Christopher Luxon – Waitangi Speech

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon delivered his Waitangi Day speech at Waitangi on 5 February 2026.

It is a great privilege to return to this place, where modern New Zealand finds its origins.

The lead-up to Waitangi Day this year has been tough. It's been a very challenging beginning to the year for many Kiwis hit by the recent weather events across the North Island – with families losing loved ones at Mount Maunganui, Welcome Bay and Warkworth. In every place I've visited I've met people who just get stuck in – helping with rescue efforts, cooking food, providing a roof for family and strangers alike, or just being a shoulder to cry on.

Countries all around the world have battled with their own sense of identity - and New Zealand is no different. The atmosphere surrounding Waitangi Day, and our conversations about the Treaty itself, have sometimes been very heated. But look around the world right now. In times where difference so often leads to violence and fracture, New Zealanders have decades of experience working through our differences with words, ideas and debate. We do not turn on each other. We turn toward the conversation.

The three articles of the Treaty are three distinct promises made in the founding of our country.

Article One provides the right to govern. Not to dominate, but to deliver, for all New Zealanders. It is the agreement that there is a Sovereign, and one government elected by and responsible for all New Zealanders. That is kāwanatanga in action. A government that governs.

Article Two: Tino Rangatiratanga. Chieftainship. The authority of iwi and hapū to fulfil their own obligations as partners to the Treaty. It is a recognition not only of property rights, but of responsibility. The promise of chieftainship over taonga must mean something. Honouring Article Two does not mean creating separate, disconnected systems for Māori and other New Zealanders. It does mean devolution and responsibility — shifting decision-making power out of Wellington and empowering communities, iwi and hapū to solve their own problems.

Article Three: Ōritetanga. Equal Citizenship. In 2026, that promise that we are all equal in the eyes of the state is essential. Article Three must guarantee equality of opportunity. It means a relentless and continual focus on education and health targets to ensure that the equal citizenship guaranteed in Article Three means something in practice.

Late last year, Erica Stanford released the results from our first full year of structured literacy — in just six months, the number of new entrants reading at or above expectation jumped from 36 per cent to 58 per cent. For Māori students, success rates nearly doubled.

New Zealand must continue to evolve in a way that empowers iwi and Māori while steadfastly protecting the unity of the country. We are a small nation at the bottom of the world. But we are a mature nation. We don't settle our grievances in the streets with violence. We settle them here, on the marae, and in our Parliament, with robust and sometimes passionate debate.