New Zealand citizenship row over Māori status surfaces as Waitangi Tribunal hearing opens

A Waitangi Tribunal hearing opened this week to examine whether New Zealand's approach to Māori citizenship meets the obligations of the Treaty of Waitangi, with actress Keisha Castle-Hughes portraying the process as discriminatory. The Oscar-nominated star, best known for Whale Rider, testified that her daughter—born in New York to a Māori mother—was denied New Zealand citizenship in 2021 on the basis that she was born outside the country and that Castle-Hughes herself had obtained citizenship by descent. Castle-Hughes said the denial underscored concerns about how the citizenship rules assess Māori connection and identity, and she urged that the issue be resolved for future generations.

Castle-Hughes, who was born in Australia and later became a New Zealand citizen by descent through her Māori mother, told the tribunal that the government’s requirements effectively demanded proof of how much time she had spent on the marae and participation in Māori culture such as kapa haka. She said those standards were not easily quantifiable and raised questions about fairness in the citizenship process for descendants of Māori people born abroad.

The two-day hearing sought to determine whether the country’s method for conferring citizenship to people of Māori descent aligns with New Zealand’s constitutional commitments and the Treaty's spirit. The initiating claim was brought by John Ruddock, a Ngāpuhi New Zealand citizen by descent, who said he and others experienced demeaning procedures when seeking citizenship for their US-born children. Castle-Hughes’ appearance at the tribunal was highly visible and drew attention from politicians on both sides of the aisle.

During the proceedings, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour publicly weighed in, telling the actress to “stick to whale riding,” a reference to her breakout role in Whale Rider. Seymour argued that a separate pathway for Māori citizenship would undermine the principle of one law for all New Zealanders, insisting that all citizens should have the same rights before the law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon likewise framed the issue as a matter of equality before the law, arguing that special treatment for one group would contravene that principle.

The tribunal’s purpose is to assess whether the current path to citizenship for people connected to Māori by ancestry reflects the obligations of the Treaty and whether reforms are needed to ensure fair, non-discriminatory processes. Castle-Hughes said that while the immediate outcome—citizenship for her daughter—was achieved through political channels, the underlying concerns about the citizenship process remained unresolved, and she urged reforms that would prevent other families from facing similar barriers.

As the proceedings unfolded, observers noted the broader implications for how New Zealand defines citizenship and Māori identity in a country grappling with the legacies of colonization and ongoing debates over indigenous rights. The case highlights tensions between universal legal standards and culturally specific pathways, a topic that has drawn renewed attention amid ongoing conversations about the Treaty of Waitangi and its fulfillment in governing modern New Zealand.

Ultimately, Castle-Hughes said the grant for her daughter did not resolve the broader issues at stake. She emphasized that future generations would still face the same questions about what it means to be a New Zealander with Māori ancestry, and she called for practical changes to ensure a fairer process for all families seeking citizenship for children born outside the country. The tribunal’s two-day inquiry remains part of a wider national discussion about identity, sovereignty, and the balance between inclusive citizenship and the preservation of cultural and political commitments under the Treaty of Waitangi.