Te Kāhui Hīkina (Māori Crown Relations)

About us

In March 2018 the Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti travelled the country and asked New Zealanders what the government needed to do to strengthen the relationship and what the priorities of this portfolio should be.

The engagement process included 32 hui attended by over 1600 people. The Minister received over 230 submissions from individuals, groups and organisations; from Māori and non-Māori, from people who supported the portfolio and by people who did not.

A summary of what was said through this process can be found here:

Submissions summary

If you would like to see the notes from any of the individual hui please contact us.

The final roles and responsibilities which came from this engagement process were endorsed by Cabinet on 17 September 2018.

You can read the Cabinet paper here:

Final Scope Cabinet paper

Final Scope Cabinet minute

Roles and Responsibilities of the Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti portfolio

The responsibilities of this portfolio are to:

• Ensure the Crown meets its Treaty settlement commitments;
• Develop engagement, co-design and partnering principles that ensure agencies generate optimal solutions across social, environmental, cultural and economic development;
• Ensure the engagement of public sector agencies with Māori is meaningful;
• Provide strategic leadership and advice on contemporary Treaty issues;
• Broker solutions to challenging relationship issues with Māori;
• Coordinate significant Crown/Māori events on behalf of the Crown; and
• Provide strategic advice to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on the risks and opportunities in Crown/Māori partnerships.

Our People

A small team of dedicated staff have been working across the following work programmes:

• Engagement
• Data and Indicators
• Contemporary Treaty of Waitangi Issues
• Major Māori/Crown events
• Strategic advice to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet
• Partnerships and Co-design
• Public Sector Capability