Moana Jackson | |
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| Born | (1945-10-10)10 October 1945 Hastings, New Zealand |
| Died | 31 March 2022(2022-03-31) (aged 76) Waimana, New Zealand |
| Resting place | Matahiwi Marae |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Relatives | Everard Jackson (father) Syd Jackson (brother) June Jackson (sister-in-law) Willie Jackson (nephew) Fred Jackson (grandfather) |
Moana JacksonCRSNZ (10 October 1945 – 31 March 2022) was a New Zealand lawyer specialising in constitutional law, theTreaty of Waitangi and international indigenous issues. He was an advocate and activist forMāori rights, arguing that the New Zealand criminal justice system was discriminatory and leading work on constitutional reforms. In 1987 he co-founded Ngā Kaiwhakamarama i Ngā Ture (the Māori Legal Service). He also supported the rights of indigenous people internationally – for example, through leading the working group that drafted theUnited Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and sitting as a judge on the International Tribunal of Indigenous Rights in the 1990s.
Jackson was born inHastings, and was one of six children ofEverard Jackson, anAll Black rugby player, and Hineaka (Janey) Cunningham.[1][2] His older brother was activistSyd Jackson. He was affiliated with theiwi ofNgāti Kahungunu on his mother's side andNgāti Porou on his father's side.[3][1] He attended Mayfair Primary School and Hastings Intermediate, and from 1959 to 1963 he attendedHastings Boys' High School, where he was a prefect in his last year.[4] He graduated in law and criminology atVictoria University of Wellington, and after a short period in practice took up the teaching of theMāori language. He then undertook further study in the United States, attendingArizona State University.[5]
Jackson died on 31 March 2022 atWaimana after a long illness,[6][7] just three days after his sister-in-law, DameJune Jackson.[4] Histangi (traditional funeral) took place atMatahiwi Marae.[8] He requested that women be able to speak on the marae at his tangi, a role usually reserved for men.[2][9] On Jackson's death, a number of well-known New Zealanders paid him tribute includingMarama Davidson (co-leader of theGreen Party), academicsMargaret Mutu andKhylee Quince, and writerTina Makereti.[10] New Zealand's prime ministerJacinda Ardern said:[11]
Moana Jackson was well-known domestically and internationally for his expertise in indigenous issues. He was incredibly generous with his time and sharing of his knowledge, storytelling and gentle approach. He will have left a mark on an entire generation and beyond.
After returning to New Zealand from his study in the United States, Jackson conducted research for the New Zealand Department of Justice. As part of this work he wroteMāori and the Criminal Justice System: A New Perspective, He Whaipaanga Hou published in 1988.[5][12] In this report he argued that without changes to the criminal justice system Māori people would experience worse outcomes and discrimination.[13] He was the first person to argue that an alternative justice system would be more appropriate for Māori.[14] As of 2022[update] the report continues to be influential in New Zealand legal policy.[15] In 1987 he co-founded Ngā Kaiwhakamarama i Ngā Ture (theMāori Legal Service) and as of 2021 was a director of the organisation.[16][14] In 1989 he began preparing a claim to theWaitangi Tribunal supporting Māori rights over native plants and animals. The claim was unique as being made on behalf of all Māori rather than individualiwi. The claim was lodged in 1991 and inits 2011 report the Tribunal concluded that conservation should be co-managed by a partnership between Māori and the Crown.[17][18]
His overseas work included leading the Indigenous Peoples caucus of the working group that drafted theUnited Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.[3][13][15] In 1993 he was a judge on the International Tribunal of Indigenous Rights in Hawaii and again in 1995 in Canada.[3][4] During theBougainville peace process Jackson was counsel for theBougainville Interim Government.[19]
Jackson was a vocal critic of the New Zealand government'sforeshore and seabed legislation in 2004.[20] He was also a vocal critic of theOctober 2007 police 'terror' raids. He resigned as patron of the Police Recruit Wing 244 due to his opposition to how the raids were conducted and his view that they were racially motivated, for example by treating the predominantly Māori community ofRuatoki more harshly than the predominantlyPākehā (New Zealand European) suburb ofBrooklyn, Wellington.[4][21] In 2009 at Omahu Marae in Hastings he said: "Those who take power unjustly defend it with injustice."[22]
In 2016 he led theMatike Mai Aotearoa working group on constitutional reform in New Zealand.[13] The group's report was published onWaitangi Day in 2016, and made a number of recommendations for constitutional change.[23] One recommendation of the report was to develop the ability of Māori to make decisions for Māori, which led to a Māori Constitutional Convention being held in February 2021,[24] at which Jackson gave the keynote speech.[25]
Jackson lectured atTe Wānanga o Raukawa in Ōtaki on the Ahunga Tīkanga (Māori Laws and Philosophy) degree programme.[26][27] In 1995 he was appointed a visiting fellow in the faculty of law atVictoria University of Wellington.[15] In the early 2010s he chaired a board appointed by the Minister of Education to ensure the survival ofTe Aute College, a school with a strong Māori character which was experiencing financial difficulties.[8][28][29]
Jackson challenged the role of prisons in the criminal justice system and argued that they should never be the only answer, particularly for indigenous people.[30] He noted that indigenous people traditionally have justice systems that seek to restore "the balance between the wrongdoer and the victim through mediation processes involving sanction and recompense".[30] At a conference in 2018, Jackson said the New Zealand criminal justice system isolates both the perpetrator and the victim from their communities and history. He challenged the notion of one law for all and the Eurocentric approach to crime with the offender viewed as separate from the culture and society they grow up in.[31][32][33]
Jackson highlighted the importance of showing positive portrayals of Māori in the media, as the negative portrayal of Māori may damage their self-worth.[32]
In 2017 Jackson was awarded anhonorary doctorate fromVictoria University of Wellington for his outstanding contribution to legal scholarship around the Treaty and to public debates about how Māori are treated by the justice system and their place in New Zealand society more broadly.[34] He refused any formal honours from the New Zealand government, saying he would not accept them unless theTreaty of Waitangi was fully incorporated into New Zealand governance.[4]
In 2021 he was made a Companion of theRoyal Society Te Apārangi, recognising his leadership in New Zealand.[14][35] In May 2021, he was presented with the inaugural Te Whare Pukenga award by theNational Iwi Chairs Forum, to recognise his "outstanding contributions as an advocate, facilitator and educator" in relation to the Treaty of Waitangi, human rights and social justice.[14][19][36][37]
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