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Affiliate Te Arawa Deed of Settlement | | Date: | 30 September 2006 | | | Sub Category: | Deed of Settlement (New Zealand) | | Place: | Rotorua | | State/Country: | Aotearoa - New Zealand | | Payments: | Financial and Commercial Redress (New Zealand) - New Zealand Government ($36,000,000) | | Subject Matter: | | Compensation | Consultation | Cultural Heritage | Land Management | Land Settlement | Land Use | Recognition of Native Title or Traditional Ownership | Recognition of Traditional Rights and Interests | Tourism | | URL: | http://nz01.terabyte.co.nz/ots/DocumentLibrary/TeAffiliateteArawaiwi-hapu.pdf | | | Summary Information: | | | The Affiliate Te Arawa Deed of Settlement ('the Deed') relates to Crown breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi through the acquisition of Te Arawa land without consideration for the needs of the customary owners, which caused harm to their society. The settlement includes an apology, the establishment of protocols for building better relationships between the Crown and the claimants, cultural redress and financial and commercial redress. The redress will be provided to a Governance Entity created by the claimants in accordance with the Deed.
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: | | | The claimants in this settlement are an affiliation of eleven iwi and hapu under the name Te Arawa. They share customary interests in land from the Bay of Plenty, to Rotorua, the Mamaku Ranges and Kaingaroa forest. They are not the only Maori with interests in this region. They represent some 24,000 people.
When the first few Pakeha (Europeans) settled in the area in the 1830s the local tribes keenly established trade links with Auckland, constructed flour mills and commenced operating tourist enterprises, acting as guides for visitors to the hot springs and the pink and white terraces at Tarawera. Trade was brought to a halt by the wars of the 1860s, in which many Te Arawa people fought on the side of the Crown. The conversion of land from customary title to common law title commenced in 1867 with the introduction of the Native Land Court. Some used the Court to their advantage, although its processes and the inability of the common law to recognize overlapping and multiple interests in land meant that many claims were excluded. Until 1910 the Crown sought to ensure that Te Arawa land was not available on the private market, giving itself a right of pre-emption. By 1907 it was found that Te Arawa Maori did not have sufficient land to support themselves. By the 1920s their land interests were small and fragmented.
From 1929 to the 1980s several development schemes were implemented on Maori land to varying degrees of success. In the twentieth century land was also taken for public works purposes and scenery preservation. In some cases, Maori owners gifted land to the Crown in return for determining its boundaries and input into its management. Geothermal places were culturally significant for Te Arawa Maori but the Crown assumed control of these resources in 1953.
In 2003 the Nga Kaihautu o Te Arawa Executive Council received a mandate to negotiate a settlement with the Crown. The Crown recognized the mandate in April 2004. Terms of negotiation were established in November 2004 and an agreement in principle was reached in September 2005.
The claimants and the Crown agree that the settlement negotiations were conducted in good faith and ‘in a spirit of co-operation and compromise’ and although it requires the claimants to forego full redress for their loss it is fair in all the circumstances. The settlement is final. It settles the claims of Affiliate Te Arawa iwi and hapu and the Crown is released from liability in respect of them. The settlement is for the benefit of the claimants, as a whole and individually, as determined by the Governance Entity.
The Deed notes the significance of Mount Ngongotaha for Te Arawa iwi and particularly for Ngati Whakaue who are not party to this settlement. The claimants agree that a future settlement with Ngati Whakaue should include the transfer of certain land there to them.
Crown Apology
The Crown acknowledges that it breached the Treaty of Waitangi, particularly in failing to protect Te Arawa tribal structures, protect the interests of Te Arawa in purchasing their land and failing to ensure they remained in control of sufficient land to meet their future needs. The Crown apologises to the claimants for the harm this caused.
Relationships Redress
This includes the creation of protocols between Affiliate Te Arawa iwi/hapu and the Ministers of Conservation, Fisheries, Culture and Heritage. Provision is made for annual meetings with the Ministry for the Environment at which Affiliate Te Arawa iwi/hapu can discuss the performance of local government in managing local resources. It is envisaged that various regional councils will enter into memoranda of understanding with the Governance Entity.
Cultural Redress
The Deed provides for the return of some 22 Crown-owned properties which are significant to the claimants. These include Pateko Island and sites at Lakes Rotokawa, Rotomahana, Rotongata, Rotoatua, Rotoiti and sites on the Paeroa Range, Horohoro Bluff and Otari Pa. The Whakarewarewa Thermal Springs and sites at Okataina and Wai-o-Tapu will be transferred subject to ongoing leases. A 50% interest in Te Ariki will be transferred, the remainder to be held by the Crown in anticipation of future settlement of overlapping claims. Karamuramu Baths will be vested in the future after the expiry of a lease to Rotorua Regional Airport Limited. The transfers will generally preserve public access and ensure environmental conservation.
Sites at Maunga Kakaramea, Lake Tarawera, Mount Ngongotaha, Matawhaura, Hannah’s Bay, the Esplanade, Karamuramu Baths, the Waiteti Stream and at Lake Okareka will be subject to an overlay classification which recognizes the ‘traditional, cultural, spiritual and historical association’ of the claimants with the area and which requires the management to preserve these values and consult with the Governance Entity.
Statutory Acknowledgements will be made in recognition of the cultural, traditional and spiritual association of the claimants with sites including the Matahana Ecological Area, Otari Pa, the Whakarewarewa Forest, the Rotorua Region Geothermal System, and parts of some waterways including the Kaituna and Tarawera Rivers and the Waikato River from Atiamuri Dam to Huka Falls. This requires that the Governance Entity be provided with copies of applications for resource permits and the relevant authority will be bound by the statement of association as a matter of fact. A Deed of Recognition will be granted to the claimants for the Matahana Ecological Area. The Deed requires that the Governance Entity be consulted in relation to the management of the Area.
The peak previously named Whakapoungakau will be changed to Rangitoto and an hitherto unnamed range will be called Whakapoungakau.
Financial and Commercial Redress
The Financial Redress comprises the transfer of land to the value of $36 million. There is also a right to purchase certain properties at market rates within six months of the settlement.
| | | Outcomes: | | | The legislation to complete this settlement was delayed in August 2007 by agreement of the parties to enable the resolution of other claims in the Central North Island (Burton). This accords with the recommendation of the Waitangi Tribunal in its Report on the Impact of the Crown's Treaty Settlement Policy on Te Arawa Waka which was critical of the Crown approach to consultation with non-affiliated iwi during the negotiation of this settlement.
On 21 February 2008 the Crown and representatives of Central North Island iwi (who were not included in the Affiliate Te Arawa settlement) signed a 'Terms of Agreement' in Parliament. A key aspect of the agreement was provision to allow for expanding membership in the future. The Crown expressed its commitment to honouring the Affiliate Te Arawa settlement (Cullen, 2008).
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