Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti KahuLand Claims Report for October 2016
1. Repossession of Kaitāia Airport in the District Court 31 October
2. Meeting with Carrington Jade to consider their master plan
3. Minister of Treaty Negotiations provides some Official Information
4. Minister responds to our decision to reconfirm our mandate
5. Progress with publication of Deed of Partial Settlement
6. Ngāti Kahu Trust Board Litigation Against Ngāti Kahu Mortgage Services
7. Awaiting Court of Appeal decision on binding recommendations
Summary
· The hearing date for the six Patukōraha, Ngāi Tohianga and Te Paatu people arrested for trespassing on their own ancestral lands at Rangiāniwaniwa has been set down for the week commencing 31 October.
· We had a very informative meeting with Carrington Jade to consider their most recent version of their master plan for their development at Karikari.
· We have finally received some of the official information we requested early in August from the Minister of Treaty Negotiations and the Minister of Māori Development. It is very interesting.
· We received a response to our letter advising that we will reconfirm our mandate demanding that we complete the entire process in nine months rather than the three years needed to do it properly.
· The typeset version of our book Ngāti Kahu: Portrait of a Sovereign Nation, our Deed of Partial Settlement is now back with the publisher.
· Both the Rūnanga’s and the Ngāti Kahu Trust Board interim trustees for Ngāti Kahu’s farm at Taipā have now signed off the Trust Deed for the farm.
· We are still awaiting the Court of Appeal’s decision on our appeals in respect of the Waitangi Tribunal not making binding recommendations.
1. Repossession of Kaitāia Airport in the District Court 31 October
The court case for those arrested for repossessing their lands at Rangiāniwaniwa is set down for the week beginning 31 October. Those appearing are Anthony (Podge) Housham, Eva Crockenberg (both of the Matenga Erstich whānau of Patukōraha), Robin Pōpata, Barney Pōpata (of Ngāi Tohianga) and Reti Boynton who is hunaonga to Robin and Barney. Selwyn Clark was also arrested. Each of these people hakapapa to the lands the airport is built on.
The treaty claims negotiators (Archdeacon Lloyd Pōpata and me) have provided expert evidence to the court of each person’s connections to the lands and how those connections are made and held. That evidence also shows that the Crown/government has no legal title to the land. The police prosecutor is trying very hard to have that evidence thrown out so that the court cannot consider it. If the court allows it to be heard then Lloyd and I will be presenting the expert evidence during that week set aside for the hearing.
2. Meeting with Carrington Jade to consider their master plan
Carrington Jade came to Auckland to meet with those of us who have been to Shanghai to present the current version of their master plan for their tourist development. It was a very good meeting and we asked a lot of questions. They have kept to everything we have asked of them in order to protect the environment although we did identify a couple of potential problems around unit titles for the individual chalets and possible noise pollution from helicopters. I undertook to send them the Cultural Impact Assessment I completed for the previous owner which was approved by Haititaimarangai marae in 2001.
3. Minister of Treaty Negotiations provides Official Information
The Minister has finally provided the official information we requested on 12 August. There are some documents missing which we will be requesting.
The information is very interesting. There are 94 items. Many are completely redacted (blacked out) and most others are partially redacted.
What is readable identifies two Ngāti Kahu individuals, one who is an employee of the Crown, who have been in regular communication with the Office of Treaty Settlements (OTS) staff. They are promising to deliver a full and final settlement in accordance with government policy and instructions. OTS is responding that it must remove its recognition of the Rūnanga’s mandate before it can work with these individuals.
The information shows that both Minister Finlayson and OTS staff have had at least three meetings with one of these individuals and two or three other individuals, one in Kaitāia in June this year. It also shows that OTS staff are seemingly willfully reinterpreting and misrepresenting our letters to both Minister Finlayson and Flavell. There are numerous false statements about Ngāti Kahu made by OTS staff in the material.
The information also shows OTS staff telling the Ministers that the Rūnanga must represent those marae who have withdrawn from the Rūnanga even though they know those marae have instructed us not to represent them. But there is no evidence in the official information that those OTS staff have told the Ngāti Kahu individuals they are working with that they are demanding that the Rūnanga take such a very divisive approach.
We will discuss the information at our hui-ā-marama on 29 October.
4. Minister responds on our decision to reconfirm our mandate
We advised the Minister that it would take until 2020 to complete their requirement that we reconfirm our mandate. This is the period required to ensure that people reach their own decisions in their own time rather than being forced to rush through the decision-making process. The Minister has responded saying that it must be completed within a timeframe acceptable to him, which is nine months.
We will discuss how we are going to respond to this at our hui-ā-marama on 29 October.
In the meantime we are proceeding with the communications and strategic planning exercises which will determine the process we will follow. The communications taskforce set up at our last Rūnanga hui have drafted information sheets for the delegates that we will discuss at our hui-ā-marama. Those who assisted us previously with strategic planning will not be available before February 2017. I encourage everyone to attend the strategic planning hui then and will provide early notification of the date once it is confirmed.
5. Progress with publication of Deed of Partial Settlement
Huia Publishers have advised that our book Ngāti Kahu: Portrait of a Sovereign Nation is progressing well to meet the early March publication date. The typesetting is now complete and is being checked by Huia staff. Once they’re happy with it they will send it to me to review. At that stage I can make very minor amendments to correct errors but nothing more than that.
5. Ngāti Kahu Trust Board Litigation against Ngāti Kahu Mortgage Services
Both the Rūnanga’s and the Ngāti Kahu Trust Board interim trustees for Ngāti Kahu’s farm at Taipā have now signed off the Trust Deed for the farm. They have six months to apply to the Māori Land Court to establish an Ahuwhenua trust for the farm. After six months the trustees appointed by each marae will take over. Seven marae have appointed their trustees. Can each of the remaining marae please appoint their trustees and provide written confirmation to the Rūnanga.
For items 6 – 7 please see the summary above.
Professor Margaret Mutu
22 October 2016