Victoria University Chancellor Sir Neville Jordan says the honorary doctorate in law acknowledges Mr Jackson’s outstanding contribution to legal scholarship around the Treaty and to public debates about how Māori are treated by the justice system and their place in New Zealand society more broadly.
“Moana Jackson is one of Māoridom’s most important legal scholars and leaders, and his work has influenced generations of policymakers and jurists alike.
“As well as leading debates about the Treaty of Waitangi and the treatment of Māori by the criminal justice system, Mr Jackson is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on indigenous peoples’ rights.
“Victoria is proud to count such a distinguished scholar and activist as one of its alumni, and is honoured to confer this doctorate on Mr Jackson.”
Mr Jackson graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from Victoria University in 1969, subsequently conducting postgraduate research and teaching before co-founding Ngā Kaiwhakamārama i Ngā Ture (the Māori legal service) in 1988 and later Te Hau Tikanga (the Māori law commission).
In 1988, he undertook ground-breaking research on Māori and the criminal justice system for the then Justice Department. His investigation into the justice system and its bias against Māori led to the seminal report He Whaipaanga Hou, which has reshaped the national debate and changed understandings of Māori law.
Mr Jackson has worked extensively on international indigenous issues around the world. In 1988 he was an early member of a Māori delegation to the United Nations Working Group drafting the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and serving as a judge on the International Tribunal of Indigenous Rights.
He was appointed Visiting Fellow at Victoria University’s Faculty of Law in 1995, and has gone on to be influential in shaping the curriculum of the Māori Laws and Philosophy programme at Te Wānanga o Raukawa, where he continues to teach.
As a well-respected Māori leader, since 2011 he has co-chaired with Professor Margaret Mutu the Independent Iwi Working Group on Constitutional Transformation, which has held over 300 hui around the country discussing the need for Treaty-based constitutional change.
Professor Rawinia Higgins, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Māori) is excited to host Moana at the Te Herenga Waka Marae graduation ceremony on Friday 15 December.
“Moana is an inspiration to students here at Victoria across a wide range of disciplines and programmes and his work is extremely influential. It is only fitting that someone who has shown a longstanding commitment to Māori students and te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui marae should have his doctorate conferred here.”
Ka whakawhiwhia te tohu kairangi hōnore ki a Moana Jackson
Hei Te Hui Whakapūmau o Hakihea nei e whakapōtaehia ai tēnei uri whakaheke o Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine me Ngāti Porou ki te tohu kairangi hōnore i Te Herenga Waka Marae.
E ai ki a Tā Neville Jordan, te Manukura o te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui, He tino tohunga tēnei o te ture. Kāre i tua atu i a ia ki te whakaohooho i te motu whānui ki ngā āhuatanga e pā ana ki tā te ture tuari i āna whakataunga ki a ngāi Māori i Aotearoa whānui.
“Ko Moana tētahi o ngā tino mātanga o te ture, ā, kua whaihua āna mahi hei ārahi i te hunga hanga kaupapa here me ngā kaiwhakawā hoki.”
“Tāpiri atu, he kaiārahi, he kaiwhakaaraara i ngā kaupapa e pā ana ki Te Tiriti o Waitangi me ngā pēhitanga a te ture taihara i te Māori. Ko ia tētahi o ngā tino tohunga o te ao mō ngā ture iwi taketake o te ao.”
“Ka tū whakahīhī te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui i tēnei o āna tohunga hirahira, kaiwhawhai mō te tika, mō te iti me te rahi. Ko tēnei o ngā tauira tawhito ka whakanuia ki te tohu whakahirahira katoa, a Moana Jackson.”
Nō te tau kotahi mano, iwa rau, ono tekau mā iwa ka whakawhiwhia a Moana ki tāna tohu paetahi ture, kātahi ka whai i tōna tohu paerua, ā, i taua wā anō hoki i whakaarahia e rātou ko ōna hoa, te kaupapa me te rōpū Ngā Kaiwhakamārama i Ngā Ture. Ko te tau kotahi mano, iwa rau, waru tekau mā waru tērā. Nō muri mai ka whakaarahia hoki ko Te Hau Tikanga.
I taua tau anō ka puta tana rangahau He Whaipaanga Hou e aro ai te motu ki tā te Māori tirohanga, māramatanga hoki ki te ture.
Kua roa a Moana e kōkiri ana i ngā kaupapa ture e pā ana ki ngā iwi taketake o te ao whānui. I te tau kotahi mano, iwa rau, waru tekau mā waru, ko ia tētahi i whaiwāhi ki te waihanga i te kawenata mō ngā Tikanga e pā ana ki ngā Iwi Taketake o Te Ao, ā, i noho hoki hei kaiwhakawā i Te Tairaipiunara mō Ngā Iwi Taketake o Te Ao Whānui.
I te tau kotahi mano, iwa rau, iwa tekau mā rima, i whakatūria ia hei mātanga i Te Kauhanganui Tātai Ture o te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui, ā, i whaiwāhi hoki ia ki te waihanga i te kaupapa ture Māori, whakaaro Māori i Te Wānanga o Raukawa; kei reira tonu ia e ako ana.
I tua atu o ēnei ko rāua ko Ahorangi Margaret Mutu ngā kaitia o te Rōpū Māori mō te wetewete i te ture Kāwanatanga mai i te tau rua mano tekau mā tahi. Neke atu i te toru rau ngā hui puta noa i te motu kua whakahaerehia hei titiro i te whakatinanatanga o te Tiriti i roto i te ture.
E ai ki Te Tumu Ahurei ki a Ahorangi Rawinia Higgins, kāre i tua atu i a Moana te whakatauira mai i te hiringa o te whakaaro, o te māramatanga i roto katoa o āna mahi, hei painga mō te katoa.
“Nā reira mō tōna pūmau ki te mātinitini o ngā tauira Māori me Te Whānau o te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui e tika ana ki konei tēnei rangatira a Moana whakarākeitia ai.”