Full and Final Settlements of the 1940's" by Richard Hill, Department of Justice, 1989
In 1989, the Lange Government instructed Richard Hill of the Department of Justice to investigate and report on the, "Settlements of Major Maori Claims in the 1940's". Richard Hill found most major Maori claims were "fully and finally" settled in the 1940's with many claims having payments in perpetuity and honoured by the people of New Zealand.
Nearly all claims and settlements were fully discussed and agreed to as "full and final" at major hui's/meetings around the country with Trust Boards being set up to administer the payments. Many of these "full and final" settlements have now been re-negotiated by the Crown with the return of land and/or compensation in some cases, far outweighing the original claim. The Treelords Deal is an example where the land was sold to the Crown by willing sellers but the land has now been returned to Maori with a mature forest planted by the people of New Zealand for the people of New Zealand.
Others have been researched by the Waitangi Tribunal using fabricated or selective research to give recomendations in the claimant's favour, such as the Te Roroa Claim, which the Crown seldom, if ever rejects. A fact admitted by a past Chairman of the Waitangi Tribunal, Judge Eddie Durie.
