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The Waitangi Tribunal’s Final Report on the MV Rena and Motiti Island Claims has been published. In it, the Tribunal adjudged two Bay of Plenty claims concerning the removal of the wreck of the MV Rena from Otaiti (Astrolabe Reef) to be well founded. The claims, submitted by the Motiti Rohe...
The Waitangi Tribunal has today released the final version of its Te Aroha Maunga Settlement Process Report. The report is the result of an urgent inquiry into an aspect of the Treaty settlement process in the Hauraki district. The Waitangi Tribunal had previously found, in 2006, that groups in the...
On 15 December 2014, the Waitangi Tribunal released in pre-publication form the fifth part of its report on Te Urewera claims. This part deals with Treaty of Waitangi claims in respect of Lake Waikaremoana, lodged by Tuhoe, Ngāti Ruapani, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngai Tamaterangi, and various associated groups and individuals. These...
In its report Whaia te Mana Motuhake / In Pursuit of Mana Motuhake: Report on the Māori Community Development Act Claim released on 8 December 2014, the Waitangi Tribunal has upheld the New Zealand Māori Council’s claim that the Crown’s review of the Māori Community Development Act 1962, and its...
Treaty Signatories Did Not Cede Sovereignty in February 1840 – Tribunal The rangatira who signed te Tiriti o Waitangi in February 1840 did not cede sovereignty to the British Crown, the Waitangi Tribunal has concluded. The Tribunal today released its report on stage 1 of its inquiry into Te Paparahi o te...
In an interim report released today, the Waitangi Tribunal has found that the Crown’s conduct in response to the grounding of the MV Rena on Otaiti (Astrolabe) Reef breached the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Tribunal has released its interim report to inform the pending all-of-government response to the...
The Waitangi Tribunal Chairperson, Chief Judge Wilson Isaac, today (2 July 2014) launched the Waitangi Tribunal’s Strategic Direction 2014 to 2025. Tākiri te haeata, ka ao, ka awatea, horahia mai ko te ao mārama Dawn breaks, comes the daylight and the world is aglow with brilliant light Read the Strategic Direction 2014...
In a report released today (23 December 2013), the Waitangi Tribunal declined to make a binding recommendation for the return of Crown forest licensed land to Māori groups in the Tūranga (Gisborne) district. The Mangatū Remedies Report is the result of separate applications by the Mangatū Incorporation, Te Aitanga a Māhaki...
The Waitangi Tribunal has today (12 November 2013) released its final report on 41 Treaty claims of ngā iwi and hapū of te kāhui maunga, the chiefly cluster of mountains, which include Tongariro, Ngāuruhoe, Ruapehu, Pīhanga, Hauhungatahi, and Kakaramea. All iwi and hapū who had their claims heard have close...
Last month marked the passing of Judge Norman Francis Smith, former deputy chairperson of the Waitangi Tribunal and deputy chief judge of the Māori Land Court. Judge Smith served as deputy chairperson from 1993 until his retirement in 1998. During these years, he presided over many urgency and remedies judicial...
Tribunal Says Non-binding Recommendations are Warranted The Waitangi Tribunal today (4 February 2013) released its report on an application by Ngāti Kahu – an iwi of the Te Hiku (Far North) region – for the return of land within their tribal area and other assets, together totalling $260 million. The application of...
The Waitangi Tribunal today (20 December 2012) released the fourth part of its report on claims in the Te Urewera district inquiry. In this part of its report, the Tribunal moves beyond large-scale land alienation in Te Urewera to look at how Maori communities fared in the twentieth century, with only...
The Waitangi Tribunal today (22 October 2012) released in pre-publication format the third part of its report on claims in the Te Urewera district inquiry. In this part of its report, entitled From Self-governing Native Reserve to National Park, the Tribunal looks at the origins of Te Urewera National Park, created...
The Waitangi Tribunal has today (18 October 2012) released a pre-publication version of Matua Rautia: Report on the Kōhanga Reo Claim, its report into the kōhanga reo claim filed by the Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust. The Tribunal heard the claim under urgency during March and April 2012, with Deputy Chief...
Time to Move beyond Grievance in Treaty Relationship, Tribunal Says The Waitangi Tribunal today (2 July 2011) released its report into the Wai 262 claim, recommending wide-ranging reforms to laws and policies affecting Māori culture and identity and calling for the Crown-Māori relationship to move beyond grievance to a new era...
The Waitangi Tribunal acknowledges Emeritus Professor Dame Judith Binney, New Zealand historian, 1940–2011 Dame Judith Binney was a pioneer historian in the fields of Maori history, Maori-Pakeha and Maori-Crown relations. Her work with iwi, her engagement with their oral histories and traditions, and her successful dialogue between western academic approaches and...
On Saturday 4 September 2010, the Tribunal released its report Tauranga Moana, 1886–2006: Report on the Post-Raupatu Claims. In stage 2 of its inquiry into Tauranga Moana claims, the Tribunal examined issues relating to the decades since the confiscation (the latter having been the subject of stage 1). Over 50 claims...
On 2 August 2010, the Waitangi Tribunal released part II of the pre-publication version of its report on Te Urewera claims. The following introductory text is taken from Presiding Officer Judge Patrick Savage's letter to the Minister of Māori Affairs, which is located at the beginning of the report: On 6...
The East Coast Settlement Report is the outcome of an urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing held in Wellington between 14 and 16 December 2009 into the Crown's recognition of Te Runanga o Ngāti Porou's (TRONP) mandate to negotiate and settle all historical Ngāti Porou Treaty of Waitangi claims. The Tribunal panel...
The Waitangi Tribunal has today released its report on the Treaty claims of iwi and hapū of the Wairarapa ki Tararua district, which extends up the eastern side of the North Island from Cape Palliser to southern Hawke’s Bay. The principal iwi are Ngāti Kahungunu and Rangitāne. The Tribunal inquiry panel...