A return to Waitangi back on the table for Christopher Luxon

Thursday, 29 January 2026

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will attend Waitangi next week, he has confirmed.

But while the prime minister will spend part of the week up north, he will spend Friday, Waitangi Day, at a community event in Auckland, his spokesperson confirmed on Friday afternoon - after much speculation.

“The PM is looking forward to heading to Waitangi next week and will be taking the opportunity to keep engaging with iwi about the response to last week’s weather events and the work the Government is doing to grow the economy and help every New Zealander get ahead.

“On Waitangi Day itself, he is planning to mark the day at a community event in Auckland.”

Luxon’s attendance or non-attendance at the traditional pōwhiri for politicians ahead of Waitangi Day had become a major topic of discussion in recent weeks, after Luxon went elsewhere for the day last year - and refused to confirm his movements this year.

Last year, Luxon confirmed three days before he would be attending Ngāi Tahu's official Waitangi Day commemorations at Ōnuku. The Press reported Ngāi Tahu will not host any Waitangi events this year - and will head to the Treaty Grounds instead. Luxon attended Waitangi as Prime Minister in 2024.

And while Luxon previously said it had “always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different iwi” and that he would “love to go all the sites where it was actually signed”, it was not clear where he would this year.

Luxon last week could not give a location of where he will spend the day, saying they have protocol “for security reasons, obviously”.

“Waitangi Day [is a] very important day, and we'll do that very shortly.”

Major events at Waitangi, such as the Iwi Chairs Forum, are held before Waitangi Day, and the pōwhiri for the politicians is the day before.

Luxon was asked at the end of last year about where he would spend Waitangi and said he had not thought about it yet.

“I really did enjoy going out across the country. I went to Ngāi Tahu last year, where the Treaty was signed. I thought that was actually… something I’d always wanted to do.'

Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka said on Thursday where the PM spends Waitangi was a matter for his office.

“I know where I'll be. I'll be at Waitangi through the week, and then I'll be returning to Hamilton West.

“It's a birthplace of a nation - Waitangi. It's an absolutely beautiful and iconic place, the physical and landscape and seascape are quite mesmerising, but it represents the font of Kotahitanga (unity) in our country.

“Being part of Waitangi Day is one thing, being part of the week is another thing, and it's a great honour for me to be there.”

Asked if spending the day in Tauranga could be appropriate, Potaka said Luxon had been there over the last few weeks, “and it's fantastic that he's kanohi kitea (been present)”.

Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour said Waitangi was one of his favourite days of the year.

“Yes, I'll be up there, and I'll be putting forward the view of many New Zealanders about how our country should get on.

“I'm sure the reception will be as great as ever.”

In 2016, then Prime Minister Sir John Key decided not to attend Waitangi after his office received no response from Te Tii Marae as to whether he would be able to freely speak at the marae.

Key said at the time threats of riots and protests had also played a part in the decision given they would put he and his security staff in a 'dangerous position'.

Former PM Bill English also did not attend as prime minister, instead heading to Waitangi earlier in the week to go to the Iwi Chairs Forum. He went to a breakfast hosted by Ngāti Whātua at Bastion Point on the day.

Former PM Helen Clark also did not always attend Waitangi, in 2000 spending it at Ōnuku Marae, and in Auckland and Wellington in 2001.