Source: Alliance Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
Sunday 27th September 2026
The Alliance Party has released its Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Democracy, and Constitutional policy which aims to redistribute power to ordinary people by advancing constitutional transformation with Te Tiriti o Waitangi at the centre.
Alliance Party president and constitutional spokesperson Tom Roud says the policy builds on the party’s commitment to redistribution of more than wealth alone.
“Our policies tend to deal with immediate, material needs of ordinary Kiwis with an emphasis on the redistribution of wealth in this country. Redistribution of wealth without a rebalance of power would represent a gilded cage for working people, so we want to go further,” he says.
The policy is built on the principles of popular sovereignty, participatory democracy, social justice, and upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
“The Alliance Party and the workers movement in general have a proud history of standing with Māori in their struggle with the Crown to address the criminal attacks on mana motuhake, tino rangatiratanga, and breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Our re-established party pays respect to our own whakapapa, and our previous relationship with the political party Mana Motuhake has provided us with a legacy of sound policy that respects Māori rights,” Mr Roud says.
On democratic issues the policy supports lowering the threshold for entering parliament, ranked-choice voting, and establishing processes for the recall of elected candidates by their electors.
“We are proud to be a radically democratic party that would see a system where no vote is wasted, where power does not become entrenched through custom and practice, and where elected officials are not given a few years of power without any recourse for voters to oust them if they so wish.”
“Accountability can’t just happen every few years at the ballot box, it is a relationship that our politicians must be expected to maintain. If they can’t manage that, voters should be able to remove them from office,” Mr Roud says.
The Alliance supports advancing a written constitution, designed by the people of Aotearoa New Zealand through participatory democracy, and enshrining the constitutional status of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
“The Matike Mai report was an enormous step forward for a serious constitutional conversation in this country. Tangata whenua have provided a framework, and now the rest of the country must come along for the conversation.”
“These are not easy subjects to cover, they take courage and a spirit of kotahitanga (unity) if we are going to come into our own as a country.”
“I am a republican, my neighbour may be a constitutional monarchist, how will we reconcile this? What would ‘the Crown’ come to mean in our existing legislation if we went down a republican route? How do we ensure we honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi in any new constitutional arrangement? Is an upper chamber undemocratic, or a necessary check on power?” Mr Roud says.
“Like almost everyone in this country I am not an expert on these issues. Regardless, the Alliance Party knows these are questions that will only become more and more central to the future of the country. It is time for Aotearoa New Zealand to decide who we want to be, and work through any nervousness and fear about that together. Tūwhitia te hopo, mairangatia te angitū: feel the fear, and do it anyway.”