It's not just "the radicals" who are upset by the Government's Treaty Principles Bill but there are bigger fish to fry, according to a former minister and a political commentator.

The bill was introduced by Act leader David Seymour, who said throughout his election campaign he wanted the principles of the Treaty defined and managed to force a first reading of the bill in Parliament into his three-way coalition agreement with PM Christopher Luxon and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.

On Wednesday last week, Luxon was adamant that the agreement with Seymour was only to get the bill into a first reading before a select committee, never any further.

However, the proposed bill has raised tensions among Māori leaders, with some calling it "racist" while others say it has taken phrases out of context and is at odds with what the Treaty guarantees.

Senior political commentator Barry Soper told the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning there was reason for the Government to be bullish, but its Māori policies were a big issue looming over the administration.

Asked if middle New Zealand was truly gripped by the discourse surrounding the bill, or whether just the media and radicals were making a meal out of it, Soper said he didn't believe it was just the radicals upset by Seymour's bill.

"If you remember back to 2005, Don Brash was preaching the same thing - one rule for all, and it saw the Nats climb in the opinion polls," he told Hosking this morning.

"[It brought] a massive defeat in 2002 under Bill English to almost taking the Clark Government out, one per cent behind on the night. So I think the Māori issue is a big one and while the Government and Luxon in particular will be wanting to avoid it, it's going to be really difficult because I think it's going to dominate the agenda with Waitangi Day next week."

He also questioned why Luxon had made Seymour his associate justice minister.

"Some would say that's to distance the Nats from the Treaty principles bill; too late I'd say," he said.

"They'd agreed to it in coalition negotiations and why anyone in their right mind would agree to a bill like this and say they'll only support it to select committee is beyond me - because why would Act accept that?"

Also weighing in on the bill's controversy was National’s former Finance Minister Steven Joyce. He told the Mike Hosking Breakfast it would be a challenge for Luxon to bring the country back together on the contentious issue.

"People talk about what Seymour is up to and what Shane Jones is up to, but this is a reaction politically to what the previous Government was up to," he said.

"Unfortunately, we've seen twice now - in 2020 onwards particularly, that a government driven heavily by its Māori caucus has moved the pendulum out too far in terms of moving ahead of public and now there's a political reaction that comes the other way."

Joyce also pointed to the example of Don Brash in 2005.

"There has to be acknowledgement there are issues that need to be addressed, but I'm sure [Luxon is] thinking about when those comments need to be made."