Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu
Land Claims Report for June 2012
1. Hearing our application for binding recommendations 3-7 September
2. Briefs of Evidence being prepared for urgency against Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa and Ngāi Takoto Deeds of Settlement
3. Simultaneous preparation of Briefs of Evidence for Hearing our Remedies (Binding Recommendations) application
Summary
• A short report this time covering the last three weeks.
• The hearing for our application for binding recommendations will take place at Kēnana marae starting on 3 September and will run for five days. We need to discuss how marae will share the catering for this.
• Focus of the Treaty Claims team has been on preparing briefs of evidence for the Waitangi Tribunal. Lloyd Popata, Te Karaka Karaka (Hully Clark) and I are working on our drafts with our legal team.
• Briefs of evidence include response to the objections lodged by the Crown along with Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa and Ngāi Takoto, to our objections to those three Deeds of Settlement.
1. Hearing our application for binding recommendations 3-7 September
We finally have a date for our hearing for binding recommendations. The Tribunal has set aside Monday to Friday 3-7 September for the hearing. It will take place at Kēnana marae, with Karepōnia as back-up marae if needed. Kēnana marae has asked other marae to share the catering for the hearing and we will discuss how that will be done at our hui-ā-marama this Saturday 30 June.
Now that we have a date for a hearing, the Crown Forestry Rental Trust will assist with the costs of the hui and preparing and presenting the evidence. The Crown fought hard to stop the tribunal holding a hearing but in the end did not object to it being held on a marae (rather than a Pākehā venue such as the court house).
2. Briefs of Evidence being prepared for urgency against Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa and Ngāi Takoto Deeds of Settlement
We have now received the objections lodged by the Crown, Te Aupōuri Te Rarawa and Ngāi Takoto to our applications for urgent hearing against the three Deeds of Settlement. They all heap the usual insults and scorn on Ngāti Kahu, and take personal swipes at our negotiators.
We are in the process of writing rebuttals of these objections and will file them on Friday this week. A judicial conference will be convened in July, probably in Auckland, to determine whether our applications against these Deeds of Settlement will go to hearing. We will circulate the date and venue as soon as we know them.
3. Simultaneous preparation of Briefs of Evidence for Hearing our Remedies (Binding Recommendations) application
We are combining the rebuttal of the above objections with preparing evidence which will be presented during the hearing in September. Several of us, including Lloyd Popata, Te Karaka Karaka (Hully Clark), Huia Pacey (our mapping expert) and I, are working with our legal team. We are answering the Tribunal’s questions about the extent of the damage done to Ngāti Kahu including exactly how much land was lost, socio-economic statistics, valuations of the lands to be resumed and the mana whenua evidence which the other iwi refused to discuss while we were in Te Hiku Forum. A lot of the work has already been done and is in our Deed of Partial Settlement and in the evidence presented to the Tribunal in the 1990s. However, pulling it all together in a manner that makes sense still requires a lot of work.
Professor Margaret Mutu
26 June 2012