Treaty of Waitangi Research/TOWRU Unit

The Treaty of Waitangi Research Unit was established in January 1999 to provide independent, high quality research and advice on Treaty of Waitangi matters.

Established by Richard Hill, the Treaty of Waitangi Policy Unit (often shortened to TOWRU) operated as a research unit within the Stout Research Centre for some 20 years from the beginning of the current century, disbanding when Professor Hill retired from the university. During those two decades it produced historical research geared to assisting Treaty of Waitangi reconciliation processes, providing many dozens of quality-assured research reports for institutions and organisations  such as the Waitangi Tribunal, the Crown Forestry Rental Trust, government agencies, iwi and hapu, churches and local bodies.   It also produced three series of scholarly papers, two of them refereed. One of the latter switched from hardcopy to free-on-line in 2012 (see below; many of the hardcopy issues remain available). Emeritus Professor Hill remains based at the Stout Research Centre, where he runs the Security and Surveillance History Project. He welcomes contact from any scholars wishing to disseminate their research findings under the TOWRU rubric, and continues to supervise at PhD and Masters-by-thesis level.

Director: Professor Richard Hill