Sir Tipene was appointed to the panel in 2010, which was established by the Government to conduct a wide-ranging review of New Zealand's constitutional arrangements - including the size of Parliament, the length of the electoral term, Maori representation, the role of the Treaty of Waitangi and whether New Zealand needs a written constitution.
The independent group will lead public discussion on constitutional issues that are under review and will then report to Deputy Prime Minister Bill English and Maori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples in September next year, identifying areas of broad public consensus and where further work is recommended.
Sir Tipene said the panel was not charged with discussing making New Zealand a republic, but if enough people raised the issue, it would be taken back to the ministers.
Sir Tipene is one of several eminent New Zealanders who have been speaking to members of the Pacific Islands Law Students' Association and the Maori Law Students' Association as part of Maori and Pacific Island Legal Issues Week (July 23-27).
He urged those attending his lecture in the Richardson Building last night, to carefully consider the future of law and governance in New Zealand.
"The reason we have to rethink it is the huge shift in New Zealand's demography.
"By 2060, there will be twice as many New Zealanders as there are now.
"The ethnic and age mix is going to be completely different.
"How do we want New Zealand to be at that time? How do we want our future to look?
"We've never had to think about that in our generation.
"This process is about creating a conversation within New Zealand that I think many people don't really want to have.
"I come here to urge you to start thinking about how you want this country to be, to imagine and re-imagine the rules that govern us, and how it might better reflect how we want it to be around the middle of this century."
Sir Tipene offered no insight into what he wanted New Zealand to look like in the future.
Instead, he appeared to be more fascinated by the education he was receiving while researching the issue.
Whatever the future held, he said great care had to be taken if, or when, it came to designing a new constitution.
"The culture surrounding a constitution is far more important than the written word."
