$38m Treaty settlement on cards for Bay iwi

Beehive, Wellington.

A Bay of Plenty iwi could be given just over $38 million as part of a significant Treaty of Waitangi settlement after the bill passed its first reading in Parliament.

The House of Representatives sat through extended sitting hours this morning to pass several Treaty settlement bills, including the Tauranga Moana Iwi Collective Redress and Nga Hapu o Ngati Ranginui Claims Settlement Bill and the Ngati Pukenga Claims Settlement Bill.

The bills have been referred to the Māori Affairs Committee.

Nga Hapu o Ngati Ranginui's settlement included a historical account, Crown acknowledgements and an apology as well as the financial redress which included twenty one early release landbank properties; thirty commercial redress properties; the vesting of 13 properties of cultural significance and the co-management of the Margaret Jackson Wildlife Management Reserve.

The Tauranga Moana Iwi Collective redress included a relationship agreement with the Department of Conservation to enhance conservation lands in Te Kupenga and further provisions for collective management of Mauao/Mount Maunganui with Tauranga City Council.

The Ngati Pukenga Claims Settlement Bill will give effect to the individual settlement of the historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Tauranga Moana iwi Ngati Pukenga.

The settlement included a historical account, Crown acknowledgements and an apology as well as commercial and financial redress of $7 million; the vesting of four sites of cultural and historical significance; $500,000 for cultural revitalisation and $180,000 for marae revitalisation in Manaia.

"These bills provide important redress and acknowledgement of the wrongs of the past for these groups," Hon Christopher Finlayson, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, said.

"Today we reflect on the history and future of Tauranga Moana iwi and of Ngatikahu ki Whangaroa in the Far North."

The Tauranga Moana Iwi Collective Redress and Ngā Hapū o Ngāti Ranginui Claims Settlement Bill is an omnibus bill. It will give effect to the collective redress of three iwi centred around the Tauranga Harbour (Ngai Te Rangi, Nga Hapu o Ngati Ranginui and Ngati Pukenga).

The bill will also give effect to the individual settlement of the historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Nga Hapu o Ngati Ranginui.