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Central North Island Forests Iwi Collective Deed of Settlement | ||
| Date: | 25 June 2008 | |
| Sub Category: | Deed of Settlement (New Zealand) | |
| Place: | Central North Island | |
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| State/Country: | Aotearoa - New Zealand | |
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| The Central North Island (CNI) Forests Land comprises the Central North Island forests being approximately 176,000 hectares. | ||
| Payments: | ||
| Subject Matter: | | Compensation | Forestry | Land Management | Land Settlement | Land Transaction | Recognition of Native Title or Traditional Ownership | Reconciliation | |
| URL: | http://www.nz01.2day.terabyte.co.nz/ots/DocumentLibrary%5CCNIForestDeedofSettlement.pdf | |
| Summary Information: | ||
| This Deed of Agreement was negotiated between the Crown and Ngâi Tűhoe, Ngâti Manawa, Ngâti Tűwharetoa, Ngâti Whakaue, Ngâti Whare, Raukawa and The Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi/Hapű (together being the 'CNI (Central North Island) Forests IWI Collective' or the 'Collective'). The Deed records the agreement of the Collective and the Crown to settle the Historical CNI Forests Land Claims and includes financial and commercial redress. The Financial Redress will be provided to the CNI Iwi Holdings Limited in the manner provided in Part 7 of the Deed. The Coomercal Redress will be provided to the DSP Entity and the RFR Entity in the manner provided by Part 8 of the Deed. This redress aims to provide these iwi with the resources to assist their economic, social and cultural development. No private land is involved in the redress, only Crown assets. A Deed of Settlement is reached once a claim has been registered with the Waitangi Tribunal and has completed the settlement process of negotiation, ratification and execution, and in most circumstances, accompanied by a statute implementing the settlement. For more detailed information, see 'Deed of Settlement' below. | ||
| Detailed Information: | ||
| Background In 1989, the Crown announced that it would sell its commercial forestry areas. Mâori protests that such an action would be in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi resulted in the 1989 Crown Forests Agreement between the Crown, the New Zealand Mâori Council and the Federation of Mâori Authorities Incorporated. Pursuant to this agreement, the Crown Forest Assets Act was passed and the Crown Forestry Rental Trust was established. The agreement provided that the Crown could sell its forest assets, but would retain ownership of the land, to safeguard Mâori claims to the Crown Forest Land. In 2006, the Crown entered into a deed of settlement with the Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi/Hapű which included some CNI Forests Land. Concerns were raised through proceedings in the High Court that that the Crown had breached the 1989 Crown Forests Agreement, the Crown Forest Assets Act and the terms of the Crown Forestry Rental Trust. The High Court found that the Crown had breached its fiduciary duty to the Mâori peoples but this decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal. In November 2007, the Supreme Court granted the New Zealand Mâori Council, the Federation of Mâori Authorities Incorporated, and Dr Tumu te Heuheu, Te Ariki of Ngâti Tűwharetoa leave to appeal. Meanwhile an inquiry by the Waitangi Tribunal published in June 2007, suggested that by offering some of the Crown Forrest Land to the Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi/Hapű, the Crown had prejudiced the CNI Forests Land claims of other CNI Iwi and had breached the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi by failing to act honourably and account for the interests of all the CNI Iwi. The Tribunal further considered that while the Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi/Hapű deserved a settlement, the settlement should be varied and delayed pending the outcome of a forum of CNI Iwi. Led by Dr Tumu te Heuheu, Te Ariki of Ngäti Tuwharetoa, the Collective approached the Crown in September 2007 with a proposal to settle all of the historical claims of the all the iwi groups that form the Collective. On 21 February 2008, the Crown and the Collective signed Terms of Agreement and shortly after the trustees under the Affiliate Te Arawa Iwi and Hapu Agreement, agreed to re-negotiate their settlement and join the collective once the settlements had been finalised. On the 25 June 2008, the Deed of Settlement was executed based on the Agreement in Principle which had been signed two months earlier. On 18 June 2008, legislation was introduced to implement the settlement. The Central North Island Forests Iwi Collective includes delegates from each iwi and is chaired by Napa Otimi (Tuwharetoa). Financial Redress The Financial redress provided by the crown is provided "on account" for the Future Comprehensive Settlements of iwi groups within the Collective. The Crown acknowledges that there are a number of outstanding Historical claims of members of the Collective that relate to matters other than the CNI Forests Lands. When the member of collective historical claims are settled, the individual iwi's share of this Deed will be taken into account. The financial redress includes: Subject to existing and other access rights, the transfer of all of the CNI Forests Land to CNI Iwi Holdings Limited (a Trust Holding Company) and the transfer of the Crown's interest in the CNI Forests Land as Licensor under all current CNI Crown Forestry Licences. The Collective's proportion of these assets will be 86.7 percent (which is agreed to have a monetary value of $195.6 million), and the Crown's proportion will be 13.3 percent by value. The Crown will retain 13.3% to settle claims by groups in the Central North Island who are not part of the Collective. Financial Redress will be provided to the CNI Iwi Limited in the manner provided under the Deed. Commercial Redress The commercial redress allows the Collective to obtain Crown owned properties by way of deferred selection or rights of first refusal. The Deferred Selection Procedure gives the Collective a relatively short-lived opportunity to buy certain Crown properties at June 2008 values. The Right of First Refusal (RFR) gives the Collective a relatively longer opportunity to be the first to be offered certain Crown properties. The Coomercal Redress will be provided to the DSP Entity and the RFR Entity (both entities being the CNI Holding Limited or any other entity established and nominated by the Collective) in the manner provided in Part 8 of the Deed. The settlement also includes New Zealand Units (NZUs or 'carbon credits') under the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme as the Central North Island Forest is pre-1990 forest land. Accumulated rentals The 1989 Crown Forests Agreement and the Crown Forests Assets Act 1989 created Crown Forest Licences that allowed the Crown to sell the forests while retaining the underlying land. The rentals from the licences were held by the Crown Forestry Rental Trust pending settlements. The accumulated rentals are paid to claimants when specific licensed Crown forest land is used in a settlement. The Collective's share of the accumulated rentals will be $223 million. They do not form part of the redress package. The Collective has agreed to allocate its share of the accumulated rentals between member iwi as agreed between themselves. | ||
Related Entries |
| Organisation |
Glossary |
| Settlement Legislation (New Zealand) | Deed of Settlement (New Zealand) | Iwi (Aotearoa/New Zealand) | Party to a Deed of Settlement (New Zealand) |
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