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Te Urewera Vol VII
Report

Te Urewera Volume VII

Wai 894 - Combined Record of Inquiry for the Urewera District Inquiry

 

The Te Urewera Report addresses some 40 Treaty claims lodged between 1987 and 2003 by Māori from iwi and hapu living in the Te Urewera district. The inquiry district stretches inland from Ohope in the Bay of Plenty to just south of Lake Waikaremoana.

The Tribunal panel comprised Judge Patrick Savage (presiding), Ann Parsonson, Tuahine Northover, and Joanne Morris. The panel convened for 11 weeks between November 2003 and February 2005, with hearings held at Waimana, Waiohau, Ruatāhuna, Murupara, Te Whāiti, Waikaremoana, Rangiahua, Ruātoki, and Maungapōhatu.

The report was released in eight volumes.

Volume I begins by examining the tribal landscape of Te Urewera. It describes the hapu and iwi of the inquiry district, their origins and settlement of Te Urewera, and their development over generations leading up to substantial contact with Europeans in the 1860s. It goes on to discuss the Tuhoe ‘constitutional claim’, which concerns the Treaty implications regarding the fact that Tuhoe did not sign the Treaty of Waitangi. It then looks at the confiscation of a large tract of Maori land in the eastern Bay of Plenty and the military expeditions launched by the Crown into Te Urewera from 1869 to 1871, following the alliance of Tuhoe and Ngati Whare with the messianic leader Te Kooti. 

Volume II discusses the Crown’s military operations in the upper Wairoa and Waikaremoana region in 1865 and 1866 before detailing the events leading up to the Crown’s acquisition of over 178,000 acres of customary Māori land to the south east of Lake Waikaremoarana (the ‘four southern blocks’). The volume then examines the development of the council Te Whitu Tekau established by Tuhoe and Ngati Whate, which gave effect to their autonomy following the end of military conflict in the district in 1871, and the Urewera District Native Reserve Act 1896, from which the Crown granted Te Urewera Māori powers of self-government and collective tribal control of their lands.

Volume III reviews claims concerning the Native Land Court and the massive loss of land that took place in the blocks encircling the Urewera District Native Reserve (the ‘rim blocks’) before focusing on how Ngati Haka Patuheuheu lost ownership of their customary land at the Waiohau block through fraud. The volume then considers the claims of Te Whanau a Kai, Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Tuhoe, and Ngati Kahungunu regarding their respective blocks in the Tahora 2 lands.  

Volume IV looks at why the promise of the Urewera District Native Reserve Act 1896 – which was to provide for Tuhoe self-government through a General Committee – was not fulfilled and whether the Crown was to blame for the demise of the reserve and the loss of much of the land it was supposed to protect. It also covers the Urewera Consolidation Scheme, which was designed to consolidate into a single vast block the many interests the Crown had purchased in the Urewera reserve and separate it from the remaining Maori lands.

Volume V examines the impacts that the Crown’s failure to properly implement the Urewera District Native Reserve Act 1896 had on the mana motuhake (autonomy) and mana whenua of the people of Te Urewera. It then describes the painful history of the creation of Te Urewera National Park before discussing the circumstances leading up to the arrest of Tuhoe spiritual leader Rua Kenana Hepetipa.

Volume VI concerns two forms of Crown intervention in the economic opportunities available to the peoples of Te Urewera in the twentieth century: the channelling of State funds into Maori farming and the imposing of blanket restrictions on the logging of native timber on Maori land for the greater part of the period since the 1930s. It goes on to consider a number of grievances specific to the district before detailing the long-running dispute between the Crown and Maori regarding the ownership of Lake Waikaremoana.

Volume VII canvasses the massive environmental changes that have occurred in the district since the 1890s as well as considers a number of discrete claims in four broad categories: claims relating to public works, claims relating to rating, claims relating to cultural property, and claims relating to schools in the district.

Volume VIII concludes the report with the reality of everyday life for Maori in Te Urewera from the 1890s until the Tribunal hearings in the first decade of the twenty-first century and describes the socio-economic effects of the various Crown Treaty breaches identified in the report. The volume also includes the appendixes, glossary, and bibliography.

 

01 Mar 2018
Size: 11.88MB
Wai 898 Vol 4
Report

Te Mana Whatu Ahuru: Report on Te Rohe Pōtae Claim, volume 4

Index to the Wai 898 Combined Record of Inquiry for the Te Rohe Pōtae District

The Waitangi Tribunal’s Te Mana Whatu Ahuru: Report on Te Rohe Pōtae Claims is the outcome of 277 Treaty of Waitangi claims submitted by Māori of the Te Rohe Pōtae inquiry district. This district extends from Whāingaroa Harbour to northern Taranaki, and inland to the Waikato River and Taumarunui.

The claims in the report were brought to the Waitangi Tribunal on behalf of a diverse range of groups and individuals. They alleged that the Crown breached the principles of the Treaty through a range of actions that resulted in significant prejudice to claimants and their tūpuna. Of the claims that would eventually come to be part of the Te Rohe Pōtae District Inquiry, the first was submitted to the Tribunal in March 1987 by Margaret Makariti Poinga on behalf of herself and members of Ngāti Hikairo. The last was the claim of Angeline Greensill concerning Māui’s dolphin and their threat of extinction, submitted to the Tribunal in September 2014.

The Te Rohe Pōtae Tribunal panel comprised Judge David Ambler (presiding officer), Sir Hirini Mead, Professor Pou Temara, John Baird, and Dr Aroha Harris. After the death of Judge Ambler in 2017, Deputy Chief Judge Caren Fox was appointed to the role of presiding officer.

The Tribunal heard 23 weeks of evidence, including six Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho hui to hear traditions and oral evidence. Hearings began in March 2010 and ended in February 2015.

Volume 4 of Te Mana Whatu Ahuru addresses how the rapid alienation of Māori land reflected and fuelled an erosion of the ability of Te Rohe Pōtae Māori to exercise mana whakahaere, or self-government, over the way the district and its inhabitants were managed. An assurance that district leaders would be able to continue exercising mana whakahaere was contained within article 2 of the Treaty of Waitangi guarantee of tino rangatiratanga (self-government, autonomy), as well as the (1883–85) agreements between Te Rohe Pōtae Māori and the Crown, known as Te Ōhākī Tapu, that promised to give effect to the Treaty in the district.

Contrary to these promises, in the years after the Te Ōhākī Tapu agreements, the Crown’s actions, omissions, legislation, and policies designed to develop the area for Pākehā settlement largely stripped Te Rohe Pōtae Māori of their tribal authority. Areas affected included the governance and management of Māori communities, the impact of local government and public works legislation on remaining Māori land, and the management of the natural environment, including waterways.

The Tribunal found that the Crown failed to sustain Te Rohe Pōtae self-government in a Treaty-compliant way. While Te Rohe Pōtae Māori participated in a succession of representative structures and institutions expected to provide them with at least a form of mana whakahaere, these spheres of influence were limited, and many did not prove enduring.

The imposition of Pākehā local government structures further complicated Te Rohe Pōtae Māori’s struggle to retain mana whakahaere, and the Tribunal found that the Crown failed to ensure local government structures would adequately consider Te Rohe Pōtae rights to exercise their mana whakahaere and tino rangatiratanga.

Compulsory taking of Māori land for public works development purposes, which increased markedly after the Te Ōhākī Tapu agreements, was another means through which large tracks of Māori land were alienated, and Te Rohe Pōtae tribal authority diminished as a result. The Tribunal found that without meaningful consultation and without meeting tests of last resort, the Crown undertook the largest takings for public works in New Zealand history in the inquiry district during the twentieth century.

Crown and local authorities’ regulation of the natural environment, including waterways and water bodies, further diminished Te Rohe Pōtae Māori tribal authority over many taonga and sites of significance. Additionally, the Tribunal found Crown regulation and mismanagement of the natural environment likely resulted in significant damage to many of these important sites.

Based on its findings of Treaty breach in these areas, the Tribunal made recommendations to restore or better enable Te Rohe Pōtae Māori mana whakahaere, including by amending the legislative and policy frameworks associated with each area under review, and accounting for identified breaches in any Treaty settlement processes with claimants.

 

18 Dec 2023
Size: 8.56MB
Wai 898 Vol 2
Report

Te Mana Whatu Ahuru: Report on Te Rohe Pōtae Claim, volume 2

Index to the Wai 898 Combined Record of Inquiry for the Te Rohe Pōtae District

The Waitangi Tribunal’s Te Mana Whatu Ahuru: Report on Te Rohe Pōtae Claims is the outcome of 277 Treaty claims submitted by Māori of the Te Rohe Pōtae inquiry district. This district extends from Whāingaroa Harbour to northern Taranaki, and inland to the Waikato River and Taumarunui.

The claims in this report have been brought to the Waitangi Tribunal on behalf of a diverse range of groups and individuals. They allege that the Crown breached the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi through a range of actions that resulted in significant prejudice to claimants and their tūpuna. Of the claims that would eventually come to be part of the Te Rohe Pōtae District Inquiry, the first was submitted to the Tribunal in March 1987 by Margaret Makariti Poinga on behalf of herself and members of Ngāti Hikairo. The last was the claim of Angeline Greensill concerning Māui’s dolphin and their threat of extinction, submitted to the Tribunal in September 2014.

The Te Rohe Pōtae Tribunal panel comprised Judge David Ambler (presiding), John Baird, Dr Aroha Harris, Sir Hirini Mead, Professor Pou Temara. After the death of Judge Ambler in 2017, Deputy Chief Judge Caren Fox was appointed to the role of presiding officer.

The Tribunal heard 23 weeks of evidence, including six Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho hui to hear traditions and oral evidence. Hearings began in March 2010 and ended in February 2015.

The central issue addressed in the first two volumes concerned the negotiations between the leaders of Te Rohe Pōtae – especially Ngāti Maniapoto – and the Crown in the 1880s. The negotiations, and the agreements that resulted, are known by Te Rohe Pōtae Māori as Te Ōhākī Tapu. This term is derived from Te Kī Tapu (the sacred word), a phrase used by Ngāti Maniapoto leaders to describe the conduct they sought from the Crown.

The Tribunal found that the Crown’s representatives in those negotiations acted at times with dishonest and misleading negotiation tactics and promises. The Crown failed to engage as a Treaty partner and did not acknowledge Te Rohe Pōtae Māori tino rangatiratanga. The Tribunal found that the Crown’s significant breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi have caused serious damage to the mana and autonomy of the iwi and hapū of the district.

Volumes 1 and 2 also reviewed numerous other aspects of the Crown’s actions in Te Rohe Potae before 1905. These included the investigation of pre-Treaty land transactions, early Crown land purchasing, the establishment of the Kīngitanga, its implications for Te Rohe Potae Māori, the impacts of war, and the definition and maintenance of the aukati (Māori zone of authority) in Te Rohe Pōtae, which lasted for an unprecedented 20 years.

The report then reviewed Crown actions in relation to the building of the North Island Main Trunk Railway, the introduction of the Native Land Court to the region, and a further phase of Crown land purchasing between 1890 and 1905.

The Tribunal found the claims covered in volumes 1 and 2 of the report to be well founded. In summary, the Crown chose not to give practical effect to the Treaty principle of partnership in Te Rohe Pōtae from 1840 to 1900. It failed to recognise or provide for Te Rohe Pōtae Māori tino rangatiratanga before and during the negotiations collectively described as Te Ōhāki Tapu. This failure resulted in multiple breaches of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, and Te Rohe Pōtae Māori have suffered significant and long-lasting prejudice as a result.

The Tribunal found that, because of these breaches, the opportunity to give proper effect to the Treaty in the district has yet to be fulfilled.

The Tribunal therefore recommended the Crown take immediate steps to act, in conjunction with the mandated settlement group or groups, to put in place means to give effect to their rangatiratanga. The Tribunal said that how this can be achieved will be for the claimants and Crown to decide. However, it recommended that, at a minimum, legislation must be enacted that recognises and affirms the rangatiratanga and the rights of autonomy and self-determination of Te Rohe Pōtae Māori.

In the case of Ngāti Maniapoto, or their mandated representatives, the Tribunal recommended that legislation must take into account and give effect to Te Ōhāki Tapu, in a way that imposes an obligation on the Crown and its agencies to give effect to the right to mana whakahaere.

 

18 Dec 2023
Size: 16.74MB
Wai 898 Vol 1
Report

Te Mana Whatu Ahuru: Report on Te Rohe Pōtae Claim, volume 1

Index to the Wai 898 Combined Record of Inquiry for the Te Rohe Pōtae District

The Waitangi Tribunal’s Te Mana Whatu Ahuru: Report on Te Rohe Pōtae Claims is the outcome of 277 Treaty claims submitted by Māori of the Te Rohe Pōtae inquiry district. This district extends from Whāingaroa Harbour to northern Taranaki, and inland to the Waikato River and Taumarunui.

The claims in this report have been brought to the Waitangi Tribunal on behalf of a diverse range of groups and individuals. They allege that the Crown breached the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi through a range of actions that resulted in significant prejudice to claimants and their tūpuna. Of the claims that would eventually come to be part of the Te Rohe Pōtae District Inquiry, the first was submitted to the Tribunal in March 1987 by Margaret Makariti Poinga on behalf of herself and members of Ngāti Hikairo. The last was the claim of Angeline Greensill concerning Māui’s dolphin and their threat of extinction, submitted to the Tribunal in September 2014.

The Te Rohe Pōtae Tribunal panel comprised Judge David Ambler (presiding), John Baird, Dr Aroha Harris, Sir Hirini Mead, Professor Pou Temara. After the death of Judge Ambler in 2017, Deputy Chief Judge Caren Fox was appointed to the role of presiding officer.

The Tribunal heard 23 weeks of evidence, including six Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho hui to hear traditions and oral evidence. Hearings began in March 2010 and ended in February 2015.

The central issue addressed in the first two volumes concerned the negotiations between the leaders of Te Rohe Pōtae – especially Ngāti Maniapoto – and the Crown in the 1880s. The negotiations, and the agreements that resulted, are known by Te Rohe Pōtae Māori as Te Ōhākī Tapu. This term is derived from Te Kī Tapu (the sacred word), a phrase used by Ngāti Maniapoto leaders to describe the conduct they sought from the Crown.

The Tribunal found that the Crown’s representatives in those negotiations acted at times with dishonest and misleading negotiation tactics and promises. The Crown failed to engage as a Treaty partner and did not acknowledge Te Rohe Pōtae Māori tino rangatiratanga. The Tribunal found that the Crown’s significant breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi have caused serious damage to the mana and autonomy of the iwi and hapū of the district.

Volumes 1 and 2 also reviewed numerous other aspects of the Crown’s actions in Te Rohe Potae before 1905. These included the investigation of pre-Treaty land transactions, early Crown land purchasing, the establishment of the Kīngitanga, its implications for Te Rohe Potae Māori, the impacts of war, and the definition and maintenance of the aukati (Māori zone of authority) in Te Rohe Pōtae, which lasted for an unprecedented 20 years.

The report then reviewed Crown actions in relation to the building of the North Island Main Trunk Railway, the introduction of the Native Land Court to the region, and a further phase of Crown land purchasing between 1890 and 1905.

The Tribunal found the claims covered in volumes 1 and 2 of the report to be well founded. In summary, the Crown chose not to give practical effect to the Treaty principle of partnership in Te Rohe Pōtae from 1840 to 1900. It failed to recognise or provide for Te Rohe Pōtae Māori tino rangatiratanga before and during the negotiations collectively described as Te Ōhāki Tapu. This failure resulted in multiple breaches of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, and Te Rohe Pōtae Māori have suffered significant and long-lasting prejudice as a result.

The Tribunal found that, because of these breaches, the opportunity to give proper effect to the Treaty in the district has yet to be fulfilled.

The Tribunal therefore recommended the Crown take immediate steps to act, in conjunction with the mandated settlement group or groups, to put in place means to give effect to their rangatiratanga. The Tribunal said that how this can be achieved will be for the claimants and Crown to decide. However, it recommended that, at a minimum, legislation must be enacted that recognises and affirms the rangatiratanga and the rights of autonomy and self-determination of Te Rohe Pōtae Māori.

In the case of Ngāti Maniapoto, or their mandated representatives, the Tribunal recommended that legislation must take into account and give effect to Te Ōhāki Tapu, in a way that imposes an obligation on the Crown and its agencies to give effect to the right to mana whakahaere.

 

18 Dec 2023
Size: 9.45MB
Wai 898 Vol 3
Report

Te Mana Whatu Ahuru: Report on Te Rohe Pōtae Claim, volume 3

Index to the Wai 898 Combined Record of Inquiry for the Te Rohe Pōtae District

The Waitangi Tribunal’s Te Mana Whatu Ahuru: Report on Te Rohe Pōtae Claims is the outcome of 277 Treaty claims submitted by Māori of the Te Rohe Pōtae inquiry district. This district extends from Whāingaroa Harbour to northern Taranaki, and inland to the Waikato River and Taumarunui.

The claims in this report have been brought to the Waitangi Tribunal on behalf of a diverse range of groups and individuals. They alleged that the Crown breached the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi through a range of actions that resulted in significant prejudice to claimants and their tūpuna. Of the claims that would eventually come to be part of the Te Rohe Pōtae District Inquiry, the first was submitted to the Tribunal in March 1987 by Margaret Makariti Poinga on behalf of herself and members of Ngāti Hikairo. The last was the claim of Angeline Greensill concerning Māui’s dolphin and their threat of extinction, submitted to the Tribunal in September 2014.

The Te Rohe Pōtae Tribunal panel comprised Judge David Ambler (presiding officer), Sir Hirini Mead, Professor Pou Temara, John Baird, and Dr Aroha Harris. After the death of Judge Ambler in 2017, Deputy Chief Judge Caren Fox was appointed to the role of presiding officer.

The Tribunal heard 23 weeks of evidence, including six Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho hui to hear traditions and oral evidence. Hearings began in March 2010 and ended in February 2015.

Volume 3 of the report addresses the land policy and legislation that the Crown imposed after 1900 in Te Rohe Pōtae and the implications these had on Māori, who expected to continue to exercise mana whakahaere, or self-government, over their lands and communities. These expectations reflected guarantees of rangatiratanga contained in the Treaty of Waitangi, as well as the (1883–85) agreements Te Rohe Pōtae Māori made with the Crown, known as Te Ōhākī Tapu, that promised to give effect to the Treaty in the district.

Volume 3 examines how the Crown’s legislation and its actions frequently resulted in the alienation of native land in favour of European settlement. Approaches it applied through legislation included: the continued practice of Crown purchasing of shares in land; the creation of Māori land councils and later Māori land boards to act in place of owners; the compulsory vesting of lands in these boards for lease and administration; the establishment of native townships to enable surplus land to be made available for European settlement; the passing of compulsory consolidation of share interests to reform and simplify titles; the broad discretions given to the Native (later Māori) Land Court to facilitate alienations; the compulsory Europeanisation of land between 1967 and 1974 where there were limited numbers of owners; the compulsory acquisition of uneconomic share interests; and the land development schemes which operated in the district.

The Tribunal found numerous breaches related to the Crown’s twentieth-century land legislation, its application in the district, and the administrative actions of its various agencies. 

It further found that the cumulative impact of the Crown’s Treaty breaches regarding land title, tenure, transfer and development in the district resulted in a loss of tino rangatiratanga (full control and authority) over Te Rohe Pōtae lands, the breakdown in social and political relationships, land loss, and enormous social, economic and cultural prejudice, the impacts of which continue to this day.

The Tribunal made one recommendation in this volume. During Treaty settlement negotiations, the Crown should discuss with Te Rohe Pōtae Māori, or their mandated settling group(s), a possible legislative mechanism that will enable Te Rohe Pōtae iwi and hapū to administer their lands, either alongside the Māori Land Court and Te Tumu Paeroa (the Māori Trustee), or as separate entities. The choice is one that necessitates thorough consultation with Māori landowners and should not have any coercive or compulsory elements.

 

18 Dec 2023
Size: 7.55MB
Wai 898 Vol 6
Report

Te Mana Whatu Ahuru: Report on Te Rohe Pōtae Claim, volume 6

Index to the Wai 898 Combined Record of Inquiry for the Te Rohe Pōtae District

The release of the final volume of the Waitangi Tribunal’s Te Mana Whatu Ahuru: Report on Te Rohe Pōtae Claims, named Take a Tākiwa, completed the Tribunal’s inquiry into Treaty of Waitangi claims submitted by Māori within Te Rohe Pōtae. This district extends from Whāingaroa Harbour to northern Taranaki and inland to the Waikato River and Taumarunui.

The first of the 278 hapū, whānau, iwi, block-specific, and district-wide claims that became part of the Te Rohe Pōtae district inquiry was submitted to the Tribunal in 1987 and the last in 2014. The claims alleged that the Crown breached the principles of the Treaty through a range of actions, omissions, policy, and legislation that resulted in significant prejudice to claimants and their tūpuna. The Tribunal held 23 weeks of hearings between 2012 and 2015 to hear parties’ positions and evidence. These hearings followed six Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho hui held in 2010 to hear traditional oral evidence.

Volume 6 differs significantly from the five earlier volumes of Te Mana Whatu Ahuru, which were progressively released in pre-publication format since 2018. While those volumes focus on the major thematic issues agreed by parties, volume 6 provides a comprehensive inventory and assessment of all the claims in the Te Rohe Pōtae inquiry. In doing so, it complements and augments the discussion of major kaupapa (thematic) issues in volumes 1 to 5. At the same time, volume 6 shines a light on every individual claim – situating each within its local context and assessing whether it is well founded.

The claims are organised into seven takiwā (sub-regions), which are mostly located around the inquiry district’s major waterways: Waipā-Pūniu, Taumarunui, Kāwhia-Aotea, Whāingaroa, Te Kūiti-Hauāuru, Waimiha-Ōngarue, and Mōkau. There are also a small number of cross-regional claims. Each takiwā is introduced with a map and a short overview of the physical and human landscape.

Every individual claim made by or on behalf of groups affiliated to that takiwā is then summarised. For each claim, the Tribunal records the findings from parts I to V that apply. Where other claim-specific matters arise, the Tribunal makes any additional findings or comment that may be appropriate. Finally, the Tribunal assesses whether the claim is well founded, based on an assessment of whether Crown legislation, policies, actions, or omissions inconsistent with the Treaty have prejudiced the claimants.

The Te Rohe Pōtae Tribunal panel comprised Deputy Chief Judge Caren Fox (presiding), Sir Hirini Mead, Professor Pou Temara, John Baird, and Dr Aroha Harris. Judge Fox was appointed to the role of presiding officer after the original presiding officer, Judge David Ambler, passed away in 2017.

 

18 Dec 2023
Size: 7.65MB
Wai 898 Vol 5
Report

Te Mana Whatu Ahuru: Report on Te Rohe Pōtae Claim, volume 5

Index to the Wai 898 Combined Record of Inquiry for the Te Rohe Pōtae District

The Waitangi Tribunal’s Te Mana Whatu Ahuru: Report on Te Rohe Pōtae Claims is the outcome of 277 Treaty of Waitangi claims submitted by Māori of the Te Rohe Pōtae inquiry district. This district extends from Whāingaroa Harbour to northern Taranaki, and inland to the Waikato River and Taumarunui.

The claims in the report were brought to the Waitangi Tribunal on behalf of a diverse range of groups and individuals. They alleged that the Crown breached the principles of the Treaty through a range of actions that resulted in significant prejudice to claimants and their tūpuna. Of the claims that would eventually come to be part of the Te Rohe Pōtae District Inquiry, the first was submitted to the Tribunal in March 1987 by Margaret Makariti Poinga on behalf of herself and members of Ngāti Hikairo. The last was the claim of Angeline Greensill concerning Māui’s dolphin and their threat of extinction, submitted to the Tribunal in September 2014.

The Te Rohe Pōtae Tribunal panel comprised Judge David Ambler (presiding officer), Sir Hirini Mead, Professor Pou Temara, John Baird, and Dr Aroha Harris. After the death of Judge Ambler in 2017, Deputy Chief Judge Caren Fox was appointed to the role of presiding officer.

The Tribunal heard 23 weeks of evidence, including six Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho hui to hear traditions and oral evidence. Hearings began in March 2010 and ended in February 2015.

 

18 Dec 2023
Size: 2.67MB
Wai 953
Report

Ahu Moana: The Aquaculture and Marine Farming Report

Ngati Kahungunu and Ngati Whatua Marine Farming Claim

The Wai 953 claimants represent Ngati Kahungunu, Ngati Whatua, Te Atiawa ki te Tau Ihu, Ngati Koata, Ngai Tahu, and Ngati Kuia. They claim to have a broad relationship with the coastal marine area and that as an incident of that relationship they have an interest in aquaculture, or more particularly marine farming.

The Tribunal was assisted by submissions from Te Ohu Kaimoana and the New Zealand Marine Farming Association.

The claimants alleged that they had been prejudicially affected by the proposals of the crown to reform the laws regulating aquaculture and in particular marine farming in New Zealand. They allege that these Crown actions amount to acts, policies, and practices in breach of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

The Tribunal's focus during the inquiry was on the proposals for reform and not on the existing aquaculture regime. The concern was the discrete question of whether the proposed reforms were in breach of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. We also considered whether attempts made by the Crown, subsequent to the filing of these claims, addressed Maori issues adequately so as to discharge the Crown's duty actively to protect Maori interests.

In summary, this report found that Māori have an interest in marine farming that forms part of the bundle of Maori rights in the coastal marine area that represent a taonga protected by the Treaty of Waitangi. The Tribunal found that the proposed reforms do breach the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and the reasons for this are explained in chapter 6 and 7 of the report. The Tribunal also found that further consultation with Māori is needed to ascertain what should be done to ensure that their Treaty interests are adequately provided for. To facilitate this process the Tribunal recommended that the delay before the introduction of the Bill should be used by the Crown to establish a mechanism (resourced by the Crown) for consultation and negotiation with Māori including the claimants, facilitated by Te Ohu Kai Moana. The basis of consultation should be the existence of Treaty rights in the coastal space, which include rights, the extent of which are yet to be determined, to aquaculture and marine farming.

The parties should use the mechanism to discuss:

-a process for investigating the nature and extent of the Māori interest in marine farming;
-a process for agreeing on the mechanism needed to protect the Māori interest in marine farming, including a mechanism for preserving capacity to intervene once the full nature and and extent of that interest is defined;
-a process for ensuring appropriate Māori participation in the development of AMA areas and tendering process;
-a mechanism for preserving the Crown's capacity to meet its Treaty obligations in the short term, until such time as the longer planning issues are dealt with.

The Tribunal found that since the claims are well-founded, the recommendation is for payment by the Crown of the claimants' reasonable costs and expenses.

The Tribunal also indicated that the claimants have leave without further application for urgency, to return to the Tribunal should they have concerns that these matters have not been addressed properly after any legislation has been enacted.

20 Dec 2002
Size: 882KB
Wai 958
Report

The Ngati Awa Settlement Cross-Claims Report

Ngati Haka Matahina Lands claim

This report concerns claims about the terms of a settlement offer made to Ngati Awa by the Government.

26 Jul 2002
Size: 1.39MB
Wai 996
Report

The Ngati Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau Settlement Cross-Claim Report

Ngati Rangitihi Inland and Coastal Land Blocks claim

This report concerns a claim about the Government's proposed settlement with Ngati Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau.

01 May 2003
Size: 4.99MB
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