Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti KahuLand Claims Report for November – December 2013
1. Offer from Crown to fully and finally extinguish Ngāti Kahu’s claims
2. Work on publication of the Ngāti Kahu Deed of Partial Settlement continues
3. Judicial Review of the Waitangi Tribunal’s Report – on-going
4. Ngāti Kahu Trust Board Taking Legal Action Against Ngāti Kahu Mortgage Services Ltd
5. Appeal to the Supreme Court on Te Ana o Taite – on-going
6. National Iwi Chairs’ Forum 28-29 November, Gisborne
Summary:
A preliminary and largely estimated commercial assessment of the Crown’s offer has been received. We will go over the offer again and consider the commercial advice in our upcoming hui on 7 December.
Work on preparing our Deed of Partial Settlement for publication is progressing well. Drafts of the hapū korero chapters were circulated at the last hui.
We resolved at our last hui to apply to the High Court for a judicial review of the Waitangi Tribunal’s refusal to issue binding recommendations.
The Ngāti Kahu Trust Board is still continuing with its action in the High Court against Ngāti Kahu Mortgage Services Ltd.
We now have a decision from the Supreme Court on our application for the protection of Te Ana o Taite. Carrington Farms has new owners.
The National Iwi Chairs’ Forum hui at Te Poho o Rāwiri marae, Gisborne covered a range of issues and received a number of reports.
1. Offer from Crown to fully and finally extinguish Ngāti Kahu’s claims
It has only been possible to produce a preliminary and largely estimated commercial assessment of the Crown’s offer because of the large number of unknown facts relating to the offer. For example we do not know exactly how much cash will transfer – if any – once the Crown deducts all its charges for the lands it will relinquish. Neither do we know how much lease money can be derived from the schools and the airport. Likewise we do not know the extent of the liabilities associated with lands being relinquished to us, for example the cost of replacing buildings containing asbestos, of maintaining reserves and bringing farm land that has reverted back into production. We have been able to estimate the income from Rangiputa station and guess at a likely return from other lands but not much else. We will discuss the assessment at our hui on 7 December. We will also go over the offer again as many people have found it unclear and confusing. I encourage everyone wanting to know about the offer and the assessment to attend the hui.
We have been advised that the Minister is removing Pat Snedden as a treaty claims negotiator for the government.
2. Work on publication of the Ngāti Kahu Deed of Partial Settlement continues
I met with Auckland University Press about publishing our Deed of Partial Settlement. They are considering how best to present it and looking at which areas can be cut back to make it more readable. Areas to be cut back will be the more technical parts.
AUP were impressed by the hapū korero and considered that that was a book in itself. However I have asked that the book cover our full story: who we are (the hapū kōrero), what Pākehā did to us (as set out in our treaty claims and Waitangi Tribunal reports), what it will take to fix that up (our Yellow Book), what we have agreed to accept at this time (our partial settlement). That does make it very lengthy which is why it will be cut back in places.
At our last hui I circulated a large number of copies of the drafts of the hapū kōrero for checking. Several people have already let me know about changes that need to be made and they have all been made.
If people have not seen the draft for their hapū kōrero and would like to, please contact me by email on m.mutu@auckland.ac.nz or the office. Please can you check the drafts (i) to make sure they are accurate, (ii) to see whether anything should be added or deleted and (iii) to make sure that it fairly reflects the kōrero of your hapū. And please let me know what changes you would like made.
Some of the hapū kōrero are very brief and need more information. I would really appreciate any further information that people can contribute.
3. Judicial Review of the Waitangi Tribunal’s Report – on-going
At our last hui we resolved unanimously to apply to the High Court for a judicial review of the Waitangi Tribunal’s refusal to make binding recommendations ordering the Crown to return some of our lands. Barrister Royden Hinden is now being instructed and our lawyers are preparing the application to the High Court.
4. Ngāti Kahu Trust Board Taking Legal Action Against Ngāti Kahu Mortgage Services Ltd
The Ngāti Kahu Trust Board is still continuing with its action in the High Court against Ngāti Kahu Mortgage Services Ltd seeking to have the large debt it owes written off. The High Court has instructed the Trust Board to lodge $27,000 with the court by the end of January as security for the costs they will incur if they lose.
Just a reminder, the High Court has set down a hearing date for this matter for 17, 18 and 19 February 2014 in the High Court in Whāngārei.
5. Application to the Supreme Court on Te Ana o Taite
The Supreme Court has just notified us that it has granted us leave to appear before them on everything we requested. We asked to have Carrington Farms and the Far North District Council adhere to the out of court settlement in which they both agreed that no development would take place within 800 metres of the mean highwater mark. That agreement protects Te Ana o Taite from desecration and prevents any building or development activity there. Carrington Farms will be free to build anywhere else to the landward side of the 800 metre setback.
I was advised by the media at the beginning of November that Peppers Carrington resort has been sold to Shanghai CRED Real Estate. The Overseas Investment Commission authorised the sale without consulting with us. This does not change our application to the Supreme Court as the resource consents to build on Te Ana o Taite must be revoked. We are trying to contact the new owner with a view to meeting with him.
6. National Iwi Chairs’ Forum 28-29 November, Gisborne
Anthony Housham and I attended the Forum at Te Poho o Rāwiri marae in Gisborne. The hui was chaired by Dr Apirana Mahuika, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou (with Herewini Parata standing in for him) and Dr Hope Tūpara, chair, Te Rūnanga o Tūranganui a Kiwa (which represents Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Te Aitanga a Māhaki and Rongowhakaata). There was a large attendance of iwi chairs and observers.
The first day was taken up with various presentations including
· the Minister of Education;
· an update on the Spectrum Allocation debacle (the government has refused to give a share of the 4G spectrum to Māori despite the Waitangi Tribunal finding that it is a taonga)
· Restructuring of the Department of Conservation (led by Ngāi Tahu) – setting up a Working Party to work on ensuring that Māori are properly included in the administration of their own lands and resources
· Serco (Private Prison contractors who run Mt Eden prison);
· Tairāwhiti Red Meat and Fisheries collective (who talked about the advantages of pooling fisheries quota and agricultural products);
· Matt Te Pou (who spoke about the upcoming centenary commemorations for World War I and the Pioneer Battalion);
· The Bank of New Zealand, who spoke about a number of claimants in negotiations to settle their treaty claims coming to the bank for help to cover the costs of their negotiations (because the Crown won’t) and a $50m pūtea they have made available for this (which they recover from the settlement quantums);
· IT Database Solutions team – Te Aranui who have developed a software tool to manage iwi registers;
· a proposal from Te Rarawa to organize Māori representation at the United Nations (they will draw up a paper);
· the Stanford University (USA) “Bootcamp” – a fortnight-long course in business studies held in August for government-selected Māori leaders.
These presentations took up all the first day. Reporting back from Working Groups was restricted to the morning of the second day and this drew some criticism.
The Climate Change group reported a major dispute between the government and iwi who have settled claims to forestry lands. Because the government allowed cheap Emissions Trading Units from Europe to flood the market here, their value has dropped from about $30 to about $2. That has created a substantial loss for many iwi. They have referred the argument to the Prime Minister and have put forward a case for the value of Emissions Trading Units to have a minimum value of $15.
The Freshwater group reported that they have made some progress on ensuring the hapū have input into the management of water. However they are experiencing major difficulties with trying to get the government to talk to them about Māori rights and interests (ownership) of water.
The Whānau Ora group reported that Te Puni Kōkiri had rejected the North Island iwi bid to be the commissioning agency for Te Whānau Ora but had accepted the South Island iwi bid. The North Island one appears to have gone to National Urban Māori Authorities in what appears to have been a political decision. Its CEO, John Tamihere, was at the hui asking iwi to come under NUMA in the commissioning agency. That was not accepted. North Island iwi resolved to meet with the Minister of Māori Affairs and the Minister of Whānau Ora to have that decision revisited.
The Housing group reported that Housing New Zealand is looking to iwi to buy up their housing stocks as part of their settlements.
The Mātauranga (Education) group came in for some criticism for laying the blame for Māori children not succeeding in Pākehā schools with the parents and whānau. Research has repeatedly shown that Māori children are marginalized in Pākehā schools and that teacher attitudes are the main cause. The hui identified racism as the main barrier for Māori children succeeding. The group was reminded that making te reo compulsory in all schools was key to improving the position of Māori.
The Constitutional group reported that they have completed 200 hui and will be presenting a draft model for a constitution to the February hui of the Forum (and at the Forum tent at Te Tii marae, Waitangi on 6 February).
The Iwi Collective is looking at purchasing as many of the properties landbanked for settlements prior to settlements. Ngāti Kahu has asked that properties in our area be excluded until we have pursued legal avenues in respect of our claims.
The Secretariat reported that difficulties have arisen about who should be included as an iwi chair. Ngāpuhi tried (unsuccessfully) to have Ngāti Hine excluded from the chairs’ table. Ngāti Hine asked that their particular case be sorted out at home with all interested parties attending a hui they would call. My understanding is that mandated chairs of hapū or iwi bodies can participate although Ngāi Tahu disagreed saying only iwi chairs could participate. However, Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei has always been included and they are a hapū. Tainui warned that we must not look to Crown criteria to determine who is an iwi and who is not or who could take a place on the chairs’ table in these Forum hui. (Tainui has had another change of leadership – Rāhui Papa attended for them.)
Ngā mihi mahana mō ngā rā whakatā e haere mai nei, me te tumanako kia pai kia harikoa ngā kuia kaumātua, ngā tamariki mokopuna me ngā whānau katoa i ngā wā e noho tahi ana i te kāinga, ahakoa kei hea.
Professor Margaret Mutu
1 December 2013