Matike Mai Aotearoa: Independent Working Group on Constitutional Transformation is a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

initiative made up of constitutional experts and respected Māori leaders who consulted Māori between 2012 and 2015 and generated a report on constitutional transformation for Aotearoa

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The report was launched on

Waitangi Day Waitangi Day ( mi, Te Rā o Waitangi), the national day of New Zealand, marks the anniversary of the initial signing – on 6 February 1840 – of the Treaty of Waitangi, which is regarded as the founding document of the nation. The first Wai ...

in 2016.

History, process and outcomes

Since 2005 the Iwi Chairs' Forum, a group of 72 chairpersons from

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, ...

(Māori nations), have convened four meetings a year for Māori people to exchange information with the goal to share and support each other. In 2010 the Iwi Chairs Forum established a Working Group for Constitutional Change in response to the 'ongoing persistent exercise of the Crown of constitutional power with out apparent Māori input.' The working group had the following terms of reference for consultation and a report: “To develop and implement a model for an inclusive Constitution for Aotearoa based on tikanga and kawa, He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Niu Tireni of 1835, Te Tiriti o Waitangi of 1840, and other indigenous human rights instruments which enjoy a wide degree of international recognition”. Professor

Margaret Mutu Margaret Shirley Mutu is a Ngāti Kahu leader, author and academic from Karikari Peninsula, Karikari, New Zealand and works at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She is Māori people, Māori and her iwi (tribes) are Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa ...

has held the role of chairperson since the inception, and the convener was

Moana Jackson Moana Jackson (10 October 1945 – 31 March 2022) was a New Zealand lawyer specialising in constitutional law, the Treaty of Waitangi and international indigenous issues. Jackson was of Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Porou descent. He was an a ...

who died in March 2022. The working group had a clear mandate to consult Māori and initially proposed 30 hui (Māori meetings), but responded to requests. In the end 252 hui were held all throughout New Zealand between 2012 and 2015. The first hui was held at Waipatu

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

with

Ngāti Kahungunu Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions. The tribe is organised into six geographical and administrative ...

, Jackson's home base. The aim was to be comprehensive and inclusive; hui were therefore held with iwi and also with other groups such as organisations for Māori people with disabilities, Māori

LGBTQI ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

groups, gangs and churches. Jackson attended all 252 hui. Extensive discussion and debate of values for a constitution were part of the hui. The Matike Mai Working Group had over 10,000 people attend and over 800 written submissions. Funding and support for the hui was granted mostly by JR McKenzie Trust, other sources included groups who were hosting and some research funding from

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. Kayleen Neho was project manager. Transcripts were produced from the hui and then smaller follow up meetings occurred to clarify certain points or to expand on the findings. The report was launched on

in 2016. There were seven recommendations from the report relating to future actions. In February 2021 there was a Matike Mai Constitutional Convention, which was one of the recommendations. It took place online rather than in-person due to Covid-19 restrictions. The Matike Mai report is part of a landscape of constitutional work in recent times including two other expert-led dialogues by the Constitutional Advisory Panel published by the New Zealand Government (2013) and Constitution Aotearoa led by Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Andrew Butler (2017). He Puapua is a report commissioned by New Zealand government agency

Te Puni Kōkiri Te Puni Kōkiri (TPK), the Ministry of Māori Development, is the principal policy advisor of the Government of New Zealand on Māori wellbeing and development. Te Puni Kōkiri was established under the Māori Development Act 1991 with responsib ...

in 2019 to create a plan to realise the

UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP or DOTROIP) is a legally non-binding resolution passed by the United Nations in 2007. It delineates and defines the individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples, including th ...

(UNDRIP) in New Zealand. This report includes reference to the Matike Mai Aotearoa Report.

Contributing members of the working group

During the development of the report there were 28 contributing members to the working group as listed in the appendix of the report, as follows:

Rangatahi rōpū (youth group)

Veronica Tawhai co-ordinated Matike Mai Aotearoa Rangatahi Youth for Constitutional Transformation to get perspectives from young people and 70 meetings and workshops were held around New Zealand. This ended up being a comprehensive report in its own right drawing from thirteen different regional groups and ran between 2012-2017. Members included spokesperson Ngaa Rauuira Puumanawawhiti and Pania Newton. The workshops used digital media and

theatrical Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

group activities to gain perspectives with young people at secondary schools, Wharekura, tertiary providers, community centres and youth justice centres. Puumanawhiti said: "Young voices are often not valued or are ignored, yet we are the ones who will shape our future constitution". Matike Mai Aotearoa Rangatahi Youth for Constitutional Transformation was funded by the JR McKenzie Trust, the UN Trust Fund on Indigenous Issues and the New Zealand National Commission for

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matike Mai Aotearoa Politics of New Zealand Uncodified constitutions Constitution of New Zealand