title: Images of Pakeha-Māori: A Study of the Representation of Pakeha-Māori by Historians of New Zealand From Arthur Thomson (1859) to James Belich (1996)

authors: Bentley, Trevor William

subjects: Pakeha-Maori

abstract: This thesis investigates how Pakeha-Māori have been represented in New Zealand non-fiction writing during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The chronological and textual boundaries range from Arthur Thomson's seminal history The Story of New Zealand (1859) to James Belich's Making Peoples (1996). It examines the discursive inventions and reinventions of Pakeha-Māori from the stereotypical images of the Victorian era to modern times when the contact zone has become a subject of critical investigation and a sign of changing intellectual dynamics in New Zealand and elsewhere.

This thesis is about the history of attitudes to culture-crossers in New Zealand, the use of the term 'Pakeha-Māori', and the images that underlie the thinking of Britons and Pakeha about them. It explores the motives and backgrounds of specific authors and the ways in which they frame New Zealand history. It elucidates the ambiguous and contradictory perspectives of Pakeha-Māori in the literature and analyses its impact on changing public perceptions about them. The study critiques the literature with emphasis on theoretically informed research, historical analysis, and literary insights. Discussion is confined to published texts, with the aim of exploring the multiplicity of Pakeha-Māori images and the processes that gave rise to them.

This study is essentially an investigation into how and why historians and other scholars try to draw boundaries between cultures in order to create a satisfactory metanarrative or myth of the 'settlement' of New Zealand and thus to forge a sense of New Zealandness. The cultural and racial categories of 'Māori' and 'Pakeha' are very unstable, however, and a consideration of the 'in-between' or 'culture-crossing' category of 'Pakeha-Māori' can reveal the way in which 'Māori' and 'Pakeha' and a sense of New Zealand and New Zealanders have been constructed. More particularly, consideration of representations of those culture-crossers or race-crossers called Pakeha-Māori can reveal the hopes and fears of Pakeha writers regarding Pakeha, Māori and New Zealand and how Pakeha-Māori have frequently been a barometer or litmus test of public perceptions of relations between Māori and Pakeha in different historical periods.

text: Images of Pakeha-Māori: A Study of the Representation of Pakeha-Māori by Historians of New Zealand From Arthur Thomson (1859) to James Belich (1996) This thesis investigates how Pakeha-Māori have been represented in New Zealand non-fiction writing during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The chronological and textual boundaries range from Arthur Thomson's seminal history The Story of New Zealand (1859) to James Belich's Making Peoples (1996). It examines the discursive inventions and reinventions of Pakeha-Māori from the stereotypical images of the Victorian era to modern times when the contact zone has become a subject of critical investigation and a sign of changing intellectual dynamics in New Zealand and elsewhere.

This thesis is about the history of attitudes to culture-crossers in New Zealand, the use of the term 'Pakeha-Māori', and the images that underlie the thinking of Britons and Pakeha about them. It explores the motives and backgrounds of specific authors and the ways in which they frame New Zealand history. It elucidates the ambiguous and contradictory perspectives of Pakeha-Māori in the literature and analyses its impact on changing public perceptions about them. The study critiques the literature with emphasis on theoretically informed research, historical analysis, and literary insights. Discussion is confined to published texts, with the aim of exploring the multiplicity of Pakeha-Māori images and the processes that gave rise to them.

This study is essentially an investigation into how and why historians and other scholars try to draw boundaries between cultures in order to create a satisfactory metanarrative or myth of the 'settlement' of New Zealand and thus to forge a sense of New Zealandness. The cultural and racial categories of 'Māori' and 'Pakeha' are very unstable, however, and a consideration of the 'in-between' or 'culture-crossing' category of 'Pakeha-Māori' can reveal the way in which 'Māori' and 'Pakeha' and a sense of New Zealand and New Zealanders have been constructed. More particularly, consideration of representations of those culture-crossers or race-crossers called Pakeha-Māori can reveal the hopes and fears of Pakeha writers regarding Pakeha, Māori and New Zealand and how Pakeha-Māori have frequently been a barometer or litmus test of public perceptions of relations between Māori and Pakeha in different historical periods.

year: 2007

title: Indigenous people in Aotearoa New Zealand are overrepresented in cannabis convictions

authors: Rapana, Wetini

subjects: Cannabis

abstract: Background: Previous work has demonstrated that cannabis laws have had a disproportionate impact on Māori, the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand. In 2019, the New Zealand Government amended cannabis laws, providing police with the power to determine whether a therapeutic or health-centred approach would be more beneficial than a conviction. In the current study, we use population level data to assess whether this law change has ameliorated the bias in cannabis convictions for Māori. Methods: Data were drawn from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), a large government database hosted by Aotearoa New Zealand’s national statistics office. In the IDI, we selected individuals who (1) were between 18 and 65, (2) were Māori or Pākehā (New Zealanders of European descent) and, (3) had any cannabis charges that proceeded to the courts. Results: Māori ethnicity was a significant predictor of the odds of receiving a cannabis conviction for Māori males (Odds: 1.56), with a marginally significant effect for Māori females (Odds: 1.57). Further, for Māori, there was no reduction in the number of cannabis charges before vs. after the amendment to cannabis laws. Conclusion: The current study demonstrates that the bias in cannabis convictions for Māori remain. Given this, the New Zealand Government must follow other countries around the world and move forward on cannabis law reform.

text: Indigenous people in Aotearoa New Zealand are overrepresented in cannabis convictions Background: Previous work has demonstrated that cannabis laws have had a disproportionate impact on Māori, the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand. In 2019, the New Zealand Government amended cannabis laws, providing police with the power to determine whether a therapeutic or health-centred approach would be more beneficial than a conviction. In the current study, we use population level data to assess whether this law change has ameliorated the bias in cannabis convictions for Māori. Methods: Data were drawn from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), a large government database hosted by Aotearoa New Zealand’s national statistics office. In the IDI, we selected individuals who (1) were between 18 and 65, (2) were Māori or Pākehā (New Zealanders of European descent) and, (3) had any cannabis charges that proceeded to the courts. Results: Māori ethnicity was a significant predictor of the odds of receiving a cannabis conviction for Māori males (Odds: 1.56), with a marginally significant effect for Māori females (Odds: 1.57). Further, for Māori, there was no reduction in the number of cannabis charges before vs. after the amendment to cannabis laws. Conclusion: The current study demonstrates that the bias in cannabis convictions for Māori remain. Given this, the New Zealand Government must follow other countries around the world and move forward on cannabis law reform.

year: 2022

title: The reasonable expectation of privacy

authors: Karunaratne, K D Thilini Prathiba

subjects: Privacy

abstract: It is increasingly recognised that privacy is an inherent human value, interest and a right that is worthy of legal protection.  Privacy is no longer simply about being let alone ‘in one’s home’, rather the concept of privacy has evolved in a broader sense and is recongised to be an entitlement of an individual even in public spaces.   
 
With increased surveillance by both state and non-state actors, privacy is more important than ever before.  Various countries across the globe have declared privacy as a constitutional right that must be protected, and in countries where a constitutional right does not exist, the judiciary has stepped in to declare privacy as a right.  Unfortunately, in New Zealand there is no general right to privacy.  Rather, there are specific legal protections that safeguard certain aspects of an individual’s privacy.  For example, certain offences created in the Crimes Act 1961 protects bodily privacy and informational privacy is protected under the Privacy Act 1993.   
 
The New Zealand judiciary has also taken firm stances by creating two privacy torts, namely, tort of publication of private facts and intrusion into seclusion.  However, the question remains whether there is a general right to privacy in New Zealand outside of these privacy protections.  This is precisely what this thesis seeks to answer by looking closer at the concept of reasonable expectation of privacy.  The judiciary has repeatedly used this concept when addressing privacy breaches.  The continued use of this concept is important.  But why?  
 
Rather than just a mere test, the reasonable expectation of privacy has been attributed by the courts as an ‘entitlement’ of the individual. The courts have interpreted and applied the reasonable expectation of privacy in a range of case law such as privacy trots, search and surveillance, and other areas of the law including broadcasting matters.  The courts have found that an individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy can be breached, and subsequent remedies are available.  This thesis argues that the frequent and sustained use of reasonable expectation of privacy as an entitlement that deserves protection by the common law, is without a doubt sufficient to be an expression or an embodiment of a general right to privacy in New Zealand.

text: The reasonable expectation of privacy It is increasingly recognised that privacy is an inherent human value, interest and a right that is worthy of legal protection.  Privacy is no longer simply about being let alone ‘in one’s home’, rather the concept of privacy has evolved in a broader sense and is recongised to be an entitlement of an individual even in public spaces.   
 
With increased surveillance by both state and non-state actors, privacy is more important than ever before.  Various countries across the globe have declared privacy as a constitutional right that must be protected, and in countries where a constitutional right does not exist, the judiciary has stepped in to declare privacy as a right.  Unfortunately, in New Zealand there is no general right to privacy.  Rather, there are specific legal protections that safeguard certain aspects of an individual’s privacy.  For example, certain offences created in the Crimes Act 1961 protects bodily privacy and informational privacy is protected under the Privacy Act 1993.   
 
The New Zealand judiciary has also taken firm stances by creating two privacy torts, namely, tort of publication of private facts and intrusion into seclusion.  However, the question remains whether there is a general right to privacy in New Zealand outside of these privacy protections.  This is precisely what this thesis seeks to answer by looking closer at the concept of reasonable expectation of privacy.  The judiciary has repeatedly used this concept when addressing privacy breaches.  The continued use of this concept is important.  But why?  
 
Rather than just a mere test, the reasonable expectation of privacy has been attributed by the courts as an ‘entitlement’ of the individual. The courts have interpreted and applied the reasonable expectation of privacy in a range of case law such as privacy trots, search and surveillance, and other areas of the law including broadcasting matters.  The courts have found that an individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy can be breached, and subsequent remedies are available.  This thesis argues that the frequent and sustained use of reasonable expectation of privacy as an entitlement that deserves protection by the common law, is without a doubt sufficient to be an expression or an embodiment of a general right to privacy in New Zealand.

year: 2020