Sir Tipene was speaking at the University of Otago in his capacity as co-chairman of the Constitutional Advisory Panel, which was established by the Government to conduct a review of New Zealand's constitutional arrangements - including the size of Parliament, the length of the electoral term, the role of the Treaty of Waitangi and whether New Zealand needs a written constitution. The independent group has been tasked with leading public discussion on constitutional issues and is due to report back to the Government later this year.
Sir Tipene compared New Zealand's constitutional arrangement with the typical ''Kiwi bach'', with it being ''made up of all sorts of bits'' and adapted over the years. Like the ''Kiwi bach'', it seemed to work reasonably well.
However, there were questions about ''whether we had the right set of tools in place'' to deal with the rapid change that was imminent over the coming decades.
''It does seem to work more or less, but it doesn't seem to work well enough,'' he said.
Earlier in the evening, fellow co-chairman Emeritus Prof John Burrows told the audience New Zealand was one of three countries in the world without a written constitution.
That did not mean New Zealand should just ''follow the crowd'', as there were different views on the merits of having a written constitution, Prof Burrows said.
Those in favour believed having one would hold the Government more accountable, but others were concerned it could give too much power to the judiciary and make law ''too hard'' to change.
Both Prof Burrows and Sir Tipene urged people to give their views on New Zealand's constitutional make-up, people being able to make submissions to the panel at www.ourconstitution.org.nz.
