James Busby's Declaration Of Independence Of New Zealand

In response, the British government sent James Busby in 1832 to be the British Resident in New Zealand. In 1834 Busby drafted a document known as the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand which he and 35 northern Māori chiefs signed at Waitangi on 28 October 1835, establishing those chiefs as representatives of a proto-state under the title of the "United Tribes of New Zealand". This document was not well received by the Colonial Office in Britain, and it was decided that a new policy for New Zealand was needed.

“Of all the events and decisions that led to the Treaty of Waitangi, by far the most significant to both

Māori and Pakeha is the 1835 Declaration of Independence. The document still enjoys considerable standing among Māori. This is because – unlike the Treaty – it explicitly acknowledges the Chiefs’ tino rangatiratanga or sovereignty, on which most of the debate about the Treaty still centres.”

From May to July 1836, Royal Navy Officer Captain William Hobson, for analysis of the issue, sent to New Zealand under instruction from Sir Richard Bourke, and he mentioned in need for British governance over New Zealand, in small pockets similar to Hudson’s bay in Canada. British Government, in 1937, formed a committee, with review of submissions from New Zealand Company, missionaries

Hobson was instructed to obtain sovereignty over all or part of New Zealand with the consent of a sufficient number of chiefs. New Zealand would come under the authority of George Gipps, the governor of New South Wales, and Hobson would become Gipps’ lieutenant-governor. Land-buying agents continued swarming over New Zealand in anticipation of purchases. Governor Gipps prohibited further private land purchases from Māori, and no existing claims were to be recognised until they had been investigated by the authorities. William Hobson repeated the proclamation at the Bay of Islands on 30 January