Covid 19 halts Tauranga Moana, Hauraki kaumātua hui sparked by Treaty claim

Ngāi Te Rangi Settlement Trust chairman Charlie Tawhiao. Photo / File

Tauranga Moana and Hauraki kaumātua are working towards mending the fractured relationship between their iwi groups caused by the Crown's approach to Treaty negotiations.

The aim is to focus on coming together, putting aside differences to work in unity for the benefit of Māori as a whole.

But their efforts to meet tomorrow as part of the first steps towards improving relationships,have been put on hold for the second time due to Covid-19.

The conflicted relationship was provoked by the Crown's handling of the Pare Hauraki Treaty settlement and overlapping claims.

A collective redress deed for Pare Hauraki, a collective of 12 iwi, was signed at Parliament in August 2018, which followed a series of public protests - including two to Parliament - led by Ngāi Te Rangi.

In December, a Treaty of Waitangi Tribunal report slammed the Crown's handling of overlapping claims in the Pare Hauraki settlement, finding the Crown had not adhered to Treaty principles, used an "ad hoc, opaque and ever-changing pool of settlement practices", rushed the process at the expense of due process and created fresh grievances between iwi.

At the time, Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little told the Bay of Plenty Times he accepted the tribunal's criticisms of the Crown's practices and the Crown would seek to work with both Tauranga Moana and Pare Hauraki to arrange a tikanga-based process.

Ngāi Te Rangi Settlement Trust chairman Charlie Tawhiao said a kaumatua-only hui between the groups was a way to focus on tikanga and whānaungatanga, instead of differences.

Originally planned for earlier this year, the hui had to be postponed due to Covid-19 lockdown and restrictions and was rescheduled for tomorrow. However, to ensure the safety of iwi elders as more cases of coronavirus are recorded, Tawhiao said it would not go ahead for the second time.

Level 2 - Hauraki Announcement - From our Chairman - Charlie Tawhiao

Posted by Ngāi Te Rangi on Thursday, August 13, 2020

Tawhiao said it would be the first kaumātua-only gathering between the two groups and even though prompted by the disputes stemming from the Pare Hauraki Treaty Settlement, conversations wouldn't necessarily be based around that.

While he said it was inevitable that topic would be discussed, the main goal for now was to "mend our relationships with our neighbours".

He said kaumātua had the right as elders of their people to have discussions and believed a solution could be found once tikanga was adhered to.

"The Crown should have made itself much more familiar with tikanga," Tawhiao said.

A new meeting between the groups would be rescheduled when New Zealand went back to Covid-19 alert level 1.

"As long as there is any risk it is unacceptable risk," he said.