Rapua ngā tuhinga ruku tātari

The Report on the Management of the Petroleum Resource is the Waitangi Tribunal’s second report on petroleum claims and results from an urgent inquiry held in 2010 to investigate the management of the resource in modern times. It forms the sequel to the Tribunal’s first report published in 2003, which considered the ownership of the petroleum resource. The Tribunal, consisting of Judge Layne Harvey (presiding), Joanne Morris, Basil Morrison, and Professor Pou Temara, heard the claims at Aotearoa Pa, Okaiawa, from 26 to 29 April 2010, and the closing submissions at the Wellington District Court on 6 May. The report was released on 20 April 2011.

The claims considered in the report were brought against the Crown by Ngāruahine of Taranaki and by Ngāti Kahungunu of Hawke’s Bay and the Wairarapa. Taranaki has already been extensively affected by petroleum prospecting, exploration, and production, and exploratory drilling has also been carried out in Hawke’s Bay and the Wairarapa. The current regime for managing petroleum is governed by the Crown Minerals Act and the Resource Management Act, both of 1991. In essence, the claimants saw three main problems with the regime. They said that the substance of the legislation was biased against Māori and favoured the interests of others. They claimed further that the processes established to apply the legislation failed to ensure effective participation by Māori. Indeed, the processes in question might even deter or deny Māori involvement, meaning that Māori struggle to safeguard their interests. Lastly, said the claimants, a further obstacle was created by the lack of reliable and sufficient assistance for Māori communities to participate in resource management processes. As a result, the claimants said, the regime breached the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

In the course of the inquiry, the Crown accepted that Māori capacity to participate in resource management processes was an issue but said that ‘incremental steps’ were being taken to improve the situation. Other than that, the Crown denied the claims.

Having examined the evidence presented, the Tribunal said that it was ‘disturbed by the extent to which the current regime depends for its protection of Māori interests on the ad hoc involvement of Māori individuals and groups who are ill-resourced to bear the burdens involved’. The Tribunal was particularly concerned about the effects of the regime on sites of historical and cultural significance in Taranaki, given the already devastating effects of land confiscation there in the nineteenth century. The Tribunal noted that many of the sites were not only significant to Māori but had a bearing on the history and identity of New Zealand as a whole.

For the petroleum management regime to meet the standards of the Treaty, the Tribunal found that four criteria needed to be met. Tangata whenua must be able to:

• count on being involved at key points in decision-making processes that affect their interests;
• make a well-informed contribution to decisions;
• afford to have that level of involvement; and
• be confident that their contribution will be understood and valued.

The Tribunal found that, overall, this was not happening. In part, this was because the rūnanga or iwi authorities envisaged under the Runanga Iwi Act 1990, and intended to act as a kind of Māori counterpart to local government bodies, were disestablished when that Act was repealed less than a year after it was passed. Another problem was the complexity of the petroleum management regime, and the number of local government processes in which Māori were required to engage simultaneously if they wished to try to protect their interests. To help address the situation, the Tribunal made 11 recommendations covering matters such as:

• The establishment of a ministerial advisory committee to provide advice directly to the Minister of Energy on Māori perspectives and concerns.
• The re-establishment of district and regional representative bodies for tangata whenua, for the purpose, among other things, of considering petroleum management issues. Such bodies should be adequately resourced by central government and empowered with some decision-making responsibilities by local government.
• The use of a small percentage of the Crown’s petroleum royalties to establish a fund to which iwi and hapū could apply for assistance to help them participate more effectively in petroleum management processes.
• Greater use of joint hearings by local authorities on matters relating to petroleum management.
• Reform of the Crown Minerals Act, including strengthening the Treaty provisions, amending the compulsory arbitration requirements, and enhancing the provisions for site protection.

In closing, the Tribunal noted that its findings on the petroleum management regime had implications for the resource management regime more generally, and it hoped that its recommendations might also be of assistance to the Crown in that broader context.

On Saturday 3 September 2010, the Tribunal released its report Tauranga Moana, 1886–2006: Report on the Post-Raupatu Claims.

In stage 2 of its inquiry into Tauranga Moana claims, the Tribunal examined issues relating to the decades since the confiscation (the latter having been the subject of stage 1). Over 50 claims had grievances needing investigation in this second stage, including three claims from groups that had not appeared in stage 1, namely Ngati Mahana, Ngati Motai, and Ngati Hinerangi.

The Tribunal, consisting of Judge Stephanie Milroy (presiding), John Clarke, Areta Koopu, and Professor Keith Sorrenson, found that Tauranga iwi and hapu continued to lose significant amounts of land after 1886, notably through Crown purchasing, public works, pressures caused by actual and potential rates debt, and the processes of urbanisation and subdivision. The tangata whenua could ill afford to lose any land at all, and the scale of the loss has compounded the prejudice they suffered from the raupatu and its aftermath. Particularly disappointing was the lack of adequate protection or assistance for those groups that were left landless or nearly so. However, no group was totally unaffected by land loss.

Even where Maori managed to retain land, they faced considerable difficulty trying to develop it. To a large extent, the cause of this was the land tenure and administration system imposed by the Crown on Maori owners. While the Tauranga panel acknowledges that the Crown made efforts at times to assist Maori to overcome the disadvantages created, it is in no doubt that overall the Crown failed to provide the level of protection and support promised under the Treaty.

The Tribunal also found that rates have often been a particular problem for Maori land held in multiple ownership, and it recommended the introduction of new valuation legislation that is more consistent with the Treaty. The Tribunal looked at the planning legislation that had underpinned urbanisation and economic development over the years, concluding that such legislation had often failed to reflect Maori needs, perspectives, and aspirations, and it discussed the lack of political representation for Maori at the local level. It is only in recent years that legislation to encourage Maori participation in local government has been put in place, with Environment Bay of Plenty leading the way in creating Maori seats and electorates. The Tribunal commented that there needed to be much more vigorous pursuit of such policies if development sensitive to Maori views and aspirations were to flourish.

The Tribunal noted that, along with their loss of land, Tauranga Maori suffered reduced access to, and use of, traditional resources from the rivers, sea, and forests of Tauranga Moana. The intensification of economic activity and the accelerating pace of urban development also often led to degradation and pollution of those environments. Alongside that, development had endangered the cultural heritage of Tauranga Maori: despite some protections, many sites of cultural, spiritual, and historical importance had been modified or even destroyed. Where their environment and cultural heritage were concerned, the tangata whenua had to fight hard to maintain even a faint shadow of the tino rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga they exercised at the time the Treaty was signed. The Tribunal recommended various ways by which the Crown could assist in restoring a measure of rangatiratanga to the iwi and hapu of the district.

In conclusion, the Tribunal found that the cumulative and interlinked effects of different Government processes and legislative provisions have created considerable prejudice to Tauranga Moana Maori, all too often marginalising them socially, culturally, and economically in the area that has for centuries been their home. Further, the economic marginalisation had resulted in lost opportunity costs that impacted on their ability to recover. Despite some improvements over recent years, Maori socio-economic statistics still lagged some way behind those of non-Maori. Looking forward, the Tribunal urged greater collaboration and information flow between various arms of Government in order to redress the prejudice suffered and to assist Maori in their future development. It recommended that the settlement of claims of Tauranga iwi and hapu be addressed as a matter of high priority, and it urged that substantial redress be made for post-1886 breaches, separately and in addition to redress for the raupatu. The Tribunal particularly stressed the importance of returning land wherever possible.