Coromandel iwi eye mining rights

Sir Graham Latimer. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Iwi leaders on the Coromandel Peninsula are split between caution and optimism over the Government's audit of the Department of Conservation estate in their region.

Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee said last week that 30 per cent of the country's untapped mineral wealth lay beneath the estate, with a value of $240 billion.

DoC manages 30 per cent of the peninsula's land. In contrast, a Waitangi Tribunal report found the region's tribes to be among the most landless in the country, controlling just 2.6 per cent or 15,580ha of their original home.

Paul Majurey, lawyer for the local Marutuahu iwi confederation, said the outcome had definite Treaty implications as the tribes had claims over both the DoC estate and mineral wealth. While those assets hadn't been on the Crown's negotiating table before, any commercialisation could change that, he said.

"When we finally get a chance to negotiate with the Crown those are two big-ticket items that are going to be on the table."

Maori would watch closely to see what happened after the audit. If the Crown sold mining rights, there was potential for legal action similar to that which occurred when the Government tried to push through legislation in 1987 to sell state-owned assets.

Sir Graham Latimer appealed that on the grounds that Treaty settlements hadn't been completed and the impact of those sales would have been hugely detrimental to Maori.

"Any initiative that potentially removes us one further step from those Treaty assets - well in time you could see Maori taking steps to cancel that," Mr Majurey said.

One of the upsides was that iwi might be able to negotiate from a stronger position. "An audit is one thing that of itself isn't monstrous. It might be a good thing if it tells iwi exactly where these assets are. It might increase a tribe's ability to negotiate with more information."

Hauraki Maori Trust Board deputy chair Harry Mikaere said he believed that if the audit led to development, Maori could become involved through investment.

Individual iwi wouldn't be able to do it by themselves but joint-venture arrangements between foreign investors and tribes or joint ventures within Maoridom could be options.