What is the Waitangi Tribunal?
What Is the Waitangi Tribunal?
The Waitangi Tribunal is a permanent commission of inquiry that considers claims brought by Māori concerning acts or omissions of the Crown that breach the promises made in the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty was signed in 1840 between rangatira representing the iwi of Aotearoa and representatives of the British Crown.
The Tribunal was established in 1975 by the Treaty of Waitangi Act, following a rise in protest during the early 1970s that the Crown was failing to honour the Treaty.
After researching a claim and holding hearings, the Tribunal makes recommendations to the government in a formal report. These recommendations are not legally binding, as the Tribunal is not a court. However, they have frequently been accepted or used as the basis for negotiations between the Crown and claimants.
Legal aid is available to claimants to support participation in Tribunal proceedings. The resulting Deeds of Settlement and Acts of Parliament have contributed to affirming the place of Māori in New Zealand society and protecting Māori rights to land, culture, resources and language. Over time, Tribunal case files have become a substantial historical record of the relationship between Māori and the Crown.
First Claims
The first Waitangi Tribunal claim was brought in 1977 by Joe Hawke of Ngāti Whātua. Although the claim concerned customary fishing rights, it arose within a broader political struggle over Ngāti Whātua o Ōrākei’s land at Bastion Point (Takaparawhau).
Ngāti Whātua had long exercised mana whenua over the Tāmaki isthmus. Despite supporting the early colonial government and never engaging in armed resistance, their land was progressively alienated for military use, housing and infrastructure.
From 1977 to 1978, members of the Ōrākei Māori Action Committee occupied Bastion Point in a non-violent protest lasting 506 days. The forcible removal of protestors by armed police attracted international attention.
In 1987, the Tribunal released its report, recommending the return of Bastion Point land to Ngāti Whātua and $3 million in compensation. The government enacted these recommendations.
Another early high-profile claim was brought by Te Āti Awa in 1983, opposing the discharge of untreated industrial waste into the sea near a traditional shellfish reef. The Tribunal upheld the claim, and the Crown followed its recommendation to redirect waste to a treatment plant.
Historic Claims
Initially, the Tribunal could only hear claims relating to events after 1975. However, most Māori grievances concerned land confiscations and breaches that occurred much earlier.
In 1984, the Labour government extended the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to consider claims dating back to 1840. This enabled large historic claims, including Te Kerēme (Wai27), concerning Crown land purchases from Ngāi Tahu.
The Tribunal concluded that the Crown had acted unconscionably in acquiring 34.5 million acres of Ngāi Tahu land for £14,750, leaving the iwi with just 37,757 acres. Negotiations began in 1991, and a Deed of Settlement was signed in 1998, providing $170 million in redress.
To date, roughly 100 settlements have been reached between iwi and the Crown. While many inquiries focus on land and fisheries, the Tribunal also conducts kaupapa inquiries addressing issues such as housing, justice, health and mana wāhine.
Te Reo Māori
In 1984, Ngā Kaiwhakapūmau i te Reo and its founder Huirangi Waikerepuru lodged a claim arguing that the Crown had failed to protect Te Reo Māori by excluding it from education, broadcasting, health and government.
The Tribunal agreed that the Crown had breached its obligation of active protection under the Treaty. In 1986, it released its report, leading to the Māori Language Act 1987, which made te reo Māori an official language of New Zealand.
The claim also led to the establishment of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori and a significant expansion of Māori-language broadcasting.
Taonga Māori and Wai 262
The Wai 262 claim, formally titled the Fauna, Flora and Intellectual Property Rights claim, was lodged in 1991 to address the protection of taonga Māori.
It challenged who controls and protects mātauranga Māori, cultural expressions such as haka and waiata, and natural taonga including kūmara, pōhutukawa, kererū, tuatara, puawānanga and koromiko.
The Tribunal’s report, Ko Aotearoa Tēnei, was released in 2011. It called for a new relationship between Māori and the Crown, based on mutual benefit rather than historical grievance alone.
The Impact of the Waitangi Tribunal
The Waitangi Tribunal represents New Zealand’s commitment to addressing Treaty breaches. Through the persistence of claimants and the depth of Tribunal inquiries, it has played a crucial role in compensation, protection and justice for Māori.
Its case files are an enduring record of New Zealand’s ongoing efforts to build a fairer relationship between Māori and Pākehā and to create a more just society.