Aidan Cameron

• LLB – Otago – 2014
• BA (Māori Studies) – Otago – 2013

Aidan has a broad commercial and civil litigation practice, with a special interest in resource management and environmental law.

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Aidan provides advice and advocacy services to a broad spectrum of clients, from top-10 NZX listed firms to sole traders and SMEs, as well as to private clients. He appears frequently in the senior Courts, as well as in commercial arbitrations, and applies a solutions-focused and forensic approach to dispute resolution.

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Aidan commenced practice at Russell McVeagh, one of New Zealand’s leading law firms, where he worked as a Senior Solicitor in the firm’s General Litigation and Environment, Planning and Natural Resources teams.

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Aidan joined Bankside Chambers as a Member in 2022, following four years as an Employed Barrister working with Kate Davenport KC, Derek Nolan KC, Dr Simon Foote KC and Rowan Butler on complex commercial, environmental and trust and estate litigation.

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Aidan graduated from the University of Otago with an LLB and BA in Māori Studies. While at Otago, Aidan attained fluency in Te Reo Māori. He has acted for a number of rūnanga and pre and post-settlement governance entities, including in the Waitangi Tribunal and in Treaty settlement negotiations.

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Aidan is available to take instructions both as sole and junior counsel.

Character Coalition Inc v Auckland Council & Anor [2025] NZHC 805

Acted for the successful applicant on an appeal by the Coalition against the grant of resource consent in a test case on the application of special character provisions under the Auckland Unitary Plan.

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Re Taueki [2025] NZHC 1488

Acted for Te Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai Charitable Trust, a successful applicant for customary marine title under the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 in a landmark judgment of the High Court on deeply contested factual and historical narratives relating to the settlement of the Kapiti Coast by Māori.

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Box Property Limited v Expert Consenting Panel [2025] NZHC 1773

Acted pro bono for the Environmental Defence Society Incorporated on an appeal from a decision under the COVID-19 Recovery (Fast Track Consenting) Act 2020, on rule of law issues relating to reliance on Government announcements for resource management reform under the principle in Fitzgerald v Muldoon.

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McCallum v McCallum & Ors [2021] NZCA 237

Acted for the respondent trustees and executors in an appeal against the grant of Beddoe orders in a major trust and estate dispute, alongside Andrew Butler KC. The judgment is the leading statement on Beddoe orders in New Zealand.

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Christiansen v Director-General of Health [2020] 2 NZLR 588

Represented the applicant, alongside Simon Foote KC, in urgent judicial proceedings challenging decisions preventing him from leaving COVID-19 managed isolation to visit his dying father. The decision precipitated a review of all previous decisions for compassionate leave, and resulted in amendments to Government policy for exemptions.

Doyle's Guide 2025: Aidan is recognised as a Leading Environment and Resource Management Barrister.

• Contributing author to Derek Nolan (ed) Environmental and Resource Management Law (5th – 7th editions)
• A Road to Nowhere? The Role of the Overall Broad Judgment Post-Davidson (November 2020) RMJ 24
  
• Contributing author to Greg Severinsen and Raewyn Peart, Reform of the Resource Management System: A model for the future
• Contributing author to Greg Severinsen and Raewyn Peart, Reform of the Resource Management System: The Next Generation
• It’s a Catastrophe! Unplanned Failures of Activities and Potential Adverse Effects (August 2019) RMJ 30
• Māori Rights in the 4G Spectrum: Fantasy or the Future of Treaty Claims? (2013) 13(1) Otago LR 181