1975: Waitangi Tribunal
February 2, 2025
By AHNZ
The Waitangi Tribunal was established by Act of Parliament on 10 October, 1975. The creation of Labour 3.0.
Initially there was to be no retrospectivity. The power of tribunal was only to make recommendations.
In 1985, Labour 4.0 extended the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to claims about any alleged breach of the treaty since 1840. This resulted in a huge increase in the number of claims and growth of the Tribunal’s sympathetic activities (as per Conquest’s Second Law.)
Segregationist organisation: Andy Oakley, in 2013, made a Treaty Claim but the Tribunal refused to hear it on the grounds he wasn’t of the specified race.
During Labour 6.0 the Tribunal had come to think of itself as an independent part of Executive Government, a quasi-supreme court. (“Bureaucracy expands to keep up with the needs of an expanding bureaucracy- Isaac Asimov.”) It even summoned a Minister to answer to it.
The Tribunal has up to 20 members and another 60 staff.
“But here’s the secret to a lot of what is going on. Tribunal members were not, at least in my day, paid a retainer fee. They didn’t receive an annual salary but were paid a substantial sum on days they participated in hearings. That was an important consideration. I think what’s been happening in recent years is that many Maori have been hoping that by constantly submitting new claims, they could effectively turn Waitangi Tribunal roles into full-time jobs and earn a fortune. That was never the original intention.” – Michael Laws with Michael Bassett, The Platform, Youtube (2025)
“In my day, the chair was an outrage. They would carefully select committee members to achieve a desired outcome. Unless the minister intervenes and establishes a system where either they or tribunal members choose hearing participants, there’s always a risk that the chair will manipulate the results.” – ibid
Little known fact is that members of the Waitangi Tribunal have their own en suite bathrooms. However applicants need to use a seperate toilet block called the Waitangi Tribe Urinal.
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