Not quite . In fact the maoris INVITED the Brits to come in and set up a government. Cos before that, there was no actual law in NZ. The whites around (mainly whalers and such) didn't recognise Maori laws (such as they were). And since it was not subject to British law (or French, or USA etc), you could do pretty much anything you wanted, provided you had enough guns. Which some whites, and some Maoris promptly set out to do. Massacring an awful lot of people along the way.
So a bunch of Maori chiefs, who were worried about what people like my great(n)-grandfather , and that Moari dude up north who killed off about half the population of the North Island, would do next, asked the British colonial government in Oz to take on NZ as well. Hence, Hobson.
However your statement is not strictly incorrect, since in the 60's and 80's the Maoris rebelled against their rightful sovereign lord (Queen Vic) and went to war with the government. Those rebellions were crushed and the lands of the rebels (who claimed not to be bound by the Treaty) confiscated by right of conquest. I have old reference works which specify the origin of all of the territories in the Empire. New Zealand is specified as "Cessation and conquest"
Bookmarks