HRLA Oration: Engaging indigeneity - a dialogue between old and new
Description
Speaker: Justice Christian Whata, New Zealand Court of Appeal
Commentator: Associate Professor Narelle Bedford, Bond University
Chair: Justice Lincoln Crowley, Supreme Court of Queensland
Join us for HRLA's biennial oration for a discussion of how the law in Australia and New Zealand engages with indigeneity and indigenous rights, and lessons from that engagement.
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Justice Christian Whata
Justice Whata is from Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāti Tamateatūtahi - Kawiti of Te Arawa. Justice Whata graduated from Auckland University in 1992 and was admitted to the bar in the same year, obtaining an LLB (Hons) in 1994. He commenced working with the Auckland firm of Simpson Grierson until 1993 when he took up a position in the general litigation team at Kensington Swan until 1995. He obtained an LLM (1st class) from the University of Cambridge, then took employment with Russell McVeagh from 1997-2001, becoming a partner in 2001. He specialised in resource management law and Māori issues. Justice Whata was appointed a High Court Judge on 1 March 2011, initially based at the Christchurch High Court. He is now based in Auckland. Justice Whata was appointed to the Court of Appeal effective from 1 August 2025.
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