Paul Hamer

Qualifications

PhD Monash, MA Wgtn, BA(Hons) Canterbury, BA Wgtn

Profile

Paul Hamer is an historian who has mainly worked for the Waitangi Tribunal and Te Puni Kōkiri. Most of his work for the Tribunal has involved assisting in the writing of published Tribunal reports, such as Ko Aotearoa Tēnei (Wai 262), which was published in 2011, and He Whakaputanga me Te Tiriti—the Declaration and the Treaty, which was published in 2014. He has also authored research presented to the Tribunal as evidence, including a report on Lake Horowhenua in 2015 and one on Porotī Springs near Whāngārei in 2016.

He has also developed specialist knowledge about the migration of Māori to Australia. He authored a research report on this subject for Te Puni Kōkiri in 2007 after having been a visiting fellow at Griffith University in Brisbane in 2006. His 2018 PhD thesis is entitled 'From Federation to the "501s": Māori Inclusion and Exclusion in Australia Since 1901'. It examines the status of Māori in White Australia and the particular impact on Māori of the reduction on New Zealanders' access to social security and citizenship in Australia in 2001.

Prior to linking with Te Kawa a Māui, Paul was a Senior Associate of the Institute of Policy Studies from 2008 to 2012.

Paul also has an MA in history (Distinction) from Victoria University of Wellington. His Masters thesis was a study of evolving Pākehā attitudes to the indigenous in New Zealand. He was appointed as a member of the Waitangi Tribunal in January 2020, and sits on the Wai 2180 Taihape: Rangitīkei ki Rangipō, Wai 2750 Housing Policy and Services, and Wai 3060 Te Rau o Te Tika (Justice System) inquiries.

Selected recent publications

Hamer, P, Paul, J, and Hunia, M. 2021. Hōkai Rangi: Context and background to the development of Ara Poutama Aotearoa Strategy 2019-2024, Practice: The New Zealand Corrections Journal, 8(1).

Hamer, P. 2017. ‘The Electoral Participation of Māori in Australia’, Political Science, 69(2), pp 175-793.

Hamer, P and Meredith, P. 2016. ‘The Power to Settle the Title’?: The operation of papatupu block committees in the Te Paparahi o Te Raki inquiry district, 1900-1909. A report commissioned by the Waitangi Tribunal for the Te Paparahi o Te Raki inquiry (Wai 1040).

Hamer, P. 2016. Porotī Springs and the Resource Management Act, 1991-2015. A report commissioned by the Waitangi Tribunal for the Te Paparahi o Te Raki inquiry (Wai 1040).

Hamer, P. 2015. ‘A Tangled Skein’: Lake Horowhenua, Muaūpoko, and the Crown, 1898-2000. A report commissioned by the Waitangi Tribunal for the Porirua ki Manawatū Inquiry (Wai 2200).

Hamer, P. 2014. ‘“Unsophisticated and Unsuited”: Australian Barriers to Pacific Islander Immigration from New Zealand’, Political Science, 66(2), pp 93–118.

Hamer, P. 2012. ‘Māori in Australia: an update from the 2011 Australian census and the 2011 New Zealand general election’, working paper.

Hamer, P. 2011. ‘The Split Tōtara: Te Reo Māori and Trans-Tasman Migration’, Te Reo, 54, pp 45-69.

Hamer, P. 2010. ‘Kiwi Keith and Kinloch: A Closer Look at Holyoake’s “Proudest Achievement”’, New Zealand Journal of History, vol. 44, no. 2, pp 157-173.

Hamer, P. 2010. ‘The impact on te reo Māori of trans-Tasman migration’ Institute of Policy Studies Working Paper 10/11 (Wellington: Institute of Policy Studies).

Hamer, P. 2009. Measuring Māori in Australia: Insights and Obstacles, Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, 36, pp 77-81.

Hamer, P. 2008. ‘Māori in Australia: Voting Rights and Behaviour’ Policy Quarterly, Vol.4(3).

Hamer, P. 2004. 'A quarter-century of the Waitangi Tribunal: Responding to the challenge' in Janine Hayward and Nicola Wheen (eds), The Waitangi Tribunal: Te Roopu Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi (Wellington, Bridget Williams Books), pp 3-14.