Former Waitangi Tribunal Chair Sir Eddie Durie. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
"We've made a seismic shift in New Zealand" - That's the words from Former Waitangi Tribunal chairperson Sir Eddie Durie, who joined dozens of other tribunal members past and present to commemorate 50 years since the creation of the Tribunal.
Sir Eddie joined a cohort of other rangatira including judges, politicians, current tribunal members and even a former Prime Minister at Victoria University on Thursday for a two-day conference reflecting on the Tribunal's work.
The conference coincides with the official 50 year mark, set for Friday.
Sir Eddie told RNZ the anniversary was an emotional occasion because many of the people who had contributed to the tribunal over the decade have now passed away.
"What we have achieved in this country is a huge cultural shift over 50 years. You go back 50 years ago and we were talking assimilation, we were talking that there will be just one people and we all had to be the same," he said.
"What we are thinking of now is that unity and peace comes from respecting difference, not from assuming... that we all must be the same or that one group is dominant over another. We've made a seismic shift in New Zealand. We have redefined our national identity."
Celebrating 50 years of the Waitangi Tribunal. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Keynote speakers at the event include Chief Judge and current Waitangi Tribunal chairperson Dr Caren Fox, former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer, Hon Chris Finlayson KC and Supreme Court Justice Sir Joe Williams.
A new book titled '50 Years of the Waitangi Tribunal', edited by Carwyn Jones and Maria Bargh, was also launched at the event .
Jones told RNZ that 50 years on from its formation, the tribunal is more relevant than ever.
"We're seeing with this government it's quite hostile towards Te Tiriti, and it's really important to have a mechanism which can acknowledge and recognise Māori rights and to whakamana Te Tiriti, to give effect to that relationship between tino rangatiratanga and kāwanatanga in current context." he said
"That's what the tribunal was all about and that's why we have this idea of principles of the Treaty to apply to the circumstances that we're in today, to show that Te Tiriti is a living instrument, that it's always speaking."
Celebrating 50 years of the Waitangi Tribunal. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
While the government may not always accept the recommendations made by the tribunal, Jones said its findings have shifted the perspective of Māori rights over the decades.
"What the tribunal does is it lays out the evidence... it allows people to bring that evidence, their perspectives, their kōrero around the circumstances of their iwi and hapū and their people, and have that transparently laid out to make the government accountable for those decisions.
"Even with this government, they say, 'oh but we all agree that there's historical actions that need to be addressed'. They say that as though that was always the case, that everyone always agreed about that [but] 50 years ago, that was a highly controversial idea."
The conference concludes with a gala dinner on 10 October.
