"Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi."
🔍 Background
Aotearoa’s political system is shaped by colonial institutions that continue to exclude Indigenous governance,
prioritise corporate influence, and limit meaningful participation by everyday people. Te Tiriti o Waitangi remains
unhonoured in constitutional law, while voter turnout is declining — particularly among young, Māori, and
working-class communities. Decisions are too often made behind closed doors — influenced by wealth, not public will.
🌏 Vision
We envision a truly democratic Aotearoa grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, where governance is co-created by tangata
whenua and tangata Tiriti, and all people can participate meaningfully in shaping their futures. Democracy must be
local, inclusive, participatory, and free from corporate control.
🎯 Objectives
- Establish a written, Te Tiriti-based constitution that enshrines Indigenous sovereignty and participatory democracy.
- End corporate influence over politics and restore public trust in democratic institutions.
- Empower rangatahi, whānau, hapū, and communities to shape policy and decisions that affect them.
- Create democratic infrastructure for the 21st century that enables transparency, inclusivity, and shared power.
📜 Policy Commitments
- Draft and ratify a Te Tiriti-based Constitution recognising Māori sovereignty, collective rights, and ecological governance.
- Implement co-governance across all public institutions — health, education, justice, and environmental management.
- Ban corporate political donations and impose strict limits on lobbying.
- Fund citizens’ assemblies, participatory budgeting, and local democratic hubs.
- Lower the voting age to 16 to empower rangatahi in the democratic process.
🛠 Implementation Plan
- Establish a Constitutional Transformation Commission co-led by tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti to design a new democratic framework through public deliberation and consensus.
- Enact legislation to ban corporate donations, cap campaign spending, and require real-time transparency of political funding.
- Launch local democracy hubs across the motu where citizens can engage in planning, policy discussions, and collaborative problem-solving.
- Develop digital and in-person platforms for citizen participation, accessible in multiple languages and formats.
- Partner with kura, schools, and youth organisations to embed civic education and political literacy from early adolescence.
📆 Timeframe
Year 1–2:
- Ban corporate donations
- Launch Constitutional Transformation Commission
- Initiate citizens' assemblies in pilot regions
Year 3–5:
- Pass legislation lowering the voting age to 16
- Roll out participatory budgeting nationally
- Implement co-governance in public services
Year 6–10:
- Complete constitutional transformation and national ratification
- Embed participatory democracy and rangatahi representation into law