Waitangi Tribunal theme A - Old land claims [pdf, 7.2 MB]
...Wales, not his representative in New Zealand, with responsibility for setting up the legal basis for the investigation of pre-Treaty transactions. He anticipated a flood of pre-annexation claims which only New South Wales possessed the administrative resources to deal with. He also believed that Gipps would be better equipped to resist Pakeha claimant pressure for making extensive grants. A New South Wales-appointed commission, he hoped, would avoid 'the dangers of the acquisition of...