Summarised by Centrist
A new report by Auditor-General John Ryan has warned that public agencies are failing to meet key Treaty settlement obligations, putting the Crown at risk of legal action.
The audit reviewed commitments made under approximately 80 settlements involving around 70 iwi and hapū groups, with a total of 12,000 legal and contractual obligations held by 150 public bodies.
According to Ryan’s report, every agency audited had difficulties fulfilling at least some obligations, including failing to uphold rights of first refusal, delaying land transfers, or not formalising promised relationship agreements.
He called the findings “significant financially, significant constitutionally,” and said the public sector must reset its relationship with Māori to deliver what has been agreed.
The audit focused on post-settlement processes, arguing that Treaty settlements are not a one-off event but the beginning of a new relationship phase requiring ongoing cooperation.
“Some properties had been sold even though they should have had a right of first refusal given to iwi,” Ryan noted.
Editor’s Note: The publicly-funded broadcaster reports the Auditor-General’s findings uncritically and without context. The report appears to promote a now-defunct model of Crown–Māori relations.
The coalition government restructured Treaty oversight in 2024, dismantling Te Arawhiti and transferring its functions to Te Puni Kōkiri.
The AG’s call to expand frameworks like He Korowai Whakamana appears to ignore this political shift. They treat the previous government’s Treaty apparatus as still legitimate and operative. What’s being sold as a neutral “accountability report” is more like a push to resurrect and entrench a discarded framework (He Korowai Whakamana), now without political or public mandate.
