitments made under other settlements have been met as intended.

1.18
The Appendix provides more details about the public organisations we looked at and our audit methodology.

1.19
In late 2024, the Ministers for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations and Māori Crown Relations decided to transfer responsibility for many of Te Arawhiti's functions to Te Puni Kōkiri. This included responsibility for monitoring and reporting on the Crown's fulfilment of commitments.7

1.20
These changes were implemented in late February 2025. To reflect its more focused role, Te Arawhiti's name was changed to Te Tari Whakatau – The Office of Treaty Settlements and Takutai Moana. In this report, we use the name Te Arawhiti because this was how it was known during our fieldwork.

1.21
In our report, we make findings based on the evidence we gathered from Te Arawhiti during 2024. At that time, it was the organisation with responsibility for overseeing, monitoring, and supporting other public organisations' fulfilment of their settlement commitments. However, we direct some commentary and recommendations to Te Puni Kōkiri, because it now has responsibility for post-settlement matters.

1.22
In our report, we use the following terms:

  • When we say "public organisations", we mean all public sector entities. This includes all Ministries, departments, departmental agencies, Crown entities, State-owned enterprises, Crown-owned companies, and local authorities.
  • When we say "core Crown agencies", we mean public service departments and departmental agencies, the New Zealand Defence Force, and the New Zealand Police.
  • When we say "non-core Crown agencies", we mean all other public organisations, including Crown entities, local authorities, State-owned enterprises, and Crown-owned companies.
  • When we say "Crown entities", we mean public organisations that operate in accordance with the Crown Entities Act 2004. This includes Crown agents, autonomous Crown entities, and independent Crown entities.8
  • When we say "local authorities", we mean councils and other public organisations in local government that are governed by the Local Government Act 2002. This includes unitary, regional, district, and city councils.9

4: Sections 4-6 of the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975.

5: Section 3 of the Treaty of Waitangi Amendment Act 1985.

6: Post-settlement governance entities are private trusts that act on behalf of iwi and hapū who have settlements. They are responsible for holding and managing the settlement redress that is transferred to the claimant group under the deed of settlement.

7: See Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission (2024), "Clarifying agency functions", paragraphs 9-11, recommendations 5-6, at publicservice.govt.nz.

8: Section 7 of the Crown Entities Act 2004.

9: Section 5 of the Local Government Act 2002.