Fastest land occupation in New Zealand - after five weeks, the Crown buys privately-owned waterfront property claimed by Northland iwi

It appears to be a record. Five weeks ago Northland's Ngati Kahu occupied a privately-owned waterside property at Taipa to which it is intrinsically linked.

Yesterday, Minister of Treaty Settlements Andrew Little and Crown-Māori Relations Minister Kelvin Davis turned up at that property to confirm the land had been bought by the Crown and was on track to being returned to the iwi.

The Herald understands the price tag to be about $1.5 million for the 0.8 hectare property on the banks of the Taipa River and just metres from a popular Northland beach.

It appears a new signal New Zealand is experiencing a seismic shift in resolution of land disputes. Where once the focus was Crown land and not private, the goalposts have been shifted.

The real estate sign outside the Taipa waterfront property emblazoned with the message: "SOLD: Ngati Kahu" Photo / David Fisher

First there was Ihumatao - an occupation cured by the Crown buying the land. Next came Poroti Springs, where again the Crown stepped in to resolve a 20-year long fight between iwi and the company that owned the land and rights to draw water.

"It's the Crown showing more agility in how it responds to issues hapū and iwi are raising," Little told the Herald.

There were joyous scenes at the site as Ngati Kahu welcomed the end of 180 years of separation between the land and its people.

That parcel of land is one place where it is possible to say Aotearoa's story began. Kupe came here on his journey from Hawaiki, navigating a path that became a highway for those who would settle to build history and home before Europeans arrived.

"He landed right out the front here," says Ngati Kahu's Wi Popata, kaitiaki of the occupation.

After Kupe, the great waka Te Māmaru carried Tumoana to New Zealand then returned, later bringing his nephew Te Parata. These are the roots of Ngati Kahu and - Popata says - Te Māmaru lies still somewhere off Taipa Beach.

Popata's recounting of Ngati Kahu's history and connections illustrates the deep significance of the iwi's links to this land. And yet, in private ownership, it remained out of reach.

The fire lit at the entrance to the Taipa waterfront property which will be allowed to go out today. Photo / David Fisher

The land slipped away in the year before and years following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. A European doctor was granted use of a large area of land after lending his skills to combat one of the many epidemics brought by colonists.

When government was established, an edict over land ownership saw the land taken by the Crown and fragmented into farming-friendly blocks. As years went by, those blocks were broken up and sold.

Or, as Popata puts it, "typical colonising ways to trick our people, to take advantage of our rituals".

"It's a story we've heard from indigenous people around the world."

One of those pieces of land - perhaps the most meaningful to Ngati Kahu - wound up with the Male family. Todd Male, who has owned it since 2005, listed it in 2010, when the first occupation took place.

Deal done - Treaty settlements minister Andrew Little fist bumps a Ngati Kahu elder after visiting the iwi's newly-erected pou at the water's edge. Photo / David Fisher

He visited and spoke to those there, listening to stories of its history told by kaumātua. The property came off the market and Male spent the next decade paying the rates, mowing the lawns and thinking of those stories.

A month ago, life conspired so as to see him again list the property. It prompted the fresh occupation. There were no trespass orders issued, no pressure applied. Male says he knew who he wanted as the new owners. "And it's all worked out."

When the occupation began, Davis and politician Shane Jones met with Ngati Kahu. It was a clear case of a historical wrong that also captured Northland MP Willow Jean Prime, and it was put to Little.

For those who heard the history, it made sense. Little used a fund available for purchases of land with special character or features. "There was enough in it to purchase this. There's still a little bit left."

Treaty Settlement Minister Andrew Little facing a challenge at Taipa in Northland and accepting a taki. Photo / David Fisher

The title sits with the Crown, which has yet to properly engage with Ngati Kahu in Treaty settlement talks. With this, there are now talks about having talks. There will also be discussions about the iwi taking on a guardianship role with this particular piece of land.

"There is a long journey to go yet," Little told Ngati Kahu during the speeches which followed a powerful and passionate pōwhiri.

There were calls for the Crown to find a different way, with speakers talking of how damaging and stressful settlement is on whanau, hapū and iwi. Little acknowledged to the Herald: "The Crown does have to be careful that the way it conducts itself doesn't cause more hurt and more harm."

Today, the fire lit to mark the occupation will be allowed to go out. Ngati Kahu will be free to leave the land by the river, knowing history has been reversed and that they can return without challenge.

Or perhaps it's time for a new plan, as Popata indicated during speeches. "There's another 10,000 to 20,000 hectares that still needs to come back. Once we go home and get energised, we might just sit ourselves somewhere else."