Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu
Land Claims Report for November 2012
1. Judicial review into the Waitangi Tribunal’s decision not to inquire into the Deeds of Settlement of Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa and Ngāi Takoto
2. Waitangi Tribunal’s decision on our application for binding recommendations is still being awaited.
3. Signing of Deeds of Settlement of Ngāi Takoto and Te Rarawa 27 and 28 October
4. Hui with Takahue marae over Ngāti Kahu’s application and then Te Rarawa’s opposing application for binding recommendations over Takahue forest, 25 November
5. Launch of the Independent Report on Ngāpuhi Nui Tonu Claim, 28 November
Summary
• We have received advice from Rodney Harrison QC that there are several grounds on which to seek judicial review of the Waitangi Tribunal’s decision not to inquire into the Deeds of Settlement of Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa and Ngāi Takoto. We are discussing these with him.
• The Waitangi Tribunal has still not reported on our application for binding recommendations over 7500 hectares of our lands but rather has sought responses to questions it asked and appears to be delaying releasing its report.
• The Deeds of Settlement of Ngāi Takoto and Te Rarawa were duly signed, despite the protests of Ngāti Kahu. Representatives of Ngāti Kahu did not attend the signings.
• Our Taumata Kaumātua accompanied me to Takahue to explain the way in which we have followed Sid Murray’s instructions in respect of their land claims over the past fifteen years which has included seeking binding recommendations over the Takahue forest. Haami Piripi attended to (try to) explain why Te Rarawa has decided to claim all of Takahue forest solely for Te Rarawa to the exclusion of Ngāti Kahu.
• The Independent Report on Ngāpuhi Nui Tonu Claim on He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni and Te Tiriti o Waitangi has been released. It is an excellent report which coincidentally vindicates the approach that we have taken in refusing to relinquish our mana and rangatiratanga to the Crown in order to settle our claims.
1. Judicial review into the Waitangi Tribunal’s decision not to inquire into the Deeds of Settlement of Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa and Ngāi Takoto
At our last Rūnanga hui it was agreed that there would be no distribution of fisheries putea this year so that legal action to uphold our claims could be pursued. We appointed Rodney Harrison QC to advise us on the merits or otherwise of seeking a judicial review of the Waitangi Tribunal’s decision not to inquire into the Deeds of Settlement of Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa and Ngāi Takoto. His preliminary advice is that there are a number of grounds on which we could pursue this course of action. We will be meeting with him on Thursday 29th November to discuss the matter further.
2. Waitangi Tribunal’s decision on our application for binding recommendations is still being awaited.
As indicated above we are still awaiting the decision on our application for binding recommendations for over 7000 hectares of our lands that the Tribunal has the power to order the Crown to return.
The Tribunal did ask the Crown to correct a number of errors in their evidence. That involved the Crown giving new evidence which the Tribunal accepted without referring it to us for comment as correct process requires. When our lawyers pointed this out the Tribunal took considerable to time to respond and to finally direct that the Crown’s evidence be cross examined. However the timetable for response does not require a final response from the Crown until just before Christmas.
It is therefore now most unlikely that the Tribunal’s report will be released before February. That is of concern because lack of Tribunal action effectively allows the Crown to legislate the Deeds of Settlement that steal substantial parts of our land. This is because once the legislation is introduced into the House, the Tribunal is barred from dealing with anything covered in those deeds, regardless of the fact that they steal Ngāti Kahu’s lands.
3. Signing of Deeds of Settlement of Ngāi Takoto and Te Rarawa 27 and 28 October
Ngāti Kahu, and in particular Patukōraha, Te Paatu, Ngāi Tohianga and Tahaawai hapū are disappointed that Ngāi Takoto and Te Rarawa went ahead and signed their Deeds of Settlement which steal lands of each of those hapū. As a result, Ngāti Kahu had no representatives at either signing.
4. Hui with Takahue marae over Ngāti Kahu’s application and then Te Rarawa’s opposing application for binding recommendations over Takahue forest, 25 November
Several members of the Taumata Kaumātua o Ngāti Kahu accompanied me and Anahera Herbert-Graves to Takahue marae (which is located on the old school site in Takahue) to rebut statements made by Haami Piripi, Chairperson of Te Rūnanga o Te Rarawa that Ngāti Kahu is being greedy claiming the Takahue forest through binding recommendations and that I had told the Tribunal that there is no marae at Takahue. This was after Paul White, who works for Te Rūnanga o Te Rarawa, told the Tribunal this. Te Rarawa was also claiming that Takahue is solely Te Rarawa land and Ngāti Kahu has no mana whenua interests there. We reject that because Tahaawai hapū at Takahue are both Ngāti Kahu and Te Rarawa. Takahue marae was also most uncomfortable and feeling like the “meat in the sandwich” in the fight that has developed between Ngāti Kahu and Te Rarawa over Takahue.
Anahera and I gave accounts of our knowledge of the relationship of Takahue marae with our Rūnanga and its lack of relationship with Te Rūnanga o Te Rarawa. We left documentation for the hapū reflecting the instructions Takahue marae had given and the work done. We emphasized that the kaupapa of our Rūnanga is that the marae instruct the Rūnanga, not the other way round. I also noted that Takahue should never have to decide between being Ngāti Kahu and being Te Rarawa because they are both. They are therefore entitled to benefit from both Rūnanga.
Haami spoke of the many things he could promise Takahue but did not produce or promise any documentation to back up what he was saying. One of our kaumātua advised the whānau to get his promises in writing. Haami also denied that Paul White had said Takahue marae doesn’t exist. However our kaumātua corrected him because they had heard Paul saying it to the Tribunal. Additionally Paul can be clearly heard saying exactly that on the audio recordings which are online at http://ngatikahu.iwi.nz/sites/default/files/Ngāti%20Kahu%20Hearing%20-%20Day%205%20Session%202.mp3
It was a good hui and we all left after lunch so that Takahue marae could make its own decision on the way forward for them.
5. Launch of the Independent Report on Ngāpuhi Nui Tonu Claim, 28 November
It was indeed a great pleasure for Timoti Flavell, Podge Housham and I to attend the launch of this report at Kohewhata marae, Kaikohe. The publishers had asked me to read the report beforehand and to respond to any media queries. It is indeed a ground-breaking report and has a large number of excellent recommendations on He Whakaputanga o Te Rangatiratanga o Waitangi of 1835 and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. They include that
• He Whakaputanga is the constitutional basis of this country and is to be recognised as such in a written constitution,
• Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Māori language treaty) is the only authentic treaty and should also form part of this country’s written constitution,
• the mana and rangatiratanga (paramount authority) of the hapū be recognised and fully exercised,
• the Crown must stop unilaterally deciding policy that affects Māori (including claims settlements) and enter into a meaningful dialogue with Ngāpuhi and other hapū and hapū confederations throughout the country about all such policy
• that this country’s history be rewritten to remove the numerous misrepresentations about He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti and that hapū experts must lead that work,
• that there be a public campaign to educate everyone about these two constitutional documents,
• that the media stop its biased reporting of Māori issues
• that the Queen of England and her successors read and understand this report and re-establish the very close relationship with Ngāpuhi that their ancestors had
This report is completely consistent with the approach we took in our Deed of Partial Settlement and is a welcome vindication of the principled and honest stand that Ngāti Kahu is taking in respect of our claims. It can be ordered for $30 from Network Waitangi, PO Box 417 Whangarei, by email from reotahi@clear.net.nz, by phoning 09 4361807. There is also a website: www.whangarei.wordpress.com.
Professor Margaret Mutu
28 November 2012