Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu
Land Claims Report for December 2016 – January 2017
1. Good news from the Court of Appeal on binding recommendations
2. Progress with publication of the Ngāti Kahu book
3. Repossession of Kaitāia Airport – District Court decision
4. Reconfirmation of mandate
5. National Iwi Chairs’ Forum 2-3 February at Waitangi
6. Ngāti Kahu Trust Board Litigation Against Ngāti Kahu Mortgage Services
Summary
• The Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court’s direction that the Waitangi Tribunal rehear our application for binding recommendations. It has also directed the Tribunal to make a decision on binding recommendations and to stop hiding behind Government treaty claims settlement policy to avoid making that decision. This is a very welcome win for Ngāti Kahu (and for Mangatū Incorporation).
• Huia Publishers who are publishing our book Ngāti Kahu: Portrait of a Sovereign Nation, our Deed of Partial Settlement, has sent the typeset version of the book for checking.
• As anticipated at our December hui, the Kaitāia District Court found the six Patukōraha, Ngāi Tohianga and Te Paatu people arrested for trespassing on their own ancestral lands at Rangiāniwaniwa guilty.
• A response to the official information received from the Ministers of Treaty Negotiations and of Māori Development along with the proposal for the mandate reconfirmation process has been drafted for approval at our 21 January hui.
• National Iwi Chairs’ Forum will hold its next hui on Thursday and Friday 2-3 February in the Waitaha Conference room at the Copthorne Hotel, Waitangi. The pōwhiri commences at 9am and all are welcome to attend.
• The Rūnanga’s and the Ngāti Kahu Trust Board initial trustees for Ngāti Kahu’s farm at Taipā are still moving through the process required before they hand over to the permanent trustees in March 2017.
1. Good news from the Court of Appeal on binding recommendations
On 19 December the Court of Appeal issued its decision on the Waitangi Tribunal refusing to give Mangatū Incorporation (of Te Tairāwhiti) and Ngāti Kahu binding recommendations over Crown Forest and State Owned Enterprise lands in both our territories. The 37-page decision upheld the two decisions already issued by the High Court ordering the Tribunal to rehear Mangatū’s and then Ngati Kahu's applications for binding recommendations.
However it went further than the High Court decision in our case and made it very clear that the Tribunal cannot defer to the Crown’s treaty claims settlement policy in order to avoid making binding recommendations. The decision effectively says that because Ngāti Kahu meets all the requirements for binding recommendations the Tribunal MUST make a decision on them. It cannot keep avoiding making a decision.
This is a clear win. However we did not get costs because we had already won in the High Court. We will now wait to see whether the Crown appeals this decision to the Supreme Court. The full decision can now be read on this link - https://www.docdroid.net/EvwSbam/court-of-appeal-decision-haronga-and-ng...
2. Progress with publication of the Ngāti Kahu book
Huia Publishers who are publishing our book Ngāti Kahu: Portrait of a Sovereign Nation, our Deed of Partial Settlement, sent the typeset version of the book for checking on 23 December along with a list of queries that I am to follow up before the end of January. Although there are a number of minor corrections still to be made, it is looking very good. It will be available for viewing at our hui on 21 January. I am contacting several of you to follow up on the queries.
3. Repossession of Kaitāia Airport – District Court decision
As anticipated at our December hui, the Kaitāia District Court found the six Patukōraha, Ngāi Tohianga and Te Paatu people arrested for trespassing on their own ancestral lands at Rangiāniwaniwa guilty. They received suspended sentences. The decision is based on a number of serious errors, including that we ceded our sovereignty and hence our land to the British Crown by signing the Treaty of Waitangi. An appeal of this decision is being considered.
For items 4, 5 and 6 please see the summary above.
Professor Margaret Mutu
14 January 2017