Tikanga takirua
I te tau 1980 ka whakakapia e Taihākurei Dury te tūnga o Kaiwhakawā Gillanders-Scott hei tumuaki mō te rōpū whakamana. Ko 1982 te tau ka taka mai a Lawrence Southbrick, ā, ka tū ko te rōia ko Paul Temm hei piki tūranga. I te pikinga atu o Temm, tē aro i a ia he aha hoki te taraipiunara. Heoi nā te ū tonu o te taraipiunara ki āna kawenga ka mea a Temm mā te taraipiunara hei ‘taumau i te kawa ō-paki me te tika’’.1 Ko te nuinga o ngā hui taraipiunara ka tū ki ngā marae maha, ā, ka whakareopākehātia ngā kōrero reo Māori, kia mārama ai te minenga.
Te moana me te taiao
I te tau 1982 ka tū te rongo kōrero tuatahi a te taraipiunara ki tētahi marae nō Te Āti Awa o Taranaki. Ko Aila Taylor te māngai o te iwi i tuku kōrero mō ngā tikanga kohi kaimoana mai i te takutai hei whāngai manuhiri. He tohu mana, he tohu manaaki tērā nō te hunga kāinga. I runga i tōna whakatau ka whakahē mārika te taraipiunara ki te whakaputu noa o te para tūtae ki te pātaka kaimoana o te iwi, kāore anō hoki i aro ki te ahurea o te Māori.
Te whakatewhatewha i ngā kokoraho o mua
I te tau 1984 ka whakamana te kāwanatanga Reipa kia tiro whakamua rā anō te taraipiunara ki ngā kerēme tae atu ki te hainatanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi i te tau 1840. Ko te whakakakenga anō tērā o ngā mema o te taraipiunara mai i te toru ki te whitu; me whā rawa o rātou he Māori. He tokowhitu anō ka kōwhiritia hei tuarua, hei kaiwhakakapi rānei. Ka riro kaimahi anō te taraipiunara. Heoi ka noho noa iho te taraipiunara hei rōpū whiriwhiri noa iho, ā, ko ōna tūtohunga mā te kāwanatanga e whakatau me pēhea.
Ngā kokoraho nui
From 1983 a series of landmark cases brought the tribunal to the forefront of public and political life.
- Ko te whare whakangao hinu ki Taranaki. Ko te Karauna tonu tētahi o ngā kaipupuri. Ko te hiahia a te kamupene he whakaputu i ōna para ki te moana, ki te pātaka kai a te iwi Te Āti Awa. I te tau 1983 ka whakaū te taraipiunara i ā rātou totohe, ā, ka tūtohu te taraipiunara kia whakaputu kētia ngā para ki tētahi whare whakameha para.
- I te tau 1984 ka whakamātauria anō ngā mana a te Māori ki ōna tuna, arā, i te tūtohunga kia whakaputua ngā para o te tāone o Rotorua ki roto ki te Kaituna. Nā ngā kitenga a te taraipiunara ka whakarērea te mahi rā. Taro kau iho ka whakaturehia te whai wāhitanga o ngā mātāpono tiriti ki roto ki ngā ture hou katoa.
- I te tau 1984 ka whakaputa te taraipiunara i tana pūrongo e pā ana ki te kokoraho mō Ōrākei ki Tāmaki-makaurau. Ko tēnei te kerēme tuatahi i horaina ki te taraipiunara i te tau 1977, arā te wā e rongohia anake ngā kerēme mohoa. Ki tā ngā tūtohunga a te taraipiunara kia wātea kau tonu a Takaparawhā ki te tūmatanui, engari mā Ngāti Whātua rāua tahi ko te Kaunihera Tāone o Tāmaki-makaurau e whakahaere. Ka tohua anō ko te toru miriona ki a Ngāti Whātua hei wāhanga o tōna whakataunga tiriti. Ka tungou te kāwanatanga, ā, ka whakamanahia ngā kitenga a te taraipiunara.
- I te tau 1985 ka whakatewhatewha te taraipiunara i te kerēme a ngā hapu o Manukau me te whakaputunga o ngā para tūtae ki roto i te moana. Ko tētahi anō o ngā take matua o te kerēme ko te rironga o ngā whenua i te raupatu me ngā kaupapa mahi. Nā runga i ngā kitenga a te taraipiunara ka hua mai te Ture Manaaki Taiao 1991, arā, he ture e tautoko ana i ngā tikanga Māori i roto i ngā ture taiao. E rua ngā iwi ka riro hei kaitiaki mō te whanga o Manukau.
- E ai ki te pūrongo reo Māori a te taraipiunara ka tohutohutia te kāwanatanga kia whai mana ā-ture te reo Māori ki Aotearoa. I runga i ēnei tūtohunga ka hua ko te Ture Reo Māori 1987 me te whakatūnga o te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori me ētahi pāhōtanga reo Māori.
- Ko te kēreme tiriti o Ngāi Tahu tērā i pā ki ngā tāpaetanga whenua i tū ki waenga i te tau 1844 me te 1864; he mahi i riro ai te nuinga o ngā whenua i Te Waipounamu i te Pākehā. I te tau 1991 ka puta ngā kitenga a te taraipiunara me tētahi tūtohunga utu moni nui. Kāti, i te tau 1998 ka whakaae a Ngāi Tahu ki te whakataunga tiriti 170 miriona te wāriu ki ōna mana pupuri i te pounamu, ngā mana ki ōna tūtanga whenua nui; ngā mana whakahaere i ngā wāhi taiao o tōna rohe; me te whakahokinga o ētahi ingoa wāhi ake.
- Ko te kerēme o Muriwhenua tērā i pā anō ki ōna mana hao ika. I mua i tōna rongonga e te taraipiunara, ka tīmata te Tari Ahuwhenua me te Hao Ika ki te tītari i ngā mana hao ika. Ko te tūnga ohorere tērā o te rongo taraipiunara i kitea ai he takahi tēnei i ngā mana tiriti ki te hao ika, ā, ka whakakorea ngā tītaringa. Nā te pūrongo taraipiunara i te tau 1992 ka puta te whakataunga i tukuna ai te 20 ōrau o ngā mana hao ika ahumoni. Koinei te whakataunga tuatahi i pā ai ki ngā iwi katoa.
