Sir Graham Stanley Latimer was involved with the New Zealand Māori Council for nearly 40 years – much of it as its President.

It was during his tenure that the Council experienced what many consider its most controversial yet successful period.

With support from Te Puni Kōkiri and many others, the New Zealand Māori Council recently organised a two-day symposium in Wellington to acknowledge Sir Graham’s legacy.

Several hundred participants gathered at Te Papa to listen to reflections and insights from a very wide range of Māori and Pākehā speakers. Sir Graham and Lady Emily had travelled from their home in the Far North to take part in the event.

During the 1980s, Sir Graham and Lady Emily mounted a legal challenge to halt the effects of the State-owned enterprises legislation which, if not for their stand, would have removed protection of assets transferred to SOEs.

The magnitude of the case was very significant according to the Court of Appeal ruling; it concerned more than half of the land surface of the country – about 14 million hectares.

In a seminal decision, the Court of Appeal found in favour of Sir Graham and the Council. It stopped the privatisation of disputed property, empowered the Waitangi Tribunal to recover land if it was required to redress Treaty breaches, and guaranteed proper funding of the Waitangi Tribunal.

The impact of that decision lifted the status of the Treaty of Waitangi to a level never before enjoyed in New Zealand statute and, ever since, has had far-reaching effects in land, forests, radio, television and te reo.

The symposium brought together nearly 50 speakers from across the political divide and from many different disciplines and sectors. While Sir Graham is not without detractors, all those who attended paid glowing tributes to Sir Graham and his wife, Lady Emily.