Pitched as recognising marae as "essential, critical infrastructure like hospitals and schools", the Green Party's 2026 Tiriti policy would give marae a permanent, protected source of funding through a trust run by hapū and iwi.

📋 Greens: Te Waonui a Tāne, August 2026 →

What it does

• Creates Te Rangatiratanga Trust, owned and governed by hapū and iwi, with $2.44 billion of Crown funding, which 1News reported would be paid as $1.22 billion a year over two years.
• Puts $2 billion into Te Tōtara Haemata Intergenerational Fund, a diversified investment portfolio whose returns would be paid out each year. The party estimates distributions of $47 million to $118 million a year once the fund matures.
• Sets aside $400 million over four years in Te Rākau Whakarauora Restoration Fund for urgent and immediate marae needs. RNZ reported the trust would cost about $40 million to set up and run.
• Limits the Crown to setting up the trust and transferring the money, with no power to direct investments, appoint trustees or change funding decisions. Nationwide wānanga would design the trust and how funds are shared, RNZ reported.
• Sits outside the Treaty settlement framework and would not replace existing rights under Te Tiriti, the party said, according to 1News.

The debate

• Co-leader Marama Davidson said marae needed funding certainty for their work in weather emergencies and in supporting communities, and co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said "when the roads are closed, marae stay open".
• National's Māori development spokesperson Tama Potaka said the government had co-invested more in marae alongside iwi and hapū than any government before it, and called on the Greens to explain how the trust would be funded.