Dr Vincent O’Malley has recently given evidence on our behalf in Stafford v Attorney-General.

 

Dr O’Malley is a professional historian and a director of HistoryWorks, a public history consultancy in Wellington that specialises in the Treaty of Waitangi and related matters concerning historical Crown and Māori relationships.

 

He has a BA (Hons) in History (1st Class) from the University of Canterbury and a PhD in New Zealand Studies from Victoria University of Wellington. He is the author, co-author or co-editor of several nonfiction books addressing aspects of New Zealand history and especially the Treaty of Waitangi and Māori-Crown relations historically.

 

For the purposes of our case, Dr O’Malley was asked to address a number of instrumental questions, for example:

 

• Did the Crown reserve 15,100 acres of land for the benefit of the customary owners of the land obtained by the Crown following the 1845 Spain award? If not, how much land did the Crown actually reserve?

 

• Did the Crown exclude the pā, urupā and cultivations from the land obtained by the Crown following the 1845 Spain award?

 

• What was the impact of the loss of land on the customary owners? What evidence is there of the socioeconomic conditions in which they lived after 1845 and up to the present day?

 

He also prepared and presented meticulous reply evidence to the Crown witnesses.

 

Dr O’Malley is a pre-eminent New Zealand historian. We are thankful for his skill and knowledge in support of this kaupapa.

 

Ngā mihi Dr O’Malley.