Waitangi 2026 – Kei ō Ringa, It’s in Your Hands, recognises the important choice New Zealanders will need to make later this year as to who will lead the nation.

Top broadcaster, John Campbell, has been confirmed to front the live Waitangi Day coverage.

Campbell will put politicians through their paces as Aotearoa New Zealand heads into the general election year.  Leaders of political parties will be required to appear live.

“Every election year Waitangi is special, but this one has a sense of something bigger and more significant,” says Campbell.

“It'll be really interesting to see who comes and who doesn't come, and why not.   It will be interesting to see what the messaging is.  And there's Te Pati Māori, a kind of reinvention, a relaunching, a reimagining going on.  It's going to be absolutely fascinating.  Election year starts here.”

Campbell joins co-hosts Peter-Lucas Jones and Blake Ihimaera.

It will be the first time Campbell, named Best Presenter News and Current Affairs at the NZ Screen Awards in 2025, has fronted the official Waitangi Day broadcast.

It's a kind of career highlight for me.”

Funded by Te Māngai Pāho and NZ OnAir, the live broadcast will simulcast live on Whakaata Māori, Māori+, TVNZ 1, TVNZ+, Sky Open and Te Whare Kōrero to iwi radio.

Following the national broadcast, Whakaata Māori has dedicated programming telling the stories of New Zealanders and the journey of Aotearoa as a nation. ‘Legacy’ - the Katchafire documentary screens at 3.30PM, the thought-provoking ‘I’m Not Racist, But…’ at 6.10PM and Katie Wolfe’s ‘The Haka Party Incident’ at 7.35PM. Stream these programmes and more on MĀORI+.

WAITANGI DAY WITH WHAKAATA MĀORI

5.00 AM: LIVE: WAITANGI 2026 KEI Ō RINGA – IT’S IN YOUR HANDS – Election year starts here with the official Waitangi Day broadcast live from the Treaty Grounds.  Hosted by John Campbell, Blake Ihimaera and Peter-Lucas Jones, it’s time to test convictions and the state of the nation as Aotearoa heads towards the general election. From the dawn karakia to live interviews, we question who we are, who we want to be and who will lead us.

8.00 AM: HĪKINA TE MĀNUKA – While at Waitangi the kids meet the Harmonic Resonators, who offered them a great opportunity. Balance and rest is a huge learning curve for the whānau. Pērina helps with her rongoā Māori. (R)

8.15 AM: TAKAHINGA O MUA – A mini-series looking at New Zealand history; the people and places that helped shape our nation. We look at the 13 women who signed the Treaty of Waitangi with an emphasis on two. (R)

8.45 AM: TE ĀTEA – As thousands gather at Waitangi to confront a controversial government, Tāme Iti introduces a new and evoking approach to protest that he calls Haki Ātea. (R)

9.30 AM: CANVASSING THE TREATY – Well-known New Zealand artists from very different backgrounds are paired up and challenged to create a work representative of the Treaty of Waitangi, in only three days. (R)

11.00 AM: NGĀ MANU KŌRERO – Highlights of Ngā Manu Kōrero from Jubilee Stadium, celebrating 60 years of rangatahi excellence in oratory and public speaking.  (R)

12.00 PM: COUSINS – Connected by blood but separated by circumstances, three cousins spend a lifetime in search of each other. (R)

1.30 PM: THE DRAWING BOARD – Redevelopment of Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery in Whanganui reflects the rich cultural heritage of this rohe, ensuring it inspires generations to come. (R)

2.00 PM: ONCE WERE GARDENERS – Meretini Bennett-Huxtable prepares her soil after the long winter using the Maramataka, the Māori lunar calendar as her guide. (R)

2.30 PM: LIFE IN THE FFN – The stories of people who are at different stages of 'rangatiratanga' in their community. A familiar face in the FFN is Samson Murray aka ‘JAMB’ (Just Another Māori Boy). (R)

3.00 PM: THE PEOPLES’ GAME – Look into the world of touch with some of the legends of the game.  We learn the history, meet the legends and are with those who owe their success to touch. (R)

3.30 PM: LEGACY – Maori band Katchafire struggle to find their way through volatile creative differences and a changing music landscape. (R)

4.30 PM: AOTEAROA SONG BOOK – Kōhine Te Whakarua Pōnika was born on the 28th of June, 1928 in Ruātoki. Her expertise includes the use of weaponry, being a skilled performer, as well as an orator and lyricist. (R)

4.40 PM: TAKI RUA THEATRE – What began as a partnership experiment in biculturalism between Māori and Pākehā grew into Taki Rua Theatre, the unofficial national Māori theatre company. (R)

6.10 PM: I’M NOT RACIST, BUT… – TV special hosted by Stacey Morrison and Tamati Rimene-Sproat that unpacks bias and racism in Aotearoa with experiments, korero, and humour. (R)

7.10 PM: NOMAD – Kahu journeys from Bruce Bay to Auckland to receive his moko. (R)

7.35 PM: THE HAKA PARTY INCIDENT – In 1979, group of young Māori and Pasifika activists sought to stop Pākehā students at the University of Auckland performing a parody of haka each capping week. Unfortunately, the consequences for those activists were severe – many were convicted of crimes. Director Katie Wolfe uncovers this largely forgotten event in our history with interviews from both in this resonant and thought-provoking documentary.

9.10 PM: KA WHAWHAI TONU – STRUGGLE WITHOUT END – 1864, travelling with Māori rebel forces to ōrākau, teenage spiritual medium Kōpū meets traumatised half-caste boy soldier HAKI. Despite their mutual attraction he serves the British enemy, taken captive Haki is set to be sacrificed. Kōpū uses her powers to save him and is imprisoned in a dry well in no mans-land for her insolence. Haki wins the respect of his captors and when the British overrun the rebel forces he frees Kōpū.  Amidst the ensuing massacre Haki and Kōpū lead a group of children on a tumultuous escape.

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