OTS dashes claimant hopes for iconic land

The Office of Treaty Settlements says far north claimants are unlikely to get some of the flagship properties at the heart of the Muriwhenua claims.

At their first hearing in 1986, claimants told the Waitangi Tribunal the creation of state owned enterprises would mean the Crown would have no assets left for settlements.

As a result, the then Labour Government amended the State Owned Enterprises Act to supposedly protect claimants' interests in assets being transferred to Landcorp and other S-O-Es.

Now Landcorp is selling part of Rangiputa Station on the Karikari Peninsula, one of the former Lands & Survey farms sought by Muriwhenua iwi Ngati Kahu.

Paul James, the director of the Office of Treaty Settlements, says he approved the sell-off because the Crown has other properties in the area it can use to settle with the tribe - and that's in keeping with the SOE Act.

“I don't think that that scheme there was to say that those lands would be held in perpetuity by the Crown for use in settlement. Part of the State Owned Enterprise Act enabling the system of memorials was to protect Maori interests but at the same time allow state owned enterprises to operate as businesses and if necessary to trade in those assets,” Mr James says.

POUWHENUA RAISED OVER RANGIPUTA

Meanwhile, Muriwhenua claimants are gathering about now to place a pouwhenua on Puheke, a small mountain and pa site on the Rangiputa Station.

Muriwhenua Runanga chairperson Rima Edwards says the reason the Crown is allowing the sale of part of the farm is because it is only offering Ngati Kahu an eight million dollar settlement.

That's one of the reasons Ngati Kahu withdrew from negotiations at the end of last year.

Mr Edwards says the dawn ceremony will emphasise the importance of the land to any final deal.

“The significance of the pouwhenua is to proclaim the mana of Ngati Kahu to that land and to advise the Crown that Ngati Kahu will not renege in its responsibility for that land to be returned to Ngati Kahu,” Mr Edwards says.

Members from all the Muriwhenua iwi will hikoi from Awanui to Kaitaia on Friday to protest the Rangiputa sell-off.

NGATI KOATA ENTERS GREEN ENERGY BUSINESS

Ngati Koata from the top of the South Island is getting into the biofuel market.

Chief executive Caaron Paul says it has secured the rights for a reactor that will convert animal and vegetable fats into biodiesal.

She says the Ngati Koata Trust, which represents the iwi's two and a half thousand members, was looking for sustainable investments.

“What we liked about bio-diesel was it was also environmentally friendly, which is one of the things the trust has a keen focus on,” Ms Paul says.

The Ngati Koata Trust is setting up a biodiesel reactor in Nelson, and plans to build a second one in Auckland.

SOE LAND OFF SETTLEMENT MENU

The head of the Office of Treaty Settlements says Landcorp's Rangiputa Station is not needed to settle far north Treaty claims.

Ngati Kahu members were to place a pouwhenua on an old pa site on the Karikari Penisula farm at dawn this morning to proclaim their mana over the land.

They are protesting Landcorp's plans to sell off a small part of the station as lifestyle beach sections.

OTS director Paul James says his office agreed to the sale because Landcorp properties are generally not available for settlements, but can be returned if the Waitangi Tribunal orders.

“The decision here is that as we had a number of other assets and properties already landbanked, that it’s a small proportion of a large property, and that the Crown continues to retain other land holdings in that area, that it wasn’t necessary to secure it for purposes of the settlement,” Mr James says.

Ngati Kahu pulled out of negotiations last year and is trying to get the Waitangi Tribunal to rule on what its compensation should be.

FORSHORE ACT REPEAL NEEDED FOR COMMON LAW GOOD

An expert on common law says the Crown will eventually need to revisit the Foreshore and Seabed Act.

Jock Brookfield, an emeritus professor of law at Auckland University, says the Government use Tariana Turia's repeal bill to repair what was a very poor piece of lawmaking.

Without support from one of the two main political parties, the bill won't get past the first reading.

Professor Brookfield says it aims to wind back the clock to 2003, when the Court of Appeal ruled that Maori might be able to prove customary title to some coastal areas.

He says Labour overreacted to that decision by taking away Maori rights.

“Why take the Maori customary rights away in the first place when once they’re proved, it’s not a matter of throwing out the developers who have already got the marine farms but simply of directing the rentals they pay to the Maori for whom the Crown will hold the area,” Professor Brookfield says.

He says National should support the introduction of the Foreshore and Seabed Act reform bill, because it is supposed to uphold the principle of property rights.

TAURANGA MOANA LOOKING FORWARD TO MAUAO RETURN

Tauranga Moana iwi are planning a huge celebration next Waitangi Day of the return of their mountain, Mauao.

Ngai Te Rangi, Ngati Ranginui and Ngati Pukenga have signed off on the trust deed to manage the sacred hill at Mount Maunganui, paving the way for its return by the Crown.

Colin Bidois, the chairperson of the runanga for the three iwi, says the deal has taken four years of tough talks among the tribes and with central and local government.

“By the end of this year, we will have it back, and by Waitangi Day next year we’ll be celebrating up on Maouoa. We celebrate there every year now, but we’ll be celebrating with it under the umbrella of our kaitiakitanga,” Mr Bidois says.

Te Puke iwi Waitahi won't be included on the title as an owner, but it will be part of the management structure because of its historic links to Mauao.