Upcoming events:

Tribunal staff are consulting on project briefs for the casebook research programme. The first hui were  held in December 2007. The project briefs discussed at these hui have now been finalised. For copies of the project briefs see the ‘document store’ section of the King Country inquiry page on this website. (NB: Parties to the inquiry can obtain a login and password to this document store from the Waitangi Tribunal's librarian. Complete the ‘contact us’ section with your request on our home page.)

The next round of hui will be arranged soon.

Recent developments:

October 2007

On 1 October 2007 the Tribunal held its third judicial conference. This conference discussed the revised research programme (Wai 898 # 6.2.4(a)). There was broad support at this conference for the proposed casebook research programme, and agreement on which projects should be commissioned as a priority. There was also widespread discussion on how to organise research co-ordination in this inquiry. It was decided to continue with consultation hui, rather than to establish a committee.

April 2007

On 11-12 April 2007 the Tribunal held its second judicial conference into the King Country claims. The purpose of the conference was to discuss a number of planning issues for the inquiry. The discussions covered the type of inquiry, the inquiry name, the inquiry boundary, and research planning. Following this conference Judge Ambler confirmed that the inquiry would be run under the standard approach, and that the name would be changed to Te Rohe Pōtae District Inquiry.

December 2006

Judge Ambler released a direction that set out the upcoming steps for the inquiry, which included deciding on an appropriate name and boundary for the inquiry, the type of inquiry that best suits the district, and an appropriate research programme. To assist claimants and the Crown in considering these issues, the Waitangi Tribunal issued two discussion papers in late December 2006. These were ‘King Country (Wai 898): a review of casebook research requirements’ by Dr Vincent O’Malley (Wai 898, #6.2.1), and ‘King Country/Rohe Potae inquiry boundary discussion paper’ (Wai 898, #6.2.2).

October/November 2006

On 2-3 October 2006 the Tribunal held its first judicial conference for this inquiry at Te Tokanganui a noho Marae, Te Kuiti. The conference was chaired by Judge David Ambler who sought preliminary views from claimants on whether they wished to proceed to an inquiry, preferences on an inquiry name and boundaries, and from the Crown on its readiness to engage. There was widespread support from claimants for proceeding to an inquiry and on 7 November 2006 Judge Ambler issued a memorandum formally announcing the start of inquiry preparation (Wai 898 #2.5.6).

General information:

Major issues in the inquiry include the Crown's relationship with the Kingitanga Movement and the creation of the Rohe Pōtae, the construction of the Main Trunk Railway through the district, the operation of the Native Land Court and the alienation of Māori land in the nineteenth century, the mangagement of Māori land in the twentieth century, waterways, environmental impacts, and public works takings.