<P> During the late 1960s and 1970s, the Treaty of Waitangi became the focus of a strong Māori protest movement which rallied around calls for the government to "honour the treaty" and to "redress treaty grievances ." Maori boycotted Waitangi Day in 1968 over the Māori Affairs Amendment Act (which was perceived as a further land grab) and Māori expressed their frustration about continuing violations of the treaty and subsequent legislation by government officials, as well as inequitable legislation and unsympathetic decisions by the Māori Land Court continuing alienation of Māori land from its owners . The protest movement can be seen as part of the worldwide civil rights movement, which emerged in the 1960s . </P> <P> As a response to the protest movement, the Treaty finally received limited recognition in 1975 with the passage of the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975, which established the Waitangi Tribunal, but this initially had very limited powers to make findings of facts and recommendations only . The Act was amended in 1985 to enable it to investigate Treaty breaches back to 1840, and also to increase the Tribunal membership . The membership was further increased in another amendment in 1988 . </P> <P> The Treaty was incorporated in a limited way into New Zealand law by the State Owned Enterprises Act 1986 . Section 9 of the act said "Nothing in this Act shall permit the Crown to act in a manner that is inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi". The government had proposed a transfer of assets from former Government departments to state - owned enterprises, but because the state - owned enterprises were essentially private firms owned by the government, there was an argument that they would prevent assets which had been given by Māori for use by the state from being returned to Māori by the Waitangi Tribunal and through Treaty settlements . The Act was challenged in court in 1987, and the judgement of New Zealand Maori Council v Attorney - General defined the "Principles of the Treaty" and the proposed sale of government assets was found to be in breach of this proviso . This allowed the courts to consider the Crown's actions in terms of compliance with the Treaty and established the principle that if the Treaty is mentioned in strong terms in a piece of legislation, it takes precedence over other parts of that legislation should they come into conflict . The "Principles of the Treaty" became a common topic in contemporary New Zealand politics, and in 1989, the Fourth Labour Government responded by adopting the "Principles for Crown Action on the Treaty of Waitangi" a similar list of principles to that established in the 1987 court case . </P> <P> Legislation after the State Owned Enterprises case has followed suit in giving the Treaty an increased legal importance . In New Zealand Maori Council v Attorney General (1990) the case concerned FM radio frequencies and found that the Treaty could be relevant even concerning legislation which did not mention it and that even if references to the Treaty were removed from legislation, the Treaty may still be legally relevant . Examples include the ownership of the radio spectrum and the protection of the Māori language . </P>

What happened during the signing of the treaty of waitangi