Borrin Foundation Justice Fellowship for Andrew Erueti
Borrin Foundation Justice Fellowship
Andrew’s research
Andrew is using this award to lead a scoping study on Tino Rangatiratanga in Post-Treaty Settlement Aotearoa New Zealand, the first phase of a multi-year project investigating how Māori self-determination can be realised in the delivery of social services in this post-Treaty settlements era. Building on the Matike Mai report’s model of the Rangatiratanga, Kāwanatanga and Relational Spheres, the study asks who today sits in the Rangatiratanga Sphere and how Māori tribal and non-tribal collectives may exercise meaningful authority in the provision of health and child welfare services. It also addresses the criticism that Treaty rights create “race-based privilege” and will explore how Maori collectives may engage more effectively with the Crown and oneanother. Crucially, the research draws substantially from tikanga Māori—its principles of whakapapa, mana, manaakitanga and utu—as a method for addressing these core puzzles of identification, authority, and engagement.
About Andrew
Dr Andrew (Anaru) Erueti (Ngā Ruahinerangi, Ngāti Ruanui, Āti Hau Nui a Pāpārangi, Ngāti Pākehā) is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Auckland. He specialises in Te Tiriti o Waitangi and comparative and international Indigenous rights, and has spent his career advocating for Māori and Indigenous self-determination. Andrew has taught and researched at law schools in Aotearoa and internationally – including the University of Toronto, the University of Colorado at Boulder as a Fulbright Scholar, and for Amnesty International in London and Geneva as their global expert on Indigenous rights. From 2019 to 2024 he served as a Commissioner on the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care, helping shape its recommendations for reform and redress. His latest book, The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: A New Interpretative Approach (Oxford University Press, 2022), examines how the Declaration can be applied globally without diluting the decolonization model that lies at the heart of the Declaration. Andrew is currently Tumuaki Māori (Associate Dean Māori) at Auckland Law and co-directs the Centre for Indigenous Rights, working closely with iwi, local NGOs and international partners.
Grant Amount
$60,000 for in 2025 – 2026
“This fellowship allows me to help imagine a future where tino rangatiratanga is not just acknowledged but actively lived – where Māori communities shape the systems of care and wellbeing that reflect our own values and aspirations.”
– Andrew Erueti