Rapua ngā tuhinga ruku tātari

The Tribunal did not revisit the general issues surrounding the closure of Napier Hospital. Neither did they consider the merits of restoring Napier Hospital to its former status. That was not a remedy the claimants were seeking.
—Deputy Chief Judge Isaac

The claim required the Tribunal to look at the historical context of hospital services in Napier from 1851 to 1940 and in particular the promise of a hospital to Ahuriri Māori in 1851. The Tribunal found that there was widespread and severe ill health, and the impact of introduced diseases, was a principle cause of the crisis of survival which saw a halving of the national Māori population during the half century after 1840. Ahuriri Māori did not escape, and in the 1930s their health status still lagged far behind that of Pakeha:

Whether the health status of Ahuriri Māori has improved or worsened over the last decade, the disparity in health status between Ahuriri Maori and non-Maori has shown little if any reduction and has remained markedly adverse. For many Ahuriri Maori the health outcomes remain poor. A significant proportion of the ill health suffered by Ahuriri Maori was preventable, and not prevented.

The Tribunal looked at a number of issues that arose during the 1980s and 1990s in its report. These issues included consultation with Ahuriri Māori on decisions affecting the status of Napier Hospital with decisions to regionalise hospital services in Hastings and downgrade or close Napier Hospital. Representation at decision making levels was another issue where the Crown was in breach of the principle of partnership with an imbalance of Māori representation on the Hawke’s Bay Hospital Board. Neither was there sufficient participation by Māori to sustain the Māori Health Unit’s objectives.

The Tribunal recommended a community health centre governed by trustees on behalf of Ahuriri Māori and bicultural in character, serving the special needs of Ahuriri Māori but open to all. It suggested that the centre should function as an integrated care organisation providing a variety of primary, public, promotional, educational, and rongoa Māori services.

The Tribunal recommended that the Crown take early steps to conclude an agreement in principle with the claimants on the concept, and that the Napier Hospital site should be transferred to the Residual Health Management Unit and the proceeds be vested in trust, for the purpose of endowering the community health centre.

   'A wananga is characterised by teaching and research that maintains, advances and disseminates knowledge and develops intellectual independence, and assists the application of knowledge regarding ahuatanga Maori (Maori tradition) according to tikanga Maori (Maori custom).'
    Section 162(4)(b)(iv) of the Education Act 1989

The Wananga Capital Establishment Report relates to a claim by three wananga Maori established as tertiary education institutions under the Education Act 1989. The claim concerned the failure of the Crown to recognise the right of Maori, in terms of the Treaty of Waitangi, to receive capital funding, in order to provide properly for the education of Maori through programmes, and in an environment, designed to enhance their tertiary educational opportunities.

‘As Maori studies is located within a western university, it is subject to the western paradigm of knowledge which has severely hindered its growth. Such a circumstance is not tolerated for western science nor should it be tolerated for matauranga Maori.’
Charles Royal

‘The rapid increase in Maori participation in tertiary education requires a variety of strategies. That there is not only one strategy to be followed, nor only one type of provider to be involved. However, the three wananga are important elements in any strategy. They are different from other providers and different from each other. This diversity is to be welcomed. All three wananga need agreed programmes for rapid development.’
Dr Norman Kingsbury

The claim was filed with the Waitangi Tribunal on 11 May 1998 and registered as Wai 718 on 19 May 1998. It was brought by Rongo Herehere Wetere on behalf of Te Tauihu o nga Wananga Association, which represented the three wananga concerned: Te Wananga o Aotearoa, Te Wananga o Raukawa, and Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi. The claimants alleged that the Crown had failed to fund wananga equitably when compared to other tertiary education institutions, such as universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education. Urgency was sought for the hearing of the claim because two of the wananga were at serious risk of financial collapse, owing to a lack of capital funding.

On 30 June 1998, Judge Richard Kearney granted the claim urgency, and a Tribunal consisting of Judge Kearney, Josephine Anderson, and Keita Walker heard the claim in October, November, and December of that year. The report was presented to the Minister of Maori Affairs and the claimants on 28 April 1999.

The Tribunal found that the Crown's tertiary education policies had served to disadvantage wananga and place their operations at risk, and it recommended that the Crown make a one-off payment to each of the wananga sufficient to:

    * compensate them for moneys invested in their land, buildings, plant, and equipment;
    *  cover the cost of bringing the establishments up to a standard comparable to other tertiary education institutions;
    * and meet the proper costs and disbursements of the claimants incurred in the preparation and presentation of their claims.

    'Read as a whole, the Treaty of Waitangi created a partnership between the Crown and Maori. This partnership was a compact between two distinct peoples with their own culture, language, values, treasures, forms of property, and so forth. The Crown now acknowledges the concept that New Zealand is a bicultural polity and society. Biculturalism is an integral part of the overall Treaty partnership. It involves both cultures existing side by side in New Zealand, each enriching and informing the other. Under this overarching Treaty principle, therefore, the Crown's obligation to foster and support wananga is a clear and powerful one.

    'Rangatiratanga involves, at the very least, a concept of Maori self-management. … The wananga that have been recognised as tertiary education institutions have all developed out of the efforts of Maori iwi groups to provide tertiary education to, in the first instance, their own people; in the second instance, Maori students; and, in the third instance, anyone who wishes to embrace this particular form of education. As such, the efforts of these tribal groups to create and sustain tertiary education institutions are a vital exercise of rangatiratanga. The establishment of wananga as tertiary education institutions recognised by the State represents an attempt to engage actively with the Crown in the exercise of rangatiratanga in the management of new forms of tribal and Maori education. The Crown's Treaty obligation is to foster, support, and assist these efforts. In doing so, the Crown needs to ensure that wananga are able to remain accountable to, and involved in, the communities that created them.

    'In assuming the right to govern, the Crown took upon itself the duty actively to protect Maori interests. It is clear that te reo and matauranga Maori are taonga. It is also clear that the three wananga are playing an important role in studying, transmitting, and preserving these taonga. To meet its Treaty obligation to protect these taonga, the Crown should provide wananga with adequate support and resources in an appropriate manner.'
    The Waitangi Tribunal

This claim was separated from the large group of Hauraki claims because it dealt with the contemporary issue of the management of the Hauraki Gulf rather than with the historical grievances of the Hauraki people.

The claimants believed that the Crown had established a management regime under the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Act 2000 that was inconsistent with its duties of active protection of their rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga. They asserted that their claims to customary title and rights in the foreshore and seabed were prejudiced by this Act.

The Tribunal acknowledged the considerable area of agreement between the claimants and the Crown on the need to enhance preservation and protection of the Hauraki Gulf. There was also agreement that a forum, where tangata whenua and territorial authorities could regularly meet to monitor the development of the park and formulate policy, was a sound idea. The Tribunal accepted that the iwi represented by the Hauraki Māori Trust board are tangata whenua of Tikapa Moana.

‘However the physical boundaries of the park are greater than the rohe of Hauraki iwi represented by the Board, and include other groups who can equally claim to be tangata whenua of the park. As part of its Treaty obligations, the Crown must include those tangata whenua in the Hauraki Gulf Forum, and it has done so.’
The Waitangi Tribunal

The Tribunal did not see any fundamental Treaty breach in the legislation per se. It made no specific findings as it was not convinced that the Hauraki iwi had been prejudiced by the passing of the Hauraki Marine Park Act 2000.

‘We would encourage all parties to focus on what they agree on: the need for the Hauraki Gulf environment to be protected for future generations. This is the spirit and intention of the Act, which provides a framework for all parties to work together towards this common goal.’
The Waitangi Tribunal