ACT unveils constitutional policy, quietly shelves failed Treaty Principles Bill

In the wake of a defeated referendum and one of New Zealand's largest protest movements, the ACT Party has returned with a reframed constitutional vision—one that trades the blunt instrument of a Treaty Principles Bill for the quieter but no less consequential work of legislative precision. Released in late August 2026, the policy seeks to define Treaty obligations explicitly before laws are drafted, restrict judicial use of tikanga, and enshrine property rights and parliamentary sovereignty in statute. It is, at its core, a party recalibrating its methods while holding its ground on the deepe