📸 Image source: Wikimedia Commons: Reconstruction of the Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, Marcus King
October 10, 2025, marks the 50th anniversary of Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi – the Waitangi Tribunal.
Established in 1975 under the Treaty of Waitangi Act, the Tribunal offers Parliament a legal avenue to investigate Māori Treaty claims.
Te Pīhopatanga, and indeed the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, has a long-standing connection with te Tiriti o Waitangi. Church leaders were involved in the formation of the Treaty in 1840 and continue to advocate for Treaty principles through ministry and mission.
In 1992, the Hāhi revised its constitution, Te Pouhere, to embed a Te Tiriti o Waitangi framework that reflects the principles of partnership and bicultural development. This revision created a Three Tikanga model (Tikanga Māori, Tikanga Pākehā, and Tikanga Pasefika), enabling each cultural stream to express its unique Anglican identity while ensuring equal representation and voice at General Synod.
1992 Anglican General Synod
Anglicans have played an active role in key inquiries, serving both as Tribunal members and as witnesses.
Senior Māori clergy members, Canon Wi Te Tau Huata and Pīhopa Manuhuia Bennett served as Tribunal members in the 1980s, bringing a wealth of theological and mātauranga Māori insight into the Tribunal’s deliberations.
Bishop Bennett’s description of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the 1992 Te Roroa Report (WAI38) as a “promise of two peoples to take the best possible care of each other” is often repeated, some 33 years later when issues around Crown-Māori relations are discussed.
A prominent former Chair of the Tribunal is Sir Eddie Taihakurei Durie. Sir Eddie has a long association with the church, dating back to his great-Grandfather, Hoani Meihana Te Rangiotū, a lay reader and Christian teacher within his Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Kauwhata and Rangitāne iwi.
Sir Eddie has also served the Hāhi as a Synodsman in the Diocese of Waiapu and a General Synodsman, and as a member of Te Rūnanganui, the Standing Committe of Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa.
The tribunal continues to have a strong Mihinare connection in 2025. Former legal advisor to Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa, Rev. David Williams is a current member of the Tribunal.
Waitangi Tribunal | 40th Anniversary
Professor Emeritus Williams, a noted legal historian and experienced lawyer, has written an article for The Spinoff sharing his personal reflections on the Tribunals impact on Aotearoa since 1975.
He reflects on how the ‘toothless tiger’, as it was once called, helped reimagine Māori roles and Treaty significance in Aotearoa, and allowing for the Māori voice to be heard in the telling of this country’s history.
“Māori wanted to speak truth to the Crown, to hold Crown officials to account for past actions, and to let the world know what hurts had been suffered to indigenous peoples in the colonisation of Aotearoa from 1840,” Williams says in his writing.
As we mark this milestone, the intertwined legacy of the Tribunal and the church reminds us that justice, faith, and whakapapa remain central to our shared future.
Toitū te Hāhi, toitū te Tiriti, Toitū te Oranga Ake o te iwi, o te Ao!