The calls from New Zealand First to see a "Waitangi reset" and its desire to tidy up Māori policy under the new Government have been backed in part by a political veteran with experience in Treaty negotiations.

Senior NZ First MP, Shane Jones made supportive remarks about Act leader David Seymour’s approach to the issue of the Treaty of Waitangi, telling Radio Waatea on Tuesday he could “understand why [Seymour] wants to tidy this area up”.

Seymour has been pushing for Act’s policy of a referendum that redefines the Treaty principles in a far narrower way than they have been defined in recent history.

Labour’s Willie Jackson has said this would be “dangerous” and could lead to unrest.

But Jones said he shared the concerns around Treaty interpretation and that it was the role of Parliament to make laws, rather than the courts to "follow flights of fancy or indeed to thwart the will of Parliament".

Former Minister for Treaty of Waitangi negotiations, Chris Finlayson, today told the Mike Hosking Breakfast he thought the idea of a Treaty referendum was "a nutty idea" but supported another look at the Waitangi Tribunal.

"I think Shane raised a good point about having a 50-year review of the tribunal," he said.

"Fifty years on and its historical jurisdiction's almost spent, so what's next for the role of the tribunal over the next 50 years?”

Hosking asked about the idea that the Māori people had been given too much power and special treatment over the past six years by the Labour Government, a suggestion Finlayson batted away.

"I act for a lot of Māori, work with a lot of Māori and the idea that there is special treatment or that they're privileged is ridiculous," he said.

"Maybe they did get out ahead of people a little bit, but I don't think we need to get extreme about these things. They'll come back into balance without hyperbole or nastiness."

NZ First is known to oppose using a referendum to redefine the principles of the Treaty. In the past, the party has put up legislation to legislate the principles out of existence completely.

It is possible Act and NZ First, which appear to have drawn close to each other as they negotiate to form the new Government with National, may compromise on another way of addressing Treaty issues.