Competing claim for Waikato River

Rawiri Te Whare says Ngati Tahu-Ngati Whaoa have a Waikato River claim. Picture / Amos Chapple

A powerful Rotorua-based iwi grouping has challenged a Tainui claim to the Waikato River and warned the Government it will be dragged back to the negotiating table if it cuts Tainui any special deals.

Nga Kaihautu o Te Arawa, a collective representing most of Te Arawa iwi, have rejected Waikato Tainui claims to the river and warned the Crown to be consistent in how it handles the river claim.

Tainui defines the river as covering an area from the Huka Falls to the mouth at Port Waikato and includes its waters, banks and beds (and all minerals under them), its streams, tributaries, lakes, aquatic fisheries, vegetation and floodplains as well as its "metaphysical being".

But the head of Ngai Kaihautu o Te Arawa, Rawiri Te Whare, said group member Ngati Tahu-Ngati Whaoa held mana whenua (authority) status over the river from the Huka Falls to Atiamuri, and had negotiated its rights in an agreement in principle signed with the Crown in September last year.

This week Prime Minister Helen Clark said there was a renewed focus in the negotiations of the Waikato Tainui river claim, and confidence of "reaching a significant milestone in this 40th anniversary" of the Queen's reign.

Mr Te Whare said the Crown had played hardball in acknowledging the tribe's mana over the river and had only allowed for a statutory acknowledgement which requires the tribe be consulted on river developments within its boundaries.

"We are going to continue to monitor the Crown, and say: 'Hey, let's show some real fairness here'. If the Crown acknowledges Tainui mana over their section we are going to say: 'Crown, you do the same for us as well'."

Mr Te Whare believed the Government's motives were politically driven, and a pay-back for the tribe for its continued support for Labour.

Labour MP Nanaia Mahuta was re-elected in the Tainui electorate at last year's election.

In a letter sent to Treaty Negotiations Minister Mark Burton this month the group questioned why consistency had not been shown in negotiations for the river.

"Obviously, if different redress is offered to different groups, issues of fairness and equity will arise ... [we] would expect that no agreement will be reached between Waikato and the Crown until the issues raised above are clarified and resolved."

A spokesman for Mr Burton said negotiations with Waikato-Tainui were ongoing and were confidential until an agreement in principle was reached. Once that happened, details would be made public for consultation with overlapping claimants and other interested parties before a binding deed of settlement was drafted.

Tainui chairman Tuku Morgan acknowledged Ngati Tahu-Ngati Whaoa as tangata whenua (people of the land) between Atiamuri to the Huka Falls, but said it was up to each iwi to ensure the best deal for their people.

The issue is further clouded by claims by Pouakani, a sub-tribe based between Atiamuri and Mangakino, who settled a land claim with the Government in 1999. In the settlement covering almost 50,000ha, the Government agreed to pay compensation of $650,000, but a claim to the Waikato River was set aside. These claims will be dealt with separately, with the claims of other groups to the Waikato River, he said.