The Act Party has confirmed one of its most significant policy positions yet heading into the election, promising to disestablish the Waitangi Tribunal entirely, but only once every remaining historical Treaty claim has been heard.


Party leader David Seymour announced the policy this morning, framing it as the completion of unfinished business rather than an abrupt shutdown.


What Act Is Actually Proposing


The policy has several distinct parts, and the details matter here, because "abolish the Tribunal" and "abolish the Tribunal once historical claims are done" are not the same thing.


Under Act's plan:


• All remaining historical Treaty claims would continue to be heard and resolved

• Claims would be limited to those already lodged before the September 2008 cutoff date

• The Tribunal's governing legislation would be amended so it automatically shuts down once that historical work is finished

• Funding would be gradually reduced as the Tribunal's caseload shrinks

• The Tribunal's contemporary jurisdiction, its power to investigate current government policy and actions, would end immediately


That last point is arguably the most consequential. It would strip the Tribunal of its role in reviewing and reporting on today's government decisions, a function Seymour has previously described as "increasingly activist."


Why Act Says It's Doing This


Seymour argued the Tribunal that exists today looks very different from the one Parliament created in 1975.


"The tribunal that exists today is very different from the institution established in 1975," he said, adding that the party wants New Zealand to move toward "one law for all with one future together" as the 2040 milestone approaches.


Act says the contemporary jurisdiction in particular interferes with the mandate governments receive directly from voters, and that removing it would let elected officials govern without what the party sees as unelected oversight.


A Quick History Lesson


To understand why this policy is significant, it helps to know how the Tribunal actually works.


Year What Happened

1975 Waitangi Tribunal established, originally limited to contemporary claims only

1985 Amendment extended its powers to investigate historical breaches dating back to 1840

2008 Statutory deadline set for lodging new historical claims

2030 Tribunal's internal target to finish hearing all historical claims


In other words, the "historical claims" function that Act now wants to preserve until completion was actually added a decade after the Tribunal was created, not part of its original design.


Not Everyone Agrees the Work Is Nearly Done


While Act frames the historical process as nearing its finish line, the Tribunal itself takes a different view. Its Wai 2800 Remaining Historical Claims Inquiry was specifically set up to deal with several hundred historical claims that fall outside already completed district inquiries or settlements.


That gap between "nearly finished" and "several hundred claims still outstanding" is likely to become one of the central arguments in the debate over this policy in the weeks ahead.


The Political Backdrop


Act has positioned this as one of four major reforms it is campaigning on regarding the Tribunal's future. The party has been vocal in recent years about wanting to narrow the Tribunal's role, and this policy builds on that long-running position rather than representing a sudden new stance.


Whether the policy proves popular is likely to depend heavily on how voters weigh two competing ideas already circulating in the response to today's announcement: one side sees it as finally closing a chapter of historical grievance in a fair and orderly way, while the other sees it as quietly stripping away an institution's ability to hold government policy to account.


Both readings are being actively pushed by different commentators, and neither has yet been settled publicly with hard polling data.


What Happens Next