Waikato Raupatu Claims Settlement Act 1995

The text of the apology in English is as follows:

The Crown acknowledges that its representatives and advisers acted unjustly and in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi in its dealings with the Kiingitanga and Waikato in sending its forces across the Mangataawhiri in July 1863 and in unfairly labelling Waikato as rebels.

The Crown expresses its profound regret and apologises unreservedly for the loss of lives because of the hostilities arising from its invasion, and at the devastation of property and social life which resulted.

The Crown acknowledges that the subsequent confiscations of land and resources under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 of the New Zealand Parliament were wrongful, have caused Waikato to the present time to suffer feelings in relation to their lost lands akin to those of orphans, and have had a crippling impact on the welfare, economy and development of Waikato.

The Crown appreciates that this sense of grief, the justice of which under the Treaty of Waitangi has remained unrecognised, has given rise to Waikato’s two principles ‘i riro whenua atu, me hoki whenua mai’ (as land was taken, land should be returned) and ‘ko to moni hei utu mo te hara’ (the money is the acknowledgment by the Crown of their crime). In order to provide redress the Crown has agreed to return as much land as is possible that the Crown has in its possession to Waikato.

The Crown recognises that the lands confiscated in the Waikato have made a significant contribution to the wealth and development of New Zealand, whilst the Waikato tribe has been alienated from its lands and deprived of the benefit of its lands.

Accordingly, the Crown seeks on behalf of all New Zealanders to atone for these acknowledged injustices, so far as that is now possible, and, with the grievance of raupatu finally settled as to the matters set out in the Deed of Settlement signed on 22 May 1995 to begin the process of healing and to enter a new age of co-operation with the Kiingitanga and Waikato.”