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November 03, 2025
Waitangi Tribunal Calls for Māori Citizenship Reform
Moeawa Fransen
Posted On November 3, 2025
Download AudioThe Waitangi Tribunal has ruled that the children of a Māori man should be granted New Zealand citizenship, exposing major flaws in immigration law.
The case, brought by John Ruddock (Ngāpuhi), found that citizenship by descent only applies to one overseas-born generation – leaving many Māori whānau excluded despite their whakapapa.
The Tribunal says the 1977 Citizenship Act fails to recognise Māori as tangata whenua or uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
It recommends extending citizenship by descent to two generations for Māori, and creating a tikanga-based pathway for iwi and hapū to assess whakapapa.
Tukau Law Director Season-Mary Downs says it’s time the outdated legislation was reviewed, not just for Māori, but for all New Zealanders.
“The Tribunal said in this inquiry that Maori born here in New Zealand and Maori born overseas have a right to be treated equally in the same so there’s those acknowledgments that are made. What the legislation did reveal, sorry, what the inquiry did reveal, though, was that the Citizenship Act is dated 1977 it is very out of date, and it requires modernization, not only for Maori, but for all of New Zealanders. Because when you do get into it, all New Zealanders who are born overseas to parents also born overseas, are also impacted,” says Downs.
Downs says if the issue isn’t addressed now, it won’t go away, the government will eventually have to act as Māori here and overseas demand change.
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