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Meanwhile, the Waitangi Tribunal, which was set up in 1975 to investigate alleged breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, notes the bill "purposefully excluded any consultation with Māori, breaching the principle of partnership, the Crown’s good-faith obligations, and the Crown’s duty to actively protect Māori rights and interests".

Associated legislation and institutions such as the Waitangi Tribunal - which hears cases claiming breaches of Māori rights as stated in the treaty - have reclaimed for many Māori people land title and fishing rights which have given them a degree of capital far beyond what indigenous Australian groups have.

An advisory committee - the Waitangi Tribunal - has also been in place since 1975 to make sure Māoris have a say in the policies that affect them.

The Waitangi Tribunal was set up in 1975 to provide a legal process by which Māori claims of breaches of the country’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, could be investigated and findings contribute to the resolution of outstanding issues between Māori and the Crown.

A 600-page Waitangi Tribunal report released last August criticised the government’s Resource Management Act for allowing “a serious degradation of water to occur in many ancestral water bodies”.