Kaea Hudson reports on the 2025 Hui-ā-Tauira, the National Māori Law Students Conference.

This year, Aotearoa’s Māori law students came together at “Hui-ā-Tauira,” a student only conference with speakers from Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa across the profession. Hui-ā-Tauira presented a unique opportunity for our tūākana in the Māori legal profession to speak directly to the next generation of Māori lawyers. One message they shared was the importance of using our legal skills to educate others by breaking down barriers and making information more accessible. With that whakaaro in mind, this article collects some key kōrero from Hui-ā-Tauira and my reflections on the common themes of history, modern media and Hawaikii Hou.

Hītori

The first common theme was history, the all-important whakapapa of Māori and Pākehā movements and the humble beginnings of the institutions that we take for granted. Annette Sykes shared about the history of the Waitangi Tribunal: how it was a grassroots initiative vulnerable to racist policy. While Sykes aimed to focus only on this kōrero, it seemed that she could not help but draw parallels between the racist rhetoric of the early days and what we are hearing from the Government now.

Overall, she believes that the history of the Tribunal shows that a key aspect of its work is to prepare the Crown for hard conversations – especially as the upcoming Wai 3300 inquiry questions the constitutional makeup of our country. In a time where we are questioning the future of the Tribunal and other institutions, I appreciated her take that the Tribunal works to prepare the Crown for difficult conversations. While iwi, hapū, whānau and individuals alike benefit from the Tribunal’s research, considering the power of report writing in the Crown system was not something I had considered. What I took from this kōrero is that when considering the position of the Tribunal, we need to remember that it is both a government appointed commission of inquiry, and a place to record the whakapapa of iwi and hapū.

Justice Layne Harvey took the opportunity to discuss colonisation, not only in New Zealand history but around the globe. Britain and other political strongholds have thousands of years of history in regular siege, conquest and colonisation, replacing the laws, customs and symbols of the nations they overtake. Britain as we know it today was defined by the Norman Conquest in 1066 that influenced language, culture and governance structures. This overview of the history of colonisation itself was interesting, and something I feel is often left out of the mainstream education system. I appreciated him taking the time to really start from the beginning and can only hope that in future, more people learn this history.

This foundation influenced the colonisation of Aotearoa. One of the key takeaways from Justice Harvey’s kōrero is that “context is everything.” Understanding the whakapapa of systems, laws and tikanga are important for proper application. He told us to be “wary of tikanga with a limited whakapapa,” a reminder to come prepared with the kete mātauranga of our ancestors before trying to speak for them.

Educating teina about the past is a core aspect of the role of a tuakana. It was something I expected, but it was nonetheless interesting to see the angles that Sykes and Justice Harvey would take, and what they thought would be important for us to know.

Modern media

A key message at this conference was about accessibility of legal and political information in modern times, especially during this government term. Tania Waikato discussed her work using social media to educate whānau about the Regulatory Standards Bill, reminding us of the importance of educating others about information that is purposefully made complicated and inaccessible.

The media has a key role in being an adequate check on the government by reporting on their actions in an accessible and unbiased way. Waikato described the mainstream media’s current reporting as a constitutional failure in the way that it leaves whānau misinformed. This is a recognised issue and other legal practitioners such as Luke Fitzmaurice-Brown, Natalie Coates, Eru Kapa-Kingi and Riana Te Ngahue are doing their bit in mainstream and social media to spread the good word. As Waikato puts it, social media is an opportunity for us to tell people what is happening, or someone else will - a warning that will become increasingly important as election season dawns upon us.

Hawaikii Hou

As a collective of rangatahi Māori, many of the speakers discussed the idea of a Hawaikii Hou. What will be your contribution to Hawaikii Hou? Waikato posed this question to us during her kōrero. She spoke about the “art of the pivot” and how flexibility and moving where you are needed is a helpful way forward. She said: “Put yourself first, if you have something left, then give.” As we put in the hard mahi to move forward as an Aotearoa hou, it is important to remember our limits when we have big dreams. There is a time limit on our contributions if we serve our communities too much before we take care of ourselves.

That being said, there is still a battle on the horizon. We might not be physically keeping an army at bay, like the battle stories from Justice Harvey’s kōrero, but there are confrontations at our doorstep. Sykes, like many of our tuakana, has been in this game for a long time – but knowing your history will put you in the right mindset for the future. As she puts it: “When you know you descend from fighters, you are inspired to fight.”

Looking to the future there are many ways to contribute to Hawaikii Hou. Waikato interpreted Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki’s famous words: Mā te ture anō te ture e āki / Only the law can be set against the law, to mean not just studying Pākehā law but moving to a space of creating law. Similarly, Kapa-Kingi asked if we would contribute to the current system or build a new system all together, especially ahead of the 200-year anniversary of the Treaty in 2040.

While I don’t know exactly how my 20-year plan (as soon as I start making it…) will contribute to Hawaikii Hou, this collection of thoughts, quotes, pep talks and warnings from Māori legal professionals in a time of (minor) crisis has been helpful. Hui-ā-tauira was a rare chance for Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa to bring messages directly to students, and now our wider community. They traversed some key history and said their piece about the 2025 government. Next stop, Hawaikii Hou.

Author: Kaea Hudson

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