Steven Gaskell: Tikanga First, Law Vs Lore - Common Sense Later

Only in New Zealand could a former politician-turned-lawyer march into court arguing that deportation decisions should hinge not on immigration law, not on residency rules, not even on public interest but on whether Immigration New Zealand paused long enough to burn incense to “tikanga Māori.”

That politician is none other than Tuariki Delamere, once the Immigration Minister himself. Having once wielded the powers of deportation, he now insists that the Crown has fatally erred because it didn’t sprinkle enough tikanga into its paperwork when deporting an overstayer. His case leans heavily on the Supreme Court’s Ellis v The King decision, which found that tikanga Māori is now considered part of New Zealand’s common law. Delamere interprets this as meaning government departments must apply tikanga at every turn, no matter the issue. Overstayer? Visa expired? Family ties irrelevant elsewhere in the world? Doesn’t matter. If a Māori whānau is involved, tikanga must override the statutes.

So we arrive at this remarkable situation: immigration officers are being told they can no longer simply apply the Immigration Act. Instead, they’re expected to consult tikanga principles, weigh up cultural values, and presumably divine whether their decisions are sufficiently in tune with Māori lore. One might forgive an officer for wondering if they need to carry a wānanga manual alongside the rulebook.

Delamere hasn’t stopped at arguing for tikanga. He’s also compared the Government’s deportation decision to the persecution of the Uyghurs in China. Because, of course, there’s no better way to win judicial sympathy than to equate Immigration New Zealand officials with a regime accused of running concentration camps. The Crown, understandably, has called his case “vexatious.” But Delamere insists this is a matter of public interest by which he seems to mean rewriting the law to privilege one group’s cultural worldview over the equal application of national statutes.

This is not an isolated oddity. The steady creep of tikanga into our legal system is no longer subtle. Courts cite it, statutes reference it, and government departments are told to “give effect” to it. Once, lore was cultural knowledge: values, stories, and guidance passed down through generations. Now, it is being treated as binding authority. One person’s oral tradition is becoming everyone else’s legal obligation. And because tikanga is often unwritten, variable between iwi, and open to interpretation, it leaves judges and bureaucrats fumbling in a fog of cultural relativism.

The problem isn’t recognising the importance of tikanga in Māori life. It’s elevating lore into law and pretending the two are the same thing. Law, by definition, is universal, clear, and enforceable by the state. Lore is local, spiritual, and shaped by community consensus. Blurring that line means we no longer have one law for all we have a patchwork of rules applied differently depending on ancestry and context. That’s not equality before the law. It’s the slow re-tribalisation of our legal system.

So what’s the message in 2025? Overstay your visa, marry into a Māori family, and you may just discover that deportation rules suddenly bend in your favour. Immigration officers? Put down the statute book, pick up a tikanga handbook, and prepare to defend yourself against accusations of cultural genocide the next time you apply the law. After all, in modern New Zealand, common sense comes second. Tikanga comes first.

Welcome to the world’s first legal system with footnotes in mythology.

Steven is an entrepreneur and an ex RNZN diver who likes travelling, renovating houses, Swiss Watches, history, chocolate art and art deco.