Join an expert panel and gain essential insights into the latest environmental reforms and their impact on Māori Law and Treaty issues. Explore the Justice Committee’s Report on the Marine and Coastal Area Amendment Bill, including anticipated outcomes and legal implications. Gain a comprehensive overview of current developments shaping Māori legal landscapes from experts appearing before the Māori Land Court and the Waitangi Tribunal.

Presenters

Gerald Lanning, Consultant, Simpson Grierson
Gerald is a resource management specialist, with a focus on Māori/Treaty of Waitangi issues, large infrastructure projects, and land transport management and policy. Gerald brings an intimate working understanding of environmental, public works and local government law to multi-disciplinary project teams. In addition to providing a wide range of legal and strategic advice within often highly public and political environments, he has appeared before a range of decision-making bodies, including council hearing panels, Boards of Inquiry, the Environment Court and the appellate courts. Gerald acts for a range local government and private entities and co-leads Simpson Grierson’s Māori business group, Te Paringa Tai. He is a member of the Resource Management Law Association. Gerald is a member of the Editorial Advisory Panel for the New Zealand Journal of Environmental Law, and author of the Tikanga Māori and Treaty of Waitangi chapter of Environmental Law in New Zealand (forthcoming). He is a PhD candidate at Waipapa Taumata Rau|University of Auckland (Faculty of Law) and researcher with the James Henare Research Centre. Gerald has several peer-reviewed publications. He has Chaired several hearings panels under the Covid-19 Recovery (Fast-Track Consenting) Act 2020.

Kelly Dixon, Partner, Dixon and Co Lawyers
Kelly has almost 20 years’ experience and has appeared in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court on judicial review proceedings, in the District Court on commercial summary judgment proceedings, before the Employment Relations Authority and in the Māori Land Court and before the Waitangi Tribunal on behalf of various Treaty of Waitangi claimants. Kelly works with clients from across the North Island and has appeared before the Waitangi Tribunal in the Wairarapa, East Coast, National Park, Whanganui and Northland historic Inquiries and various Urgency Applications and Kaupapa Inquiries and Remedies Hearing before the Waitangi Tribunal. Kelly is a member of the Property Law Section, Resource Management Law Association, and the Māori Law Society. Kelly will oversee many of the firms’ property/conveyancing transactions. Kylee is a contributing author of Multicultural Lawyering, Navigating the Culture of the Law, the Lawyer and the Client K E O’Leary and M Martin-Scott (2021). She has also presented to the Community Law Waikato and the University of Waikato.

Bryce Lyall, Barrister, Kōkiri Chambers 
Bryce lives in Titirangi, Auckland with his wife and young whānau. He is a barrister with a nationwide practice spanning public, environmental, and human rights law, trust and governance, and Māori legal issues. He appears in all of the senior courts, the Māori Land Court, and the Waitangi Tribunal. He also undertakes mahi in the District and Family Courts. His practice includes litigation, mediation, refugee and protected person matters, and work involving Te Tiriti o Waitangi, including judicial review, Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 proceedings, and related processes. Holding a particular concern with access to justice issues, Bryce has approvals to provide legal aid services in civil matters, the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, the Māori Land Court and Māori Appellate Court, Refugee and Immigration matters, and the Waitangi Tribunal. He will also undertake work in the Māori Land Court on special aid. He is a member of the Auckland Branch Council of the New Zealand Law Society, the New Zealand Law Society’s Public and Administrative Law Committee, and the Māori Land Court and Waitangi Tribunal Legal Aid Provider Selection Committee. He also serves on the Committee of Lawyers for Climate Action NZ Inc. Bryce holds a BA in Political Science and an LLB from the University of Canterbury, and an LLM (International Law, First Class Hons) from the University of Auckland.

Kylee Katipo, Director at McCaw Lewis
Kylee has extensive experience in Māori Land and Te Tiriti o Waitangi matters and providing legal and strategic advice to Ahu Trusts, Māori Incorporations, Whānau Trusts and Beneficial Owners of Māori Land across Aotearoa. Kylee believes in working collaboratively with clients, in a tikanga focused approach, to promote practical solutions and resolve disputes. Kylee has significant court experience and has represented clients in the Māori Appellate Court, Māori Land Court and Waitangi Tribunal. She has worked closely with Iwi groups, Māori Incorporations and Māori Trusts on significant projects and developments including commercial and property related areas involving Māori land and Marae Governance. Kylee has served as Secretary for Te Hunga Roia Māori o Aotearoa and is currently the Waikato co-representative for Te Hunga Roia Māori o Aotearoa. Kylee is actively involved in competitions at Te Piringa Faculty of Law at The University of Waikato and has presented submissions to Parliament on Te Ture Whenua Māori Amendment Bill. Kylee has a strong interest in community causes. She gives her time and skills to young people in the Waikato through her role as a Career Navigator Mentor at the Graeme Dingle Foundation. She is also a Trustee for the McCaw Lewis Foundation, the firm’s charitable organisation.

Bernadette Roka Arapere, Barrister, Kōkiri Chambers
Bernadette is Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Ngāti Maniapoto. She is a barrister specialising in Public and Administrative Law, Civil litigation, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori legal issues, whenua and governance matters. She has been senior counsel in the courts at all levels including the Supreme Court in judicial review proceedings, appeals, and other general litigation including Waitangi Tribunal proceedings. She is a Commissioner of the Transport Accident Investigation Commission, a Deputy Chair of the Teachers' Disciplinary Tribunal, a Trustee of Raukawa ki te Tonga Trust and a member of the Legislation Design and Advisory Committee and Māori Land Court Rules Committee. Prior to joining the independent bar, Bernadette was Crown Counsel in Public Law at Crown Law and in private practice. She speaks Te Reo Māori and has authentic knowledge of tikanga Māori working at her marae - amorangi ki mua, hāpai ō ki muri.