Brash attacks tribe's claim to air space

1.00pm

National party leader Don Brash says an attempt by Ngati Tuwharetoa to charge for air space above Lake Taupo is an example of the "treaty industry" running out of control.

The Government is to begin negotiations with the central North Island tribe over their property rights under a 1992 Treaty of Waitangi settlement giving them ownership of the Taupo lake bed and the beds of some of its tributaries.

The Herald reported today that Ngati Tuwharetoa believe the settlement entitles the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board to charge a licence fee to commercial operators, including for the use of air space above Lake Taupo, which would cover floatplane landings, bungy jumping and bridges over rivers.

A spokesman for Conservation Minister Chris Carter, the minister in charge of the negotiations, today told NZPA the talks would start in the middle of next week.

He said the board had approached the Crown about a year ago about the extent of its property rights under the 1992 settlement.

The Crown had taken legal advice on the issue.

He said although the Government was entering negotiations with the tribe, it was on the basis of the 1992 settlement, which was signed while National was the government.

"Unfortunately, the National government failed to be explicit about what it was signing away, and because of this the current government is having to enter negotiations to resolve any uncertainties," he said in a statement.

Mr Carter said several MPs who were part of the government that signed the settlement remained in the National Party and Dr Brash should seek an explanation from them.


National MP Georgina te Heuheu, who is also a sister-in-law of Tuwharetoa paramount chief Tumu te Heuheu, said today she did not know what the tribe was claiming and could not comment.

"It's board business and I know nothing about it," she told NZPA.

The Herald reported that Tuwharetoa already makes about $1 million a year from the existing fee system.

Under that arrangement, the Departments of Internal Affairs and Conservation charge licence fees for boat ramps, trout fishing, charter boats and fees for marina berths and moorings, which are then split 50-50 between the Crown and the tribe.

But the newspaper reported the board has long been unhappy with the amount it makes from this deal, and is now threatening to charge the Crown for all structures on or over the lake bed and riverbeds and possibly cancel licences granted for structures such as jetties and wharves.

Taupo Bungy pays a fee to the Taupo District Council because it is on reserve land, cutting Tuwharetoa out of any revenue.

But the board believes that when people jump, they use the air space above the Waikato River and so should be charged.

The charging argument potentially affects only commercial activities because the deed of settlement guarantees free public access.

- NZPA