Behind 'bombshell' Treaty Principles Bill scoop that sparked national debate
In an episode of Media Chaplaincy NZ podcast re_covering, released on RNZ on Wednesday, Hurihanganui reflected on reporting the exclusive first insights into the detail of the Act Party Bill in January 2024.
At the time, Hurihanganui was headed to a national hui called by Kīngi Tūheitia at Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia. Her story for the 6pm news was meant to be a set-up piece on who would be attending, what they would be discussing, and the logistics of the hui.
But then she got her hands on the leaked Ministry of Justice document about the controversial Bill, and her 'plans completely changed'.
'[The document] essentially said the Treaty Principles Bill proposes three new principles based on the Treaty … and outlined official advice to the government from the Ministry of Justice which said these principles bear effectively no resemblance to what the Treaty actually says,' Hurihanganui told re_covering.
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'It said that it risks being discriminatory, it said Māori had not been consulted at all on the bill, there was something about how the bill risked undermining Māori ability to exercise tino rangatiratanga or self-determination, which is a core, fundamental guarantee in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
'So it was quite a bombshell document to receive … I called up the editor at TVNZ and said, 'Look, my plans have changed'.'
The leak would go on to shape kōrero at the hui, and the numerous prominent Māori leaders and activists in attendance provided Hurihanganui the chance to gather quickfire reaction.
Instead of cancelling her pre-scheduled interviews, she kept them in place and made the most of the opportunity to ask people about their response to the memo.
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including an Auckland teen seriously ill in Vietnam, Trump slams supporters, and Icelandic volcano prompts evacuations. (Source: 1News)
'I guess it was just the timing was right,' Hurihanganui told Ritchie of the leak.
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'I remember [former MP] Tuku Morgan literally reading it for the first time on camera and just being completely alarmed. And he said to me 'we will fight on every platform and in every forum to protect our rights under the treaty'.'
'The following day, when the hui actually happened, the leak was all anyone spoke about. And the opening speaker … said into the microphone in front of a crowd of 10,000 people, 'whoever leaked this document, thank you'.'
The Ministry of Justice has warned the principles proposed by the coalition bears little resemblance to what the Treaty says and raises concerns about a lack of consultation. (Source: 1News)
Hurihanganui's initial report on the document set the wheels in motion on what would ultimately become one of the biggest news stories of the year. It sparked a national debate and widespread uproar about Act's Bill, culminating in a hīkoi tens of thousands-strong and more than 180,000 submissions against it.
'It struck directly at the heart of the Treaty of Waitangi,' reflects Hurihanganui.
'It wasn't about Māori feeling necessarily that their Treaty rights were being breached; they were feeling like their Treaty rights were being changed in a really significant way. That's what made it different and really personal for people.'
The Bill would eventually be killed in April this year, with Act's coalition partners National and New Zealand First refusing to support it beyond the first reading.
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Hurihanganui told re_covering that while the Bill caused 'a lot of concern and alarm amongst lots of people', the debate it sparked presented an opportunity 'to shed some light on what the Treaty is, what it means, and how much it means to people'.
Her reporting on the matter formed part of a portfolio that earned her the prestigious Te Tohu Kairangi Award for best Māori affairs reporting at the 2025 Voyager Media Awards, with judges describing her work as a "standout amongst a wealth of Māori journalism excellence".
But it came at a personal cost. Hurihanganui has Māori whakapapa – she is of Te Arawa and Rangitāne descent – and says there was a point at which the racist feedback she was receiving for her reporting on the Bill was 'out the gate'.
'As a Māori journalist, even if you're doing non-controversial stories, you still get [kickback]. I still get really racist feedback on colour stories about a kapa haka competition. And so when it is a story that's seen as contentious … that is definitely heightened,' she said.
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui revealing Treaty Principles Bill in 2024. (Source: 1News)
'People were screenshotting my face on Facebook and posting me in forums and saying 'she's lying about the Treaty' – it was really everywhere at that time, so that was another layer to deal with.
'So many New Zealanders still don't really get the Treaty … trying to communicate this Bill when people don't even know what the Treaty says is already really tricky – and then getting that sort of feedback – was hard.'
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Having received plenty of racist backlash for her work, even prior to her Treaty Principles Bill coverage, Hurihanganui is now strict about how she engages with personal attacks based on her ethnicity.
'When I first started out at RNZ, still trying to understand the industry and get my feet up as a reporter, that was way harder to deal with because I was still so new and doing my best,' she said.
'Now I've been in the game a few more years and that sort of stuff doesn't affect me. I don't give my energy to it as much. Back in the day I would read all of them, I'd either get upset or I'd laugh and I'd share it around and think it was funny.
'Now I just don't even bother … because I don't want to spend any more energy on that, and I know that my work is in small ways changing this sort of behaviour.'
Hurihanganui says she is also in a healthier place in her work, having become resentful earlier in her career about the industry due to the burnout and racism she was dealing with on a regular basis.
'I just got to a place where I was like, 'this has got to stop – I need to stop and switch off when I'm not working and I need to take my sick leave and annual leave and just take a break away',' she told Ritchie.
'It does take time and it takes growth, and I just wish it didn't take me that long because I would have had better years. But I was learning so much and I've finally got a good balance.'
You can listen to the full re_covering interview with Te Aniwa Hurihanganui here
Re_covering sees Rev Frank Ritchie sit down with some of New Zealand's top journalists to unpack the one story from their career that has most impacted them, personally and professionally.
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