The limits of liberal equality and the future of Māori self-determination

Join Dr Andrew Erueti as he explores the future of Māori rights in the post-Waitangi Treaty settlements era. While Māori claims to tino rangatiratanga – self-determination – have gained increasing visibility through Treaty settlements and institutional reforms, the New Zealand state has consistently resisted more transformative forms of Indigenous governance by invoking equality and anti-racism principles.

In this talk, Andrew draws on the history of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to discuss how the human rights discourse has been strategically used by the state to contain Māori aspirations for self-determination. He will argue that advancing Indigenous rights in Aotearoa requires confronting the limits of liberal equality and recognising the political and legal status of Māori as a people with inherent self-determining authority.

Bio

Dr Andrew (Anaru) Erueti (Ngā Ruahinerangi, Ngāti Ruanui, Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi and Ngāti Pākehā) is an associate professor in the Faculty of Law. He has taught law in Aotearoa and abroad and worked with Indigenous peoples across the UN and Inter-American systems, including as Amnesty International’s Indigenous rights expert. He has also represented Māori in the Waitangi Tribunal and before UN treaty bodies. From 2018 to 2024 he served as a commissioner on the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care.

Event

6:00pm @16 Tun, 10/26 Jellicoe Street, Auckland 1010

Also speaking at this location at 8:00pm is Christina Stringer