Rapua ngā tuhinga ruku tātari

In September 1991, Eriapa Uruamo lodged a claim with the Tribunal complaining about the sale of 4 Domett Avenue, Auckland, by the Auckland Area Health Board. Maori use of the property dated back to about 1950, when a Māori youth hostel was constructed there for Māori trade trainees, and at the time of the claim the land was occupied by the Te Taou Reweti Charitable Trust, which had connections to the local Ngāti Whātua iwi.

After hearing the evidence, the Tribunal of Chief Judge Eddie Durie (presiding), Professor Keith Sorrenson, and Georgina Te Heuheu recommended that the Crown intervene in the Auckland Hospital sales process and, if it was not too late, in the disposal of 4 Domett Avenue in particular. It also recommended that the Crown consult with an appropriate national Māori organisation on a general policy for the disposal of those health board properties in which Māori had a particular interest and that the Minister of Health provide funding for this and for the research of prospective Māori claims to hospital lands.

On 2 July 2011, the Waitangi Tribunal released its report on the Wai 262 claim relating to New Zealand’s law and policy affecting Māori culture and identity.

Ko Aotearoa Tēnei (‘This is Aotearoa’ or ‘This is New Zealand’) is the Tribunal’s first whole-of-government report, addressing the work of around 20 government departments and agencies and Crown entities.

It is also the first Tribunal report to consider what the Treaty relationship might become after historical grievances are settled, and how that relationship might be shaped by changes in New Zealand’s demographic makeup over the coming decades.

The report concerns one of the most complex and far-reaching claims ever to come before the Waitangi Tribunal. The Wai 262 claim is commonly known as the indigenous flora and fauna and cultural and intellectual property claim. As the report’s preface puts it:

the Wai 262 claim is really a claim about mātauranga Māori – that is, the unique Māori way of viewing the world, encompassing both traditional knowledge and culture. The claimants, in other words, are seeking to preserve their culture and identity, and the relationships that culture and identity derive from.

The report is divided into two levels, each of which is designed to be read independently: a shorter summary layer subtitled Te Taumata Tuatahi, which aims to be accessible to a general readership, and a fuller, two-volume layer subtitled Te Taumata Tuarua. Both layers have an introduction, eight thematic chapters and a conclusion.