Polynesians and the Law

Te Ao Hou, 1973, Page 25

Text of an address given by the Ombudsman, Sir Guy Powles, to the 20th Conference of the Maori Women's Welfare League at Auckland, July 1972. Polynesians and the Law It is indeed an honour to be asked to speak to your Annual General Meeting. I thank you for your invitation to last night's official opening. The setting of the Maori Court in the museum was a reminder of a great heritage, those who have gone, and those still with us. I have for many years admired and respected the activities of the Maori Women's Welfare League, and the way in which the devoted services of your League members all over New Zealand combine together in useful service to the Maori people—but not only to the Maori people, because anything that benefits Maoris, benefits New Zealand as a whole. I regard the Maori Women's Welfare League as one of our most important national service organisations in New Zealand. I have been asked to speak to you on the subject of ‘Polynesians and the Law’. The subject was not of my own choosing, because I felt that to do justice to it in the time that I had available for preparation would be a difficult, if not an impossible, task. I am, however, glad to be able to attempt to cover the subject but in a some what patchy, not very deeply considered, manner. There is so much that needs to be studied—so much to be done—in this particular field; and, so far as I am concerned, it seems there is so little time to do it.