This speech will be about my role as a Judge of the Māori Land Court. However, because I became a Judge only a matter of weeks ago, I do not yet have many stories to share with you about my new job.
The Heretaunga block created a national scandal, as it was seen as an example of how a ‘land ring’ could acquire large areas of land to the detriment of small settlers.
Documents/Guides-Templates-Factsheets/MLC-150-years-of-the-Maori-Land-Court.pdf (11 mb)
For Māori, good leadership depended upon how well those leaders responded to their people and how well they were able to protect them and their whenua (lands).
Documents/Judges-corner-articles/JWI-ACPECT-Presentation-2022.pdf (540 kb)
The land marked ‘accretion’ shows the newly formed land.
They will also be able to vote on whether they want to receive the land back as Māori or General land, and how that land will be held.
Land interests remained in the name of my grandfather and my great-grandmother.
To my Māori language, if I am to be completely honest, it was not only my law degree or the experiences I gained in my legal career that led me here today, it was because of you that I now have a position amongst the Māori Land Court judiciary.
Therefore in this article I provide my evaluation of the report as a Judge of the Māori Land Court.
Documents/Judges-corner-articles/MLC-2014-Jun-Judges-Corner-Ambler-J.pdf (191 kb)
Consultation with whānau I have consulted with my immediate whānau about this application; and There are no objections from my whānau 4.
The kaupapa I have been asked to address is “the Law, my journey for our people”. This seemed to be an invitation for personal reflection on my career and aspirations for our people, so that is how I have approached my task this morning.
