Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu
Land Claims Report for April 2015
1. Offer from Crown to fully and finally extinguish Ngāti Kahu’s claims
2. Progress with publication of Deed of Partial Settlement
3. Ngāti Kahu Trust Board Litigation Against Ngāti Kahu Mortgage Services
4. Te Ana o Taite and Carrington Jade – planned visit to Shanghai
5. National Iwi Chairs’ Forum, Whangaehu, 6-8 May
Summary:
• A final decision on the Crown’s offer awaits the response of one marae.
• Our Deed of Partial Settlement has been sent to the publishers.
• The Ngāti Kahu Trust Board will attend our next Rūnanga hui.
• Implementation of the out of court settlement with Carrington Jade is progressing well. Arrangements for ten people to visit Shanghai in May are nearing completion.
• We will attend National Iwi Chairs’ Forum’s hui at Whangaehu.
1. Offer from Crown to fully and finally extinguish Ngāti Kahu’s claims
At our last Rūnanga hui Haititaimarangai and Kauhanga marae indicated they wished to have a full and final settlement (see the minutes). Aputerewa marae is still working on their decision.
While the shape of a full and final settlement was not clear for Haititaimarangai and Kauhanga marae, their decision is consistent with Ngāti Kahu’s instructions to their negotiators that are contained in our Yellow Book. However in light of the government’s rejection of our Yellow Book, 12 marae have directed that the Crown’s offer made in 2013 be rejected and that the partial settlement set out in our deed of partial settlement be accepted.
2. Progress with Publication of the Deed of Partial Settlement
I finished editing our Deed of Partial Settlement and sent it to Huia Publishers early this month. They will come back to me with their decision within the next three months on whether they can publish it. It will be expensive to publish with the 515 pages of manuscript plus 100 photos and 47 maps. Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga has contributed some funding towards the publication but Huia Publishers may ask that it be reduced in size to bring down the costs.
As agreed at our last Rūnanga meeting the book’s title is Ngāti Kahu: Portrait of a Nation: Traditions, History and Tiriti o Waitangi Claims: Kia Pūmau Tonu te Mana Motuhake o Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Kahu.
3. Ngāti Kahu Trust Board v Ngāti Kahu Mortgage Services Ltd – amended proposal
As reported last month, the Ngāti Kahu Trust Board has indicated that while it is prepared to accept most of our conditions concerning the interim trustees (see my February report) they are not happy about the interim trustees being from mana whenua hapū. They have asked for a hui to discuss the matter. We have asked them to attend our hui on 2 May.
4. Te Ana o Taite and Carrington Jade – planned visit to Shanghai
Carrington Jade has now surrendered the resource consents they were given to subdivide and to build houses on Te Ana o Taite. Next week we will sign off the final documentation on the encumbrance on the title to Te Ana o Taite. The encumbrance will prevent anyone building on or using the ana for 999 years.
Arrangements for our trip to Shanghai are almost complete. The process of applying for visas has been interesting and time consuming but in the end, straight forward. We expect to leave on 11 May and return on 18 May.
5. National Iwi Chairs’ Forum, Whangaehu, 6-8 May
This is a three day hui instead of the usual two days. The first day has been set aside to wānanga and develop a “strategic and proactive approach” for the forum. This has been agreed to so that the Forum can refocus its activities away from reacting to government demands and towards what the iwi are striving to achieve. It will be led by Pāhia Tūria as the host chairperson.
A National Iwi Rangatahi Forum will be held as a parallel session over the three days. Cost prevents us from being able to fund people to attend but I would encourage any Ngāti Kahu rangatahi who are able to, to attend that session.
In preparation for the forum I asked at our last Rūnanga hui that we formally support and endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The text of the declaration was widely circulated earlier this month along with a simplified version and a video of the iwi chairs reading each of the (simplified) 46 articles of the declaration. The video can be viewed at http://www.hrc.co.nz/your-rights/indigenous-rights/our-work/undrip-and-t...
The Monitoring Mechanism established by the Forum in November 2014 to monitor the government’s compliance with the Declaration has asked that the Forum formally support and endorse the Declaration.
Professor Margaret Mutu
24 April 2015