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Ngā tuhinga kua whakaputaina 18/1/2024

Te pūrongo hou o te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi, He Whenua Karapotia, He Whenua Ngaro:I whakaputaina te Pūrongo Whakaarotau mō Ngā Whenua Māori i Karapotia i te Rohe Ruku Tātari o Taihape i te hōputu i mua i te whakaputanga i tēnei rā. Kei mua tēnei i te pūrongo matua o te Taraipiunara mō te ruku tātari ā-Rohe whānui mō Taihape: Rangitīkei ki Rangipō.

Looking across Ruahine Forest Park toward landlocked Māori land in Te Kōau A during a Tribunal visit to Big Hill Station, February 2020.

He pānga ā-motu tō te whenua karapotia, engari he raruraru tino nui i Taihape. I reira neke atu i te 70 ōrau o ngā whenua Māori e toe ana he whenua karapotia – neke atu i te 50,000 heketea. Kāore e āhei ana ngāi Māori ā-ture, ā-tinana rānei ki ēnei whenua, ahakoa e mau tonu ana i te puritanga o aua whenua. I roto i tana pūrongo, ko te otinga o te Taraipiunara i whakaae te Karauna kia karapotia ngā whenua Māori o Taihape, ā, kua kore e whakatikatika i te raruraru, nā reira, e takahia ai ngā mātāpono Tiriti, me te aha, ka puta te whakahāweatanga wā roa.

Ko te whakakapi o te Taraipiunara nā ngā hapa i roto i te ture whenua Māori o te Karauna i puta mai ai te whenua karapotia i roto i te takiwā o te ruku tātari. I ngā tekau tau i mua i te tau 1912, i te wā i puta mai te nuinga o te whenua karapotia ki Taihape, kāore e herea ana te Kōti Whakawā Whenua Māori e te Karauna kia whakapūmautia te āhei ki te whenua Māori i te wā e wehewehea ana. Nā reira, ka hokona ana, ka rīhitia ana rānei te wehewehenga me te āhei rori, ka karapotia ngā poraka whenua Māori i tua atu. Mai i te tau 1886, ka taea e ngā kaipupuri whenua Māori te tono mō te āhei ki ō rātou whenua i te wā ka uru ki te kōti, i mua rānei i te hipatanga o ngā tau e rima ā muri atu. Heoi anō, kāore ēnei whakaritenga i whaikiko nā te mea ka waiho tonu mā te kōti te kōwhitinga kia whakamana āhei, kāore rānei, ā, ka herea ngā kaipupuri whenua Māori kia utu i te utu tino nui ki te waihanga i tētahi āhei i whakamanahia. Ko te otinga o te Taraipiunara, i takahi te korenga i whānui o tā te Karauna whakatika i te tūraru o te whenua karapotia i roto i tana ture whenua Māori i mua i te tau 1912 i ngā mātāpono Tiriti o te whakahaumaru hohe, te rangapū, me te tautika. Waihoki, i whakahē te kawatau a te Karauna kia tono ngā kaipupuri whenua Māori ki te kōti kia puritia tonutia te āhei ki ō rātou ake whenua, me te utu i ngā utu, i te taurangi Tiriti o te 'full exclusive and undisturbed possession' o te whenua. Ko te whakapae a te Taraipiunara, me kaua i pērā te whakapau kaha a ngāi Māori kia puritia tonutia te āhei, nā te mea i puta mai te tūraru o te karapotitanga i te ture i tukuna i runga i a rātou, kāore i ahu mai i ā rātou mahi.

Ko tētahi atu otinga o te Taraipiunara i hapa, i korekiko hoki ngā mahi a te Karauna kia whakatikahia te whenua Māori i karapotia mā te ture, nā reira, i takahi ai ngā mātāpono Tiriti. Mai i te tau 1912, ka āhei te Kōti Whakawā Whenua Māori (whai muri mai te Kōti Whenua Māori) te whakahau i te āhei hoki whakamuri ki ngā whenua Māori i karapotia. Engari, mēnā kua kore he puritanga Māori i mua i te tau 1913, kāore he mana o te kōti kia whakahau i te āhei, ka pērā anake rānei me te whakaaetanga o te kaipupuri whenua kiritata. Ko te tikanga ia i unu tēnei herenga i roto i te ture te āheinga o te kōti kia whakahoki i te āhei ki ngā whenua Māori i karapotia i Taihape, e tata ana kia karapotia te katoa o te whenua  – ina hokona atu ana te whenua e tata ana – i mua i te tau 1913. Nā runga anō i ēnei whakaritenga, neke atu i te ono tekau tau, kāore he ara whakature mā ngāi Māori hei whakawātea i ō rātou whenua. Ka whakaae te Karauna he korekiko ana whakatikahanga i tēnei wa, ā, nā te Karauna i noho whakaarotau ngā pānga o ngā kaipupuri whenua Pākehā, me te aha, i whakataumahatia ngā kaipupuri whenua Māori, nā reira, i takahia ai ngā mātāpono Tiriti.

Ko te otinga o te Taraipiunara, mai i te tau 1975 kua whakamātau te Karauna kia whakapiki i te pai o ana whakatikahanga, engari kua korekiko mō ngā kaipupuri whenua o ngā whenua karapotia i Taihape. Mai i te tau 1975, ka taea e ngā kaipupuri whenua Māori te rapu i te āhei mā te Kōti Mana Nui (ināianei te Kōti Teitei), ā, kāore e herea ana kia whakaaetia e tētahi atu kaipupuri whenua, engari he nui rawa te utu mō te rongoā nei. I te tau 1993, i whakarato te Ture Whenua Māori i te ara iti iho te utu mā ngā kaipupuri whenua Māori kia kimi āhei mā te Kōti Whenua Māori, engari i whakature anō i te herenga kia whiwhi ki te whakaaetanga o te kaipupuri whenua kiritata. I unuhia tēnei herenga i te tau 2002, engari ka taea noa e te kaipupuri whenua kiritata te pīra ki te Kōti Teitei. Mai i te tau 2020, ka taea kia tū ngā nohoanga ki te Kōti Pīra Māori e ngāwari ake ai te whakauru. Ahakoa ēnei panonitanga, kāore anō kia angitu tētahi kaipupuri whenua Māori ki te whakamahi i ēnei whakatikahanga kia whakawāteahia ōna whenua. Ko tētahi otinga o te Taraipiunara i takahi te Karauna i ētahi mātāpono Tiriti, tae atu ki te mātāpono o te puretumu, nā te tūroa o tana korenga i whakarato i ngā whakatikahanga whaitake.

Ko te otinga o te Taraipiunara ko te hapa matua i roto i ngā whakatikahanga o te Karauna ka tuku te utu nui kia whakahoki i te āhei i runga i ngā pokohiwi anō o ngā kaipupuri whenua o ngā whenua Māori i karapotia. I tua atu i te korekiko, kua whakaōrite tēnei ahunga i ngā kaipupuri whenua o te whenua Māori i karapotia ki ngā kaipupuri whenua whānui e rapu ana kia āhei ki ngā whenua i karapotia kua hokona e rātou. Nā runga anō i tēnei, ka takahi ngā whakatikahanga o te Karauna i te mātāpono o te mana tika.

Ko te otinga o te Taraipiunara nā te iti o te āhei ki te nuinga o ō rātou whenua i tino whakahāweatia ai ngā whānau me ngā hapū o te takiwā o Taihape, e whakararu ana i ō rātou kōwhiringa mō te whakawhanaketanga ohaoha, te āheinga ki te tū hei kaitiaki, me te tukunga ihotanga mai i tētahi whakatipuranga ki tētahi whakatipuranga o ngā mātauranga e hāngai ana ki ēnei whenua.

Ka tūtohu te Taraipiunara kia whakatū te Karauna i tētahi pūtea tauwhaiwhai e āhei ai ngā kaipupuri whenua karapotia Māori te tono kia whakatutuki i te āhei hei rongoā mō te whenua karapotia. Ka utu te pūtea i te āhei e whakamanahia ai e te Kōti Whenua Māori, tae atu ki te utu paremata hei utu ki ngā kaipupuri whenua kiritata. E miramira ana te Taraipiunara me kaua ngā tahua mō tēnei kaupapa e unuhia i te tapeke i whakaritea hei whakatau i ngā kerēme o mua o te takiwā.

I whiwhi te karauna i ngā kerēme 46 i roto i te ruku tātari ā-rohe o Taihape. Ka tū ngā nohoanga mai i te tau 2016 ki te tau 2021. Kei runga i te rōpū Taraipiunara o Taihape ko Justice Layne Harvey (mana whakahaere), Ahorangi Tā Pou Temara, Dr Monty Soutar, me Dr Paul Hamer. He mema o mua o te rōpū a Tā Douglas Kidd (kua rīhaina ināianei) rāua ko Dr Angela Ballara (kua haere ki tua i te ārai).

Major issues covered

Landlocking
Wai 2180 LL
Report

He Whenua Karapotia, he Whenua Ngaro: Priority Report on Landlocked Māori Land in the Taihape Inquiry District

Wai 2180 - The Taihape - Rangitikei ki Rangipo Inquiry

He Whenua Karapotia, He Whenua Ngaro: Priority Report on Landlocked Māori Land in the Taihape Inquiry District is an early outcome of the Taihape: Rangitīkei ki Rangipō district inquiry. The Tribunal reported on landlocking as a matter of priority because it was a pressing issue in the inquiry district; more than 70 per cent of remaining Māori land holdings in Taihape – exceeding 50,000 hectares – were landlocked at the time of inquiry.
 
The broader Taihape district inquiry encompasses 46 historical claims about Crown actions and omissions in the area known as Inland Pātea, west of the Ruahine ranges and south of the Kaimanawa mountains. Hearings took place from 2016 to 2020. The inquiry panel comprised Justice Layne Harvey (presiding), Dr Paul Hamer, Dr Monty Soutar, and Professor Tā Pou Temara. Sir Douglas Kidd and the late Dr Angela Ballara were former panellists.
 
He Whenua Karapotia, He Whenua Ngaro considers whether the Crown was responsible for landlocking of Māori land in the inquiry district – which largely occurred between 1886 and 1912 – and has provided adequate remedies for the problem since. It also considers whether localised Crown actions in the 1980s and 1990s compounded access difficulties for some claimants with landlocked land.
 
On the first issue, the Tribunal concludes that landlocking occurred in Taihape because the Crown did not require the Native Land Court to preserve access to Māori land as it was partitioned. Upon the sale or lease of a partition with road access, therefore, blocks of Māori land lying beyond it usually became landlocked. Although from 1886 Māori could apply for access to their land as it passed through the court (or within five years thereafter), these measures were ineffective because they still gave the court discretion on whether to grant access and required Māori to pay the large cost of creating any access granted. The Tribunal finds that the Crown’s general failure to address the risk of landlocking in its native land legislation before 1912 breached the principles of active protection, partnership, and equity, and the expectation that Māori apply to the court to retain access to their own land, and pay for it, also undermined the Treaty guarantee of ‘full exclusive and undisturbed possession’ of land.
 
On the second issue, the Crown conceded that its remedies for landlocked Māori land from 1912 to 1975 were ineffective, inequitable, and indirectly discriminated against Māori. During this period, the Native Land Court/Māori Land Court could order retrospective access to landlocked Māori land. But, if the neighbouring land to be crossed had left Māori ownership before 1913, the court had no power to order access or could do so only with the neighbouring owner’s consent. This restriction in the law effectively removed the court’s ability to restore access to landlocked Māori land in Taihape, which had almost entirely become landlocked – as neighbouring land was sold – before 1913. While it accepts the Crown’s concessions, the Tribunal finds that the failure of the Crown’s remedies in this period breached the principle of redress.
 
The report goes on to conclude that, despite legislative improvements, the Crown’s remedies since 1975 have remained ineffective for Māori with landlocked land in Taihape. The key flaw in these remedies, the report argues, is that they have continued to place the huge cost of restoring access onto the owners of landlocked Māori land. This approach has been not only ineffective but unfair, treating the landowners no differently than owners of general land seeking to access landlocked land they have purchased. The Tribunal finds that the Crown’s failure to provide fair and effective remedies since 1975 breached the principles of equity and redress.
 
On localised issues, the Tribunal finds that the Crown ignored opportunities to enhance access to some landlocked Māori land in the 1980s and 1990s, when it negotiated better access to its nearby conservation land, and that this failure breached Treaty principles. The Crown also conceded that it breached Treaty principles by failing to consult the owners of neighbouring landlocked Māori land when it acquired certain blocks for defence purposes.
 
The Tribunal finds that whānau and hapū of the Taihape district have been significantly prejudiced by the lack of ready access to much of their remaining land, which has undermined their opportunities for economic development, their ability to exercise kaitiakitanga, and the intergenerational transmission of mātauranga relating to these lands.
 
To redress the prejudice caused by its Treaty breaches, the report recommends that the Crown establish a contestable fund to which Māori owners of landlocked land in Taihape can apply to achieve access. The fund would pay for access that may be granted by the Māori Land Court, including any compensation payable to neighbouring landowners. The Tribunal recommends that funds for this purpose should not be taken from the sum set aside to settle the district’s historical claims.
 
11 Jun 2025
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