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Maraeroa A and B Block Initialled Deed of Settlement |
| Date: | 16 December 2010 | |
| Sub Category: | Deed of Settlement (New Zealand) |
| Place: | |
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| State/Country: | Aotearoa - New Zealand |
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| Maraeroa A and B blocks were part of the Maraeroa block, a subdivision of the Taupōnuiatia West block, which was part of Te Rohe Pōtae district. |
| Legal Reference: | This is an initialled Deed of Settlement. The settlement will only be implemented and redress transferred after ratification by the Iwi and the passage of settlement legislation. | |
| Payments: | Financial and Commercial Redress (New Zealand) - $1,800,000 |
| Subject Matter: | Compensation | Land Management | Land Settlement | Land Transaction | Recognition Agreement / Acknowledgement | Recognition of Native Title or Traditional Ownership | Recognition of Traditional Rights and Interests |
| URL: | http://nz01.terabyte.co.nz/ots/DocumentLibrary%5CMaraeroaAandBBlockDeedofSettlement.pdf | |
| Summary Information: | |
The Crown and the Original Owners of the Maraeroa A and B Blocks initialled a Deed of Settlement on the 16 December 2010 ('the Deed' or 'the Settlement').
The stated purpose of the Deed is to:
set out an account of the acts and omissions of the Crown before 21 September 1992 that affected the descendants of the original owners of Maraeroa A and B blocks and breached the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles; and
provide an acknowledgments by the Crown of the Treaty breaches and an apology; and
settle the historical claims that relate to the Maraeroa A and B blocks; and
specify the cultural, financial and commercial redress, to be provided in settlement to the governance established to receive the redress.
The package includes a $1.8 million financial
redress package and the return of conservation land and other property redress.
The Deed is also intended to enhance the ongoing relationship between the settling group and the Crown.
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.
This Deed is yet to be approved by the relevant groups. Once ratified by them, this Deed will be signed, the settlement will be implemented and the redress transferred following the passage of settlement legislation. |
| Detailed Information: | |
Background
The descendants of the original owners of Maraeroa A and B blocks gave the mandated negotiators a mandate to negotiate a deed of settlement with the Crown by resolution of registered members put to those registered members present at five mandating hui held between 21 August 2010 and 29 August 2010.
The descendants of the original owners of Maraeroa A and B blocks by resolution held in August 2010 gave the mandated negotiators a mandate to negotiate a deed of settlement with the Crown.
The Crown recognised the mandate on 23 November 2010 and begun negotiating and agreed to enter into a deed of settlement based an agreement in principle.
Crown Acknowledgments And Apology
The acknowledgements and apology from the Crown to the people of Maraeroa A and B blocks reflects the historical account given in the Deed.
The Crown acknowledgments include the following:
in 1862 native land legislation was imposed on Māori land owners without consulting them;
the native land laws facilitated Crown and private purchasing of Māori land;
that in 1891, the Native Land Court awarded Maraeroa to approximately 450 individuals and some of the descendants of the original owners of the Maraeroa A and B blocks today consider that the boundary markers fixed by the Native Land Court hearing, do not align with their traditional understanding of their locations and significantly decreased the size of Maraeroa;
the operation and impact of the native land laws particularly the awarding of Maraeroa to individuals made the lands more sucseptable to alienation and fragmentation and undermined traditional tribal structures of the iwi who resided on the Maraeroa A and B blocks which were based on collective tribal and hapū custodianship of the land
It failed to protect collective tribal structures in breach of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles;
from 1884 to 1908 the Crown had a monopoly over purchasing from the Maraeroa A and B blocks and purchased over 90 percent of the two blocks, including the shares of over 20 minors;
the Maraeroa A and B blocks contained significant areas of indigenous forest and the price paid by the Crown did not include value of indigenous timber on the land;
That the Crown and private individuals profited from the milling of the land which detroyed the habitat of indigenous species; and
that the alienation of the Maraeroa A and B blocks separated the descendants from their spiritual sites, undermined their cultural connection to the land and deprived them of the ability to access cultural resources.
The Crown makes an unreserved apology to the descendants of the original owners of the Maraeroa A and B blocks for the impact of the native land laws.
Cultural redress
Settlement legislation will provide the following cultural redress:
Declare that Pureora o Kahu (as shown on deed plan OTS-120-18) is subject to an overlay classification;
provide the Crown‟s acknowledgement of the statement of the values of the descendants of the original owners of Maraeroa A and B blocks in relation to the site;
require the New Zealand Conservation Authority, or a conservation board, - (a) when considering general policy, or a conservation document in relation to the site, to have particular regard to the statement of values of the descendants of the original owners of Maraeroa A and B blocks, and the protection principles, the text of which is set out in part 2 of the document schedule, for the site; and (b) before approving general policy, or a conservation document in relation to the site to consult with the governance entity; and have particular regard to its views as to the effect of the policy or the conservation document on the values of the descendants of the original owners of Maraeroa A and B blocks, and the protection principles, for the site;
provide that if the governance entity advises the New Zealand Conservation Authority in writing that they have significant concerns about a draft conservation management strategy in relation to the site, the New Zealand Conservation Authority must, before approving the conservation management strategy, give the governance entity an opportunity to make submissions to it in relation to those significant concerns;
require the Director-General to take action in relation to the protection principles in accordance with clauses 5.2.4-5.2.6;
enable the making of regulations in relation to the site in accordance with clause 5.2.10
The following is also included as part of the cultural redress:
statutory acknowledgement of the statements of the descendents of the original owners of the Maraeroa A and B blocks and statutory requirment that the relevant consent authorities, Environmental Court and New Zealand Historical Places Trust have regard to the statutory acknowledgment.
Relationship redress in the form of a partnership agreement between the governance entity and the Department of Conservation.
Cultural redress property under which certain sites listed vest in fee simple in the governance entity incorporation while other sites vest in fee simple subject to a conservation covenant.
The payment by the Crown $40,000 to the governance entity to assist it in purchasing land of cultural significance that is not owned by the Crown and $11,600 to assist the governance entity in purchasing land owned by the Crown that is not currently available for transfer.
Financial Redress
The Crown must pay the governance entity on the settlement date $1,578,000, being the financial and commercial redress amount of $1,800,000 less $222,000 being the total transfer value of the commercial redress property being transferred on settlement date.
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