Sandra Thomas

Sandra's thesis examined the policy underpinning confiscation of land from ‘loyal’ non-combatant Maori following the Waikato war of 1863-64.

PhD, New Zealand Studies

Sandra’s thesis is titled: ‘At the arbitrary disposal of the Government’: 'Loyal’ Māori, confiscation and the operation of the Compensation Court in South Auckland and Waikato 1865-67 and examined the policy underpinning confiscation of land from ‘loyal’ non-combatant Maori following the Waikato war of 1863-64 and the compensation processes established by the settler government to legitimise its actions.

Sandra Thomas is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington with a BA (Hons) in History and Political Science and an LLB. Her research interest in the operation of the Compensation Court in Waikato stems from the 1990s when she worked as a Treaty claims researcher, policy analyst and negotiator on the Crown team that addressed the Waikato-Tainui raupatu claims. Subsequently she has been practising law and parenting.  Sandra has recently been awarded her PhD. Her thesis is titled: ‘At the arbitrary disposal of the Government’: 'Loyal’ Māori, confiscation and the operation of the Compensation Court in South Auckland and Waikato 1865-67 which casts new light on this turbulent period of our history, highlighting injustices in the state’s ‘take now, pay later’ approach towards its ‘friends’.