Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa
Station of the Year
NZ Radio Awards 2009
20 March, 2010
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The Treaty Debates
Background
Since 2005, Radio New Zealand has broadcast a series of annual public debates on the place of the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand society and history. Under the direction of Dr Claudia Orange at Te Papa Tongarewa, The Museum of New Zealand, these Treaty Debates analyse a wide range of issues looking back into our history and forwards into the future. Featuring expert participants with an extensive knowledge of their subject-matter, the discussions provide a unique insight into how our nation is continuing redefine itself.
2005 (3 debates)
Happening in the aftermath of the passing of the Foreshore and Seabed Act, the first series of debates explores some of the big themes of the moment – the unsettled history of past settlements, the recently-passed legislation, and options for future constitutional change.
Chaired by historian Dr Claudia Orange, and law professor Matthew Palmer.
- Treaty Debate 1 (2005)
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The series begins with a view from inside the Waitangi Tribunal. The chair at that time, Judge Joe Williams, and former chair Wira Gardiner, consider the unsettled history of the Tribunal and the process of Treaty Settlements.
(Replay Radio NRP 700.1)
(duration: 49′18″) - Download: MP3
- Treaty Debate 2 (2005)
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The second debate focuses on the Foreshore and Seabed Act, with lawyer Tim Castle, and Tahu Potiki of Ngai Tahu, analysing the key points of the Act and the changes it has introduced.
(Replay RadioNRP 700.2)
(duration: 53′34″) - Download: MP3
- Treaty Debate 3 (2005)
The final debate is about constitutional reform, with guests Professor Matthew Palmer of Victoria University of Wellington, and Judge Carrie Wainwright of the Waitangi Tribunal. Judge Wainwright explores in some detail the idea of Treaty principles.
(Replay Radio NRP 700.3)
(duration: 53′57″)- Download: MP3
2006 (2 debates)
The 2006 Treaty Debates are focused on the future, with one session examining the legal and constitutional perspective of the Treaty, and the other discussing how it has affected the operation of very disparate organisations.
Chaired by historian Dr Claudia Orange, and law professor Matthew Palmer.
- Treaty Debate 1 (2006)
Joe Williams, Chief Judge and Chairperson of the Waitangi Tribunal, and Sir Geoffrey Palmer, Head of the Law Commission, consider the future of the Treaty of Waitangi from a legal, constitutional and historical perspective.
(duration: 53′19″)- Download: MP3
- Treaty Debate2 (2006)
Apirana Mahuika, the Chairman of Te Runanga o Ngati Porou, and Pat Snedden, an Auckland businessman and consultant, consider the future of the Treaty of Waitangi from the point of view of those involved in putting it into effect with very different organisations.
(duration: 52′21″)- Download: MP3
2007 (2 debates)
The 2007 Treaty Debates provide some varied perspectives on present issues through a tight focus on Maori and the fisheries, and a wide-ranging conversation about the future of the Treaty from personal and constitutional points of view.
Chaired by historian Dr Claudia Orange and law professor Richard Boast.
- Treaty Debate 1 (2007)
Maori and the fisheries
The Hon. Doug Kidd explores the political and negotiating background to the development of the Sealord Fisheries deal, and Peter Douglas, the head of Te Ohu Kaimoana (The Maori Fisheries Trust), takes the story through to the present day.
The Hon. Doug Kidd explores the background to the development of the Sealord Fisheries deal, and Peter Douglas, the head of Te Ohu KaimoanA, takes the story through to the present day.
(duration: 52′40″)- Download: MP3
- Treaty Debate 2 (2007)
Where the Treaty stands at present, and what its likely future will be
Justice Eddie Durie, a key figure in the history of the Waitangi Tribunal, explores the way in which the Treaty’s meaning has changed since, as a schoolboy, he saw the Maori Battalion returning home to the Manawatu.
Political columnist Colin James provocatively describes the Treaty as a fiction in a broad-ranging address which teases out a number of themes to do with identity and rights, looking ahead to a day in which New Zealand becomes a republic.
(duration: 50′59″)- Download: MP3
2008 (2 debates)
The 2008 Treaty Debates aim to provide a fresh way of looking at the Treaty and its role in our history, focusing on the way in which we can find common ground in an area of national discussion which is often riven with conflict.
Chaired by historian Dr Claudia Orange and law lecturer Dr Claudia Geiringer.
- Treaty Debate 1 (2008)
Professor Mason Durie (Professor of Maori Research and Development & Deputy Vice-Chancellor Maori at Massey University) considers that the Treaty has become embedded in the life of the nation, contributing to a spectacular transformation of our society in recent decades. He also argues that it has assumed the role of reflecting how New Zealand values its indigenous people and their participation in society.
Dr Matthew Palmer (former Dean of Victoria University of Wellington’s Law School and 2005 International Research Fellow of the New Zealand Law Foundation) puts forward the case that as uncertainty is inherent in the meaning of the Treaty of Waitangi, it would be worth stabilizing its legal and constitutional place by giving its principles the status of ordinary law for the future, judged by ordinary courts.
(duration: 49′14″)- Download: MP3
- Treaty Debate 2 (2008)
Dr Charles Royal sets out a provocative argument that in the future, all New Zealanders will be able to define themselves as tangata whenua.
Race relations commissioner Joris De Bres explores why race relations are of less concern than they were a few years ago, and lays out the detail of a statement – which his office was then about to issue – defining a set of core positions on indigeneity and cultural diversity.
(duration: 53′48″)- Download: MP3
2009 (2 debates)
The 2009 Treaty Debates explore Maori economic and political experience of the Treaty.
Chaired by historian Dr Claudia Orange and law lecturer Dr Claudia Geiringer.
- Treaty Debate 1 (2009)
The first debate features Roger Kerr and Robert McLeod from the New Zealand Business Roundtable, exploring historical and contemporary perspectives on Maori, business, and the economy.
(duration: 52′12″)- Download: MP3
- Treaty Debate 2 (2009)
Professor Philip Joseph from the University of Canterbury and broadcaster and former local body politician Derek Fox square off about the origins, value, and future of the Maori electoral seats.
(duration: 51′05″)- Download: MP3
2010 (2 debates)
The 2010 Treaty Debates explore how our society ― and its view of the place of Maori ― has changed in an evolutionary way over recent decades.
Chaired by historian Claudia Orange and law professor Richard Boast.
- Treaty Debate 1 (2010)
Professor Paul Spoonley from Massey University articulates the evolutionary nature of the last 40 years of Maori social and cultural change through a focus on the life and achievement of fellow-panellist Professor Emeritus Ranginui Walker.
(duration: 53′09″)- Download: MP3
- Treaty Debate 2 (2010)
- Professor Mason Durie, with social commentator Colin James, consider the options for future, including three alternative scenarios which have New Zealand as a republic, as part of the federated states of Australasia, and with Maori leading world-wide networks of indigenous peoples and businesses. (duration: 53′20″)
- Download: MP3