Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu
Land Claims Report for July 2017
1. Waitangi Tribunal panel appointed
2. Preparation for Tribunal hearings for binding recommendations continues
3. Two new parties ask to be interested parties to hearings
4. Ngāti Kahu Taipā Farm
5. Progress with publication of the Ngāti Kahu book
6. Repossession of Kaitāia Airport – appeal to High Court
Summary
• The Waitangi Tribunal has appointed Judge Carrie Wainwright as presiding officer, Dr Tom Roa (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato Tainui) and Tania Simpson (Tainui, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāpuhi) as the Tribunal to rehear the Ngāti Kahu application for binding recommendations.
• A number of memoranda of lawyers working for various parties have been filed with the Tribunal in accordance with the timetable our lawyer set in April.
• The Tribunal has received two further applications for individuals to become interested parties.
• A number of marae have still to notify the election of their trustee for the Ngāti Kahu Taipā Farm.
• For our book, Ngāti Kahu: Portrait of a Sovereign Nation, Huia Publishers has advised that the index is nearing completion and I should receive the final typescript any day now. Once I have checked it the book will be printed.
• The full hearing of the appeal to the High Court against the decision of the Kaitāia District Court on the repossession of Rangiāniwaniwa will take place on 13 September in Whāngārei.
1. Waitangi Tribunal panel appointed
The Tribunal has appointed a new panel to hear Ngāti Kahu’s application for binding recommendations for the return of State Owned Enterprise and Crown Forest lands in our rohe. The presiding officer is Judge Carrie Wainwright, a Māori Land Court and District Court judge. She is one of the few Pākehā judges that has some knowledge of the Māori language. She was the presiding officer for our application for binding recommendations in 2008 who directed us to negotiate with Dr Michael Cullen.
Dr Tom Roa and Tania Simpson are the other members of the panel. Dr Roa was the chair of Waikato Tainui’s Te Ara Taura before Rāhui Papa. He is an Associate Professor of Māori Studies at the University of Waikato. Tania Simpson is Tainui, Ngāi Tahu and Ngāpuhi. She has worked for a number of government bodies including the Office of Treaty Settlements and Te Puni Kōkiri (the Ministry for Māori Development).
2. Preparation for Tribunal hearings for binding recommendations continues
Replies to our lawyers’ memorandum (on the effects of the High Court and Court of Appeal decisions on the erroneous 2013 Tribunal Ngāti Kahu Remedies report) have been received from the Crown, Ngāti Tara’s lawyer and Ani Taniwha and Owen Kingi’s lawyer.
The Crown has argued that rather than following the Court of Appeal’s direction to simply make binding recommendations, the Tribunal must start from the beginning and do everything again. Our lawyers have responded rejecting that as being inconsistent with the Court of Appeal’s decision.
Ngāti Tara’s lawyer argued that the Tribunal should make binding recommendations and include in them that part of Rangiputa station be returned to Ngāti Tara. Our lawyer responded that Ngāti Tara are a hapū of Ngāti Kahu and will therefore be beneficiaries of binding recommendations made in favour of Ngāti Kahu.
Ani Taniwha and Owen Kingi’s lawyer supported Ngāti Kahu and our arguments that binding recommendations be now made. They indicated an interest in Ōtangaroa forest.
3. Two new parties ask to be interested parties to hearings
The Tribunal has received memoranda from lawyers acting for Terrance Tauroa (Te Aeto hapū of Whangaroa) and Atihana Johns (Haititaimarangai marae). Mr Tauroa is asking to be recognized as an interested party because of his whānau and hapū’s interests in Kohumaru and Ōtangaroa. Mr Johns is also asking to be recognized as an interested party on behalf of Haititaimarangai marae. He wants Ngāti Kahu to accept a (government) settlement instead of binding recommendations.
4. Ngāti Kahu Taipā Farm
We understand that at least seven marae have now formally elected their trustee for the Ngāti Kahu Taipā farm in accordance with the instructions issued by the interim trustees. However only five marae have formally notified Wackrow Williams & Davies, solicitors for the trust, of the outcome of their meeting. Please can each marae notify the trust’s solicitor as per the instructions sent by the interim trustees.
For items 5 and 6, please see the summary above.
Professor Margaret Mutu
23 July 2017