Treaty of Waitangi Act — the Waitangi Tribunal
- When
- 10 October 1975
- Where
- Wellington · Te Whanganui-a-Tara
- Reach
- Nationwide
A permanent commission of inquiry was created to hear Treaty claims — but only for breaches after 1975, which made it nearly useless for a decade.
Matiu Rata’s Act gave the Treaty statutory recognition for the first time and set up a tribunal to interpret both texts and recommend redress. The forward-only jurisdiction was the compromise that got it passed. In 1985 the Lange government backdated jurisdiction to 1840, and the Tribunal became the central institution of Treaty settlement, producing the reports that underpin every major settlement since.
Regions affected
Sources
Written for this project from these references rather than copied from them. Follow a link to check the account against the original.
Related
The Māori land march
Te Rōpū o te Matakite
Whina Cooper, aged 79, led a month-long hīkoi from Te Hāpua in the far north to Parliament under the slogan ‘not one more acre’.
Te HāpuaWaitangi Tribunal jurisdiction backdated to 1840
The single amendment that made Treaty settlements possible: the Tribunal could now investigate Crown breaches all the way back to 1840.
Te reo Māori becomes an official language
Te Ture mō Te Reo Māori
Te reo Māori gained official status and the right to be spoken in court, fifteen years after the language petition and following a Waitangi Tribunal finding that it was a taonga.
The Sealord fisheries settlement
The Crown funded a Māori half-share in Sealord and allocated quota, settling commercial fisheries claims nationally in one deal.