What is the Wai 2800 Inquiry into Remaining Historical Claims?

The Wai 2800 Inquiry into Remaining Historical Claims was set up in September 2018 to hear any remaining Treaty claims with outstanding historical claim issues that have not yet been heard or resolved to date, and that claimants still wish to bring before the Tribunal.

What is a historical claim?

A historical claim is a claim that:

was lodged with the Waitangi Tribunal on or before 1 September 2008; and
relates to Crown enactments, policies, practices, acts or omissions that occurred before 21 September 1992 – regardless of whether the claim also raises later issues occurring after 21 September 1992.

Why is the Tribunal reviewing its historical claims now?

Over time, most historical claims have either been addressed in Tribunal district inquiries (and subsequently often addressed in Treaty settlements) or in other Tribunal inquiries, or the claimants have advised they no longer wish to proceed with their claim.

As the Tribunal approaches the completion of its district inquiry programme, it is timely to address any remaining historical claims with outstanding historical claim issues.

The Tribunal has also recently released its Strategic Direction: 2025-2035, which sets out a strategic goal of completing the Inquiry into Remaining Historical Claims by 2030.

Categorising historical claims

In memorandum-directions dated 12 January 2026, Judge Terena Wara announced that the Tribunal will adopt a nation-wide approach to grouping, prioritising and addressing historical claims. Historical claims will be grouped into one of the three categories below (Wai 2800, #2.5.17):

Category One includes:

- - - historical claims that the claimants no longer intend the Tribunal to inquire into; or
    - historical claims that are ineligible to participate in this inquiry because they have been fully settled, previously reported on by the Tribunal, are being addressed by current Tribunal inquiries or subject to Treaty settlement negotiations.

Category Two comprises claims that the claimants wish to bring before the Tribunal, and which can be heard expeditiously because:

- - - no gap-filling research is required; and
    - the claim can be inquired into on the papers (without a hearing) if the claimants and Crown consent; or
    - the claim can be inquired into through a remote AVL hearing or a brief in-person hearing.

Category Three comprises claims that the claimants wish to bring before the Tribunal which will require more extensive or complex Tribunal processes because:

- - - further research is required;
    - the claim has overlapping interests with other remaining historical claims or interested parties; and
    - more extensive hearings, possibly including in-person hearings, are required to inquire into the claim.

Where a claim raises nationally significant outstanding historical issues that fall within the scope of an existing kaupapa inquiry, those claims will generally be heard within the relevant kaupapa inquiry. By contrast, this inquiry will focus on inquiring into outstanding historical issues that are discrete or local in nature and that do not fall within the ambit of an existing kaupapa inquiry.

Pānui process

Between 12 January and 11 May 2026, the Tribunal undertook a pānui process to attempt to notify claimants of the new inquiry approach through various channels, including last known addresses, social media, and public notices. A period of four months was provided for claimants to advise the Tribunal whether they intended to participate in this inquiry.

Where no response was received, the Tribunal said it would regard these claimants as not seeking any further inquiry into their historical claim. These claims would be assigned to category one within this inquiry, and may be dismissed.

Following the pānui process, claimants who filed accepted expressions of intention to participate in this inquiry were directed to file submissions regarding the eligibility of their claim to participate in this inquiry by 15 July 2026. The Crown was directed to file submissions in response by 13 August 2026.

What happens next?

Following the receipt of claimant and Crown submissions, the Tribunal will determine the eligibility of claims seeking to participate. These determinations will be issued on 1 October 2026. The Tribunal will then convene a judicial conference to discuss how it will proceed with the eligible claims, which will therefore fall into either category two or category three.