Te Pāti Māori says Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s 2026 State of the Nation speech confirms exactly what Māori across the motu already know; this Government is building a future without us.
Across thousands of words about the economy, law and order, education, defence and development, the Prime Minister never once mentioned Te Tiriti o Waitangi, tangata whenua, rangatiratanga, iwi, hapū, whānau, kaitiakitanga or mana motuhake.
Not once. This is not an oversight. It is deliberate strategy. This Government is deliberately reshaping Aotearoa into a post-Treaty state, where Māori are erased from the nation’s future and reduced to a problem population in crime statistics. Luxon says National is “fixing the basics and building the future.”
“A Prime Minister who refuses to name Te Tiriti is telling Māori exactly what kind of country he plans to govern. Te Pāti Māori is standing for a constitutional democracy where tangata whenua are not invisible, expendable, or optional” Te Pāti Māori Co-leader Rawiri Waititi says.
You cannot build a future on a constitution you refuse to name. You cannot fix a nation built on a broken constitutional relationship. You cannot claim prosperity while denying partnership.
“Te Tiriti o Waitangi is not a footnote. It is the founding agreement of this country. It is the source of political authority. It is the basis of Crown legitimacy. It is the foundation of our democracy” Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says.
A Prime Minister who refuses to name Te Tiriti is signalling exactly what kind of country he intends to govern: a Crown-only state, accountable to shareholders, not tangata whenua.
Luxon’s vision of Aotearoa is built on:
- Corporate growth economics
- Resource extraction
- Asset accumulation
- Property speculation
- Militarisation
- Austerity
It is a future where billionaires are fast-tracked and Māori are regulated. Where mining is consented in months and papakāinga are stalled for decades. Where prisons are expanded and kaupapa Māori justice is defunded. Where mokopuna Māori are disciplined out of their identity and told their language is optional. Where whenua is stripped, water is privatised, and iwi authority is ignored.
National grows GDP. We grow whānau.
Te Pāti Māori is campaigning on a fundamentally different vision for an Aotearoa hou – one grounded in Te Tiriti, rangatiratanga and mana motuhake, mana mokopuna.
The upcoming 2026 election is not left versus right. It is Te Tiriti versus the Crown. It is partnership versus domination. It is whānau versus wealth extraction. It is rangatiratanga versus recolonisation.
Luxon’s speech makes one thing clear: this Government does not see Māori in the future of 6Aotearoa. Te Pāti Māori does.