Source: New Zealand Government
Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little welcomed Ngāti Rangitihi to Parliament today to witness the first reading of The Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill.
“I know it took a lot of hard work, time and patience by all parties involved to reach this significant milestone. I am honoured to have been a part of getting this Bill through to first reading and I am pleased that Ngāti Rangitihi have accepted this settlement,” Andrew Little said.
Ngāti Rangitihi is a Te Arawa iwi based in and around Rotorua, Kaingaroa and Matatā, and has approximately 5,600 registered members.
Ngāti Rangitihi’s historical grievances against the Crown include its failure to act in good faith when leasing and purchasing Ngāti Rangitihi land blocks, excessive land taking at Te Ariki for Public Works and a failure to ensure Ngāti Rangitihi had sufficient land to support themselves in the aftermath of the Tarawera eruption.
“This settlement recognises Ngāti Rangitihi’s long standing association with land in their rohe and provides an economic foundation that I hope will benefit Ngāti Rangitihi and many generations of to come,” Andrew Little said.
The settlement includes an acknowledgement, apology and redress for the Crown’s historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi. Ngāti Rangitihi will receive financial and commercial redress valued at over $11 million, including $4 million financial redress and more than $7 million in commercial redress on-account through the 2008 Central North Island Forests Iwi Collective Settlement. Cultural redress includes the vesting of 19 sites of cultural significance, including the Waimangu Volcanic Valley.
Through the settlement the Crown acknowledges and apologises for failing to protect the Tarawera River from pollution associated with the Tasman Pulp and Paper mill. The settlement provides for the establishment of the Tarawera Awa Restoration Strategy Group, made up of iwi and local government representatives, that will support, coordinate and promote the integrated restoration of the mauri/wellbeing of the Tarawera River catchment.
“This settlement signals the beginning of a renewed relationship between Ngāti Rangitihi and the Crown – one based on cooperation, mutual trust, and respect for Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles, Andrew Little said.”
The Bill gives effect to the Ngāti Rangitihi Deed of Settlement that was signed on 5 December 2020 at Rangitihi Marae in Matatā. Settlement negotiations commenced in 2016.
A copy of the Deed of Settlement is available at www.govt.nz/treaty-settlement-documents/ngati-rangitihi/ and the Ngāti Rangitihi Claims Settlement Bill can be found here: https://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2021/0017/latest/LMS466149.html
Ka hipa te Pire Whakataunga Kerēme a Ngāti Rangitihi i te pānuitanga tuatahi
I te rā nei, ka pōhiri te Minita mo ngā take Tiriti o Waitangi, a Andrew Little, i a Ngāti Rangitihi ki te Pāremata ki te mātaki i te pānuitanga tuatahi o Te Pire Whakataunga Kerēme a Ngāti Rangitihi.
“E mōhio ana ahau he nui te mahi uaua, te wā, te hūmārietanga hoki o ngā hunga katoa i whai wāhi mai kia eke ai ki tēnei taumata tiketike. He hōnore ki ahau kia whai wāhi ki te ekenga a te Pire nei i tōna pānuitanga tuatahi, ā, e koa ana te ngākau i whakaae a Ngāti Rangitihi ki te whakataunga nei,” te kī a Andrew Little.
Ko Ngāti Rangitihi tētahi o ngā iwi o Te Arawa, e tau ana ki Rotorua, ki Kaingaroa, ki Matatā hoki, ā, kei te takiwā o tōna 5,600 ōna uri e rēhitatia ana.
Ko ētahi o ngā nawe hītori a Ngāti Rangitihi ki te Karauna ko te korenga ōna e kawe i āna mahi i runga i te pono nōna i rīhi, nōna i hoko hoki i ētahi poraka whenua o Ngāti Rangitihi; ko te tangohanga o ngā whenua nui rawa atu i Te Ariki mō ngā Mahinga Tūmatanui, ā; ko te korenga ōna e whakatūturu he rawaka ngā whenua o Ngāti Rangitihi kia ora tonu ai rātau i muri mai i te hū o Tarawera.
“Ka whakaaetia ki te whakataunga nei te hononga roroa o Ngāti Rangitihi ki te whenua i roto i tōna rohe, ka whakatakoto hoki i tētahi tūāpapa ā-ōhanga, ā, e manako ana ahau ka whiwhi painga hoki a Ngāti Rangitihi, me ētahi whakatupuranga huhua hoki e haere mai nei,” te kī a Andrew Little.
Kei te whakataunga ko tētahi mihi, tētahi whakapāha, me tētahi kete whakatika hapa hoki mō ngā wāwāhitanga hītoritanga a te Karauna i te Tiriti o Waitangi. Nuku atu i te $11 miriona ka whakawhiwhia ki a Ngāti Rangitihi hei whakatika hapa pūtea, hei whakatika hapa tauhokohoko hoki. Ko tētahi wāhi ō roto ko te $4 miriona hei whakatika hapa pūtea, ā, nuku atu i te $7 miriona mā te Central North Island Forests Collective Settlement o te tau 2008. Kei te whakatika hapa ahurea ko te whakahokinga o ētahi wāhi tapu e 19, ā, ko tētahi ko te whārua o Waimangu.
Mā te whakataunga nei e whāki ai, e whakapāha ai te Karauna mōna i kore nei e tiaki i te awa o Tarawera kei whakaparuparutia e te mira o Tasman Pulp and Paper. Ka whakarite hoki te whakataunga kia whakatūria te Tarawera Awa Restoration Strategy Group, hei tautoko, hei whakarite, hei whakatairanga hoki i te whakarauoranga tahitanga o te mauri o te awa o Tarawera, o ngā whenua i ōna tahataha, tae atu ki ngā awaiti hoki. Ko ōna mema ko ngā māngai o ngā iwi, o te kāwanatanga ā-rohe hoki. “Ko te whakataunga nei te tohu o te tīmatanga o tētahi whakahoanga hou i waenga i a Ngāti Rangitihi me te Karauna – he whakahoanga e takea ana i te mahi tahi, i te whakapono o tētahi ki tētahi, me te whakautenga ki Te Tiriti o Waitangi me ōna mātāpono,” hei tā Andrew Little.
Ka whakamana te Pire i te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga a Ngāti Rangitihi i tāmokohia rā i te 5 o Tihema 2020 ki Rangitihi Marae i Matatā. I tīmata ngā whiriwhiringa kōrero i te tau 2016.
Kei www.govt.nz/treaty-settlement-documents/ngati-rangitihi/ tētahi kape o te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga, ā, kei https://www.legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2021/0017/latest/LMS466149.html te Pire Whakataunga Kerēme a Ngāti Rangitihi.
KA OTI
