Ad hoc funding means Waitangi Tribunal is 'seriously undermined', report finds

Friday, 17 February 2023

If Māori can’t access adequate resources, the Waitangi Tribunal is “seriously undermined”, a report has found.

As part of Te Rau o te Tika, the kaupapa inquiry into Justice launched in 2021, the tribunal’s latest report found the Crown has failed to ensure that Māori claimants have the necessary resources to fully participate in Waitangi Tribunal processes.

The tribunal’s purpose is to hold inquiries based on claims brought by Māori relating to Crown breaches of the promises of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

However, bringing claims to the tribunal can be expensive and last years, making the option to participate come at such a steep cost it is out of reach for some.

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This report focused on stage one of Te Rau o te Tika, Whakatika ki Runga, a mini-inquiry which looks into funding in the Waitangi Tribunal.

The claimants argued that the unavailability of funding compromised their ability to make and pursue their claims, which undermined the institution as a pillar of New Zealand’s constitution.

Claimants across 53 claims told the tribunal why the current funding schemes did not meet Treaty standards.

Lawyers called more than 40 witnesses, with many explaining how inadequate funding arrangements had caused hardship and distress, and discouraged participation.

The Crown agreed there were problems with the funding scheme, that it was good enough by Treaty standards.

The tribunal disagreed.

It detailed the many flaws in the present ad hoc funding arrangements, and was particularly concerned that officials knew about the inadequacies, but ministers did not act on their advice.

If Māori were not properly resourced by the Crown to participate in tribunal inquiries, then the purpose of the tribunal was “seriously undermined”, the tribunal said in a statement.

“It is up to the Crown, which created the Waitangi Tribunal for ‘the observance, and confirmation, of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi’, to ensure that claimants can access its processes easily, and in a culturally comfortable way.

“There is simply no point in having a Waitangi Tribunal otherwise.”

Claimants have been seeking a solution for years, but the decision that’s been released had been so swift it raised hopes for claimant Timoti Te Moke (Ngāti Rangitihi, Tapuika and Ngāti Kurī).

Te Moke is a fifth-year medical student who has had times where ”I haven’t had two cents to rub together”.

However, he put in his claim to the tribunal raising concerns about the courts, prisons and other parts of the justice system due to his brushes with the law.

When giving evidence to the tribunal in the 2022 hearings, Te Moke moved his studies to Wellington to be closer to the hearing room to ensure he could participate.

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He told the tribunal that he felt an obligation to pursue his claim to shine a light on racism that he and other Māori men suffer in dealings with police, saying, “There is nothing in it for me, and I am taking time out from my very important exams to do this mahi. But I see the importance of my claim.”

The report said it was urgent for Māori and the Crown to design suitable funding arrangements.

In the meantime, a standardised funding protocol was recommended, as well as directing the Ministry of Justice to prioritise translation services from te reo Māori to English – which were to be paid for by the Crown.

The second and third stages of Te Rau o te Tika will help to frame and better understand the foundational Treaty principles connected to the inquiry, then cover the different justice systems within Aotearoa.