2024 Programmes

Roimata Smail

Roimata Smail

Roimata Smail (Ngāti Maniapoto, Tainui, England, Scotland, Ireland) is a lawyer specialising for two decades in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.She has built a legal practice around the pursuit of equity for Māori with an approach that is forward looking, positive and pragmatic.

She represented lead claimants in the Waitangi Tribunal inquiry that led to the watershed Hauora Report and the establishment of Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority.

Other work includes acting on claims about Māori in prison, pēpi and children removed by Oranga Tamariki and the Crown response to Covid-19 as well as representing the first iwi to receive an offer of Customary Marine Title from the Crown.

From a family of teachers, Roimata has a passion for education, running workshops on Te Tiriti (treatytraining.com) and creating an online resource for schools on Te Tiriti, New Zealand History, te Reo Māori and financial literacy (waiako.com).