Te Pāti Māori — abolish prisons + justice-reform platform
Issued by Rawiri Waititi (Te Pāti Māori co-leader)
What happened
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi committed the party to building an Aotearoa where prisons are no longer needed, pointing to decades of evidence that prisons fail at deterrence, rehabilitation and reducing reoffending. The 2026 justice platform includes a Māori Justice Authority, closing youth residences and military-style bootcamps, reinstating voting rights for prisoners, lifting the Steps to Freedom payment from $300 to $1,000, requiring police body cameras, and restoring section 27 cultural-report funding.
What's at stake
- Who feels it
- NZ prison population (~10,000); Māori (over-represented at ~52% of inmates); families, youth in residences, police, justice workforce
- Money in play
- Steps to Freedom payment proposed lift from $300 to $1,000
- Timing
- Standing platform — implementation depends on Te Pāti Māori being in government after the 2026 election
- How it works
- Would require repealing recent punitive justice laws, new legislation for a Māori Justice Authority, regulatory change for police body cameras and section 27 cultural reports.
- Key context
- Party policy — not law, not a bill. Implementation requires Te Pāti Māori in government. Distinct from any sitting bill.
- Wider effects
- Major implications for police, Corrections, youth justice, and the wider justice workforce.
Who feels it
publiclawyersinhousepublic sector workers
Source on record
https://www.maoriparty.org.nz/if_you_re_not_trying_to_abolish_prisons_in_aotearoa_what_are_you_doing_in_parliamentTracked neutrally by LexNZ. Status reflects the primary source as of 23 May 2026. Not legal advice.
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