Qualifications
LLB, BSc, University of Auckland
Admitted
2007, New Zealand
Te Aopare leads Te Waka Ture, our Māori legal group.
Te Aopare specialises in corporate structuring, governance, strategic and commercial advice for iwi and hapū, Māori businesses, Māori owning entities and clients looking to work with them.
Working closely with Māori land owning entities, post settlement governance entities and Māori businesses, Te Aopare advises on a range of legal issues including new ventures, governance, structuring, commercial contracts, Māori land and litigation. She has also appeared before the Māori Land Court and in the Waitangi Tribunal.
Te Aopare is recognised as a Leading Lawyer by Doyles Guide 2023 for Māori Law, Māori Land and Te Tiriti o Waitangi matters in New Zealand.
Te Aopare is from Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Rangitihi and is a fluent speaker of te reo Māori.
Recent highlights
- Advised Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Trust on its post settlement governance structure.
- Advised the Iwi Collective Partnership on a complex fishing joint venture between 12 iwi, which included the documentation of the partnership structure.
- Acted for Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei on its significant and complex Treaty settlement, including the post-settlement governance entity and a new tax efficient group structure for the iwi and the settlement with the Crown.
- Acted for Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei on Toi Tupu and Toi Ora, the universal savings and health insurance schemes for hapū members.
- Assisted Ngāti Porou Whānui Forests on its forestry activities, including with respect to the Emissions Trading Scheme.
- Acted for Waikato-Tainui, including both its tribal parliament Te Kauhanganui and its executive Te Arataura, on governance and charities advice.
Affiliations
- Te Hunga Roia Māori o Aotearoa.
- Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Rangitihi.
