Tom Roa.
Tom Roa has cast a vote of confidence in the refreshed compilation of the Waitangi Tribunal.
He did not have his warrant renewed this month when Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced a new line up of members.
Eight new appointments were made and five of the existing 20 members – Dr Ruakere Hond, Derek Fox, Kim Ngarimu, Dr Hana O’Regan and Professor Sir Pou Temara – were retained.
Appointments are for a three-year term and the new members include Vanessa Eparaima, chair of Te Wananga o Aotearoa council and Professor Tafaoimalo Tologata Leilani Tuala-Warren, Dean of Te Piringa Faculty of Law at Waikato University.
Tania Simpson of Tamahere was among those not reappointed. She has served on the tribunal since 2008. Ken Williamson, a Waikato business leader who has ties to King Country through St John, was appointed in October last year.
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer called the appointments a whitewash and said some of Te Ao Māori’s greatest thinkers had been replaced “with pale, stale males”.
Roa, Professor in the Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Waikato regularly shares his view with readers of The News – his latest column appears in this edition.
He said recent publicity, especially in social media, regarding some of the new appointments “and the non-renewal of my and other long-serving members’ warrants has to be a concern with the strength of its negativity”.
He said the new appointments brought a diversity of rich experience to the tribunal “which should be welcomed”.
“They will quickly familiarise themselves with the role of the tribunal under the Act and their role as members. The judges, staff, and sitting members will make good use of their knowledge, skills, and experience in guiding those new members in their role.”
Roa said he had been honoured to serve on the tribunal for 10 years and was personally and professionally proud of his contribution.
The Waitangi Tribunal is a permanent commission of inquiry set up by the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. Its role is inquisitorial, and it seeks to establish the “truth or otherwise” of an allegation that the Crown has breached the Treaty.
It also has a role in examining and reporting on proposed legislation and makes recommendations about certain Crown forest land, railways land, state-owned enterprise land, and land transferred to educational institutions.
Roa said the tribunal fulfilled an essential, principled, role in advancing race relations and held elected representatives to account in ensuring that “not only do they govern according to our will but they do so in the context of the Treaty of Waitangi, ensuring that the rule of law is upheld”.
Claimants, their legal counsel, and Crown counsel in their interactions with tribunal panels also had a responsibility to assist the tribunal in its deliberations.
“Reasoned and thoughtful debate will continue,” Roa said.
“We should remind ourselves that our parliamentary system is based on the Westminster system in which we have a Government, and an Opposition. The primary function of the Opposition is to oppose, that is to hold the Government to account. In any debate exaggeration and hyperbole can be very effective tools to advance a position.
“We should guard against debates which promote personal attacks, are essentially negative, and do not offer thoughtful and rational alternatives.”
