Can a Future Government Simply Reverse the Māori Policy Rollbacks?

Why changing the law is only part of the answer

By Dr Harpreet Singh | drhsinghnz.substack.com | FB: @DrHSinghNZ | BSky: @DrHSinghNZ | IG: @DrHSinghNZ

When governments change, laws often change too. In New Zealand, Parliament has the power to repeal old laws, pass new ones, and restore policies that a previous government removed.

So, if a future left-leaning government came into power, could it reverse the current government’s Māori policy rollbacks?

Yes, but only partly.

Changing laws can repair some damage. But it cannot always restore lost trust, lost expertise, weakened institutions, or real-world effects that have already happened.

Parliament can reverse many changes

New Zealand’s Parliament is powerful. A future government could bring back laws or policies that have been removed.

For example, the Māori Health Authority, Te Aka Whai Ora, was created under the Pae Ora health reforms and later disestablished by the current government. In theory, a future government could create a similar agency again.

This happens often in politics. One government makes a law, the next government repeals it, and then another government may bring something similar back. RNZ has described this as a pattern of “repeals of repeals of repeals” in New Zealand lawmaking.

So yes, laws can be changed.

But the deeper question is whether changing the law is enough.

Rebuilding institutions takes time

When an agency is shut down, it is not like turning off a light switch and turning it back on again later.

People leave. Staff move to other roles. Leadership teams break up. Relationships with iwi, hapū, Māori providers, and communities weaken. Systems that took years to build can disappear in months.

This matters in areas such as health, education, justice, environmental management, and child welfare. These are not simple services. They rely on trust, local knowledge, specialist expertise, and long-term relationships.

If a future government wanted to rebuild a Māori-focused health body, it would not simply restart from where things left off. It would need to rebuild staff, systems, partnerships, funding arrangements, and public confidence.

That could take years.

Some effects cannot be undone

Another problem is that policy changes can create results that continue even after the law changes again.

For example, if environmental or planning laws reduce Māori involvement in decision-making, projects may be approved during that period. Once a road, mine, housing development, or infrastructure project goes ahead, it may be very difficult to reverse later.

The same issue applies in health and social services. If Māori providers lose funding, if iwi partnership roles are weakened, or if services are redesigned without Māori leadership, the consequences can affect whānau long after the original policy is repealed.

In other words, a future law can change the rules, but it cannot always undo what happened while the old rules were in place.

Treaty clauses are especially important

One of the biggest issues is the place of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in legislation.

Many New Zealand laws include references to the “principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.” These clauses can guide government decision-making and can give Māori stronger grounds to challenge unfair decisions.

The current government has reviewed laws that refer to Treaty principles, with the aim of replacing or removing some of those references. Legal commentary has warned that this could affect public decision-making, Crown-Māori relations, health care, local government, climate change, water services, data, statistics, and education.

The Waitangi Tribunal has also strongly criticised the Treaty Principles Bill policy and the Treaty clause review. It found that these policies breached Treaty principles, including partnership, active protection, equity, redress, good government, and rangatiratanga. The Tribunal warned that the changes could reduce Treaty protections for Māori and make it harder for Māori to have Treaty rights recognised through the justice system.

If Treaty clauses are removed from many laws, a future government could try to put them back. But this would take time. Each law may need to be reviewed, amended, debated, and passed again.

That is not a quick fix.

The bigger issue is constitutional stability

New Zealand does not have one single written constitution that strongly protects Te Tiriti from ordinary political change.

That means many Māori rights and Treaty-based protections depend on ordinary laws. Ordinary laws can be changed by a simple parliamentary majority.

This creates a problem. If each election can lead to major changes in Treaty policy, Māori rights become politically unstable.

One government may build Māori partnership into law. Another may remove it. A later government may restore it. Then the cycle may start again.

This instability makes it hard for iwi, hapū, Māori organisations, public servants, and communities to plan for the long term.

It also weakens trust.

Trust cannot be restored by legislation alone

Crown-Māori relationships depend on more than legal wording. They depend on good faith, consultation, respect, and partnership.

When Māori communities feel that decisions are made without proper engagement, damage is done to the relationship itself.

A future government could apologise. It could restore laws. It could restart consultation.

But trust is not rebuilt overnight.

For many Māori, the deeper question may be: what stops this happening again?

Reversal is necessary, but not enough

If a future government wanted to repair the current rollbacks, it would likely need to do several things.

First, it would need to restore legal protections. That could include bringing back Treaty clauses, Māori decision-making roles, and Māori-led institutions.

Second, it would need to rebuild capacity. This means funding Māori providers, restoring specialist teams, supporting iwi partnerships, and rebuilding public sector knowledge.

Third, it would need to repair relationships. That means meaningful engagement with iwi, hapū, Māori experts, and communities, not just consultation after decisions have already been made.

Fourth, it may need to look at stronger constitutional protection for Te Tiriti, so that core Treaty rights are not easily weakened every time the government changes.

The simple answer

So, would simply reversing the policies and laws fix the Māori rollbacks?

No, not by itself.

It would help. It may even be essential.

But the damage from policy rollbacks is not only legal. It is also institutional, social, political, and constitutional.

Laws can be rewritten quickly.
Institutions take longer to rebuild.
Trust takes longer still.

The real challenge is not just whether a future government can reverse the changes.

The real challenge is whether New Zealand can create a system where Te Tiriti rights are not constantly exposed to the political mood of the moment.