Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu
Land Claims Report for November 2014
1. Appeal to the Supreme Court on Te Ana o Taite – summary of out of court settlement for consideration
2. Ngāti Kahu Trust Board Litigation Against Ngāti Kahu Mortgage Services – new proposal for consideration
3. Offer from Crown to fully and finally extinguish Ngāti Kahu’s claims
4. Te Paparahi o Te Raki stage 1 report on He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti
5. Progress towards publication of the Ngāti Kahu Deed of Partial Settlement
6. Judicial Review of the Waitangi Tribunal’s Report – hearing 22-24 June 2015
7. Government Legislating to Steal Ngāti Kahu’s Forestry Rentals
8. National Iwi Chairs Forum, 26-27 November 2014, Tauranga Moana
9. Report back on Constitutional Transformation project, Moana Jackson, 28 November 2014, Kareponia marae
Summary:
A summary of the key terms for the out of court settlement with Carrington Jade is attached to this report for consideration.
The Ngāti Kahu Trust Board has proposed a variation to the out of court settlement for its action against Ngāti Kahu Mortgage Services.
A final decision on the Crown’s offer continues to await the response of several marae.
The Waitangi Tribunal has issued its report on the stage 1 hearings in Te Paparahi o Te Raki district. It affirms and upholds our understanding of He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Niu Tireni and Te Tiriti o Waitangi that our rangatira did not cede their sovereignty in 1840 but rather confirmed it. The report is clear that the British did not acquire sovereignty in 1840 as they have always claimed they did.
Amendments to our Deed of Partial Settlement continue to be worked on prior to sending off to the publisher.
Despite our application to the High Court for a judicial review of Waitangi Tribunal’s refusal to issue binding recommendations or to review the deeds of settlement of Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa and Ngāi Takoto the government has gone ahead with legislation confirming the deeds of settlement of these iwi. Te Hiku Claims Settlement Bill had its first reading in parliament and was referred to the Māori Affairs Select Committee to hear anything people may wish to say about them. We will be recording our vehement objections even though they will be ignored.
We have yet to meet with the Federation of Māori Authorities about the government moving to steal our forestry rentals.
National Iwi Chairs’ Forum hui took place in Mt Maunganui on 26-27 November. It approved the establishment of a monitoring mechanism to monitor the government’s compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Moana Jackson reported back on the development of a constitution based on tikanga, He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti at Karepōnia marae on Friday 28 November.
2. Appeal to the Supreme Court on Te Ana o Taite – summary of out of court settlement for consideration
Please find attached as appendix 1 to this report a summary of this settlement for consideration at our meeting on December 6 at Waipapa marae, University of Auckland. It is the result of several months of discussion within Te Whānau Moana (as mana whenua), other Ngāti Kahu marae at our monthly meetings and negotiations with Carrington Jade.
I was invited to a banquet held in Auckland in honour of the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, and was introduced to the owner of Carrington Jade, Gui Guo Jie. He in turn introduced me to Sophia Guo as the person he would like me to discuss matters relating to Carrington Jade with. I will be meeting with Sophia on Thursday 4 December to discuss aspects of the settlement.
2. Ngāti Kahu Trust Board v Ngāti Kahu Mortgage Services Ltd – new proposal for consideration
The Ngāti Kahu Trust Board has proposed a variation to the out of court settlement for its action against Ngāti Kahu Mortgage Services which we will discuss at our meeting on December 6. It involves a change to the interim trustees. Instead of the chairpersons of the marae being the interim trustees until each marae has appointed its own trustee as previously agreed, they propose four interim trustees be appointed by the Rūnanga, four be appointed by the Ngāti Kahu Trust Board and an agreed independent chairperson also be appointed. They would be in place for six months only, after which the trustees appointed by each marae take over. During the six months the interim trustees must apply to the Māori Land Court to register the Ngāti Kahu Taipā Farm Trust as an ahu whenua trust.
We will also consider the draft Ngāti Kahu Farm Trust Deed that our lawyers have drafted and that the Trust Board lawyers have agreed to.
3. Offer from Crown to fully and finally extinguish Ngāti Kahu’s claims
Several marae continue to indicate that they have not yet decided what to do about the Crown’s offer.
4. Te Paparahi o Te Raki stage 1 report on He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti
The Waitangi Tribunal has issued its report on the stage 1 hearings in Te Paparahi o Te Raki district. It is called He Whakaputanga me Te Tiriti: The Declaration and the Treaty and is available online at http://www.justice.govt.nz/tribunals/waitangi-tribunal/Reports/he-whakap.... The report is most welcome. It clearly affirms what our people have been saying ever since Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed – in essence, despite the strong desire of the British to acquire sovereignty over this country, the rangatira did not allow that to happen in 1840. They did not cede sovereignty but rather confirmed that their mana and tino rangatiratanga as the paramount authorities could not be overridden by any other authority.
The report provides good insights into the nature of the constitutional issues that are currently being addressed by Matike Mai Aotearoa – the Constitutional Transformation Working Group lead by Moana Jackson and me. It is also a helpful resource for the on-going constitutional conversation. I warmly recommend that everyone read the report not only to gain a greater understanding about the breadth and depth of the constitutional debate taking place but also to provide the necessary leadership for our whānau, hapū and marae in this matter.
5. Work on publication of the Ngāti Kahu Deed of Partial Settlement continues
Work on completing the final draft to finish the Te Paatu and Tahaawai sections is underway. Can people please get any further comments they wish to make in as soon as possible.
6. Judicial Review of the Waitangi Tribunal’s Report – on-going
The hearing for this in the High Court will take place on 22-24 June 2015. Work on preparation for that hearing has started.
7. Crown Legislating to Steal Ngāti Kahu’s Forestry Rentals
The meeting with Traci Houpapa (FOMA) about this issue has still to be arranged.
8. National Iwi Chairs’ Forum, 26-27 November, Mt Maunganui, Tauranga Moana – 25 November, signing of Māori Tū Declaration, NZ Arts and Crafts Institute, Rotorua
This National Iwi Chairs’ Forum was held on Wednesday and Thursday 26-27 November at BayPark, Mt Maunganui. Just over half of the reports from the eleven Iwi Leaders’ Groups were completed in time to make it into the agenda papers so we ended up trying to deal with some on the day. Some of the points of interest I noted were:
• Next year the February meeting is at Waitangi as usual with Ngāti Kahu hosting and Ngāti Hine assisting; in May Ngāti Apa (Whanganui) will host; in August Tainui and in November, Ngāi Tahu.
• On freshwater: the government has yet to start discussing our rights and interests (including ownership) in water although promises to start doing so at the Waitangi meeting.
• There is strong opposition from Ngāi Tahu and others to proposed phosphate mining on the Chatham Rise.
• Ngā Tahu has managed to put in mechanisms (mātaitai reserves, taiapure and marine reserve) to protect the seas off Kaikōura thanks to advice given by the Oil and Minerals Iwi Leaders’ Group.
• Te Rarawa’s chair continues to advocate talking with Statoil about monitoring their activities rather than taking steps to stop them.
• Matike Mai Aotearoa (the Constitutional Transformation Working Party)’s proposal to set up a monitoring mechanism to monitor the government’s compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was accepted. The Human Rights Commission has been very helpful in progressing this work and will continue to provide support for it.
We now need to appoint iwi representatives to the governance body which will oversee the work of the monitoring mechanism. A number of iwi have been approached to nominate people with experience and expertise in United Nations matters and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. I recommend that Ngāti Kahu consider appointing a representative to that body.
• The Hui Rautaki Reo planned for December in Tainui has been postponed to January (no date was given).
• National Iwi Chairs’ Forum agreed to koha $2,000 towards the fight to have the wreck of the Rena removed.
• Bill English (Deputy Prime Minister) and Nick Smith (Minister for Building and Housing and for the Environment) told us the Waitangi Tribunal’s report on He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti was theoretical only (and by implication should be disregarded) and that if we don’t like what local government is doing on resource management we should get elected onto the councils. Predictably, I told both of them off for being disrespectful and not engaging with us constructively. Others were also critical of them but others again made soothing overtures to them that made a mockery of the discussion that took place before they arrived.
• A coroner came to ask for support for coroners to decide what will happen if there is a dispute over tūpāpaku that cannot be resolved. I strongly opposed allowing Pākehā to decide what happens to our tūpāpaku in those situations but Naida Glavish and Toby Curtis argued strongly that something better than the current situation (e.g. the Takamore case) has to be found. So a working group was established to work on it.
• It was agreed that in preparation for the February Waitangi hui, papers would be provided to the government in December so that they could prepare substantive responses instead of their usual off-the-cuff dismissive remarks. The topics to be covered are fresh water, whanau ora, the Iwi Collective (which pulls together several Iwi Leaders Groups dealing mainly with economic matters) and He Kai kei Aku Ringa (future Māori economic development policy and programmes).
The day before the National Iwi Chairs Forum hui, the signing of the Māori Tū declaration took place at Te Puia, the NZ Māori Arts and Crafts Institute at Whakarewarewa, Rotorua. This is a declaration of the Māori endorsement for the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We saw the wooden whatarangi that is being carved and will then be cast in bronze to be gifted to the United Nations in New York. It was a beautiful ceremony and we were treated to an excellent presentation, entertainment and kai by Te Arawa. Our Ngāti Kurī whanaunga, Harry Burkhardt, is the chairperson of the board of Te Puia.
9. Report back on Constitutional Transformation project, Moana Jackson, 28 November, Kareponia marae
Matike Mai Aotearoa, the Constitutional Transformation Working Group, is completing their work on developing a model for a constitution based on tikanga, He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni (1835) and Te Tiriti o Waitangi (1840). Moana Jackson presented the outcomes from the 205 hui conducted to date at two hui in Te Taitokerau on 28 November, one at Waiomio and one at Karepōnia. He will continue reporting back to hui around the country before drawing up the framework and then two or three models for a constitution for this country. The Waitangi Tribunal’s report has been very helpful and a number of hui are taking place to see how its findings can be put to practical use. We will circulate copies of Moana’s presentation.
Professor Margaret Mutu
1 December 2014