Crown encourages Ngāi Te Rangi and Pare Hauraki kaumātua to reach agreement so Treaty settlements can be finalised

Paroa Stanley of Ngāi Te Rangi (inset left), Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little (inset centre) and Paul Majurey of Pare Hauraki are key players in the two iwi groups' Treaty settlements, which are held up in part due to disagreements about Tauranga Harbour. Photos / Whakaata Māori, NZME

A stalemate between Ngāi Te Rangi and the Pare Hauraki iwi collective is holding up Treaty of Waitangi settlements for both groups and has sparked protests by the Tauranga tribe.

Te Arawhiti, the Office for Māori Crown Relations, said the Ngāi Te Rangi and Hauraki Treaty settlements were ready to progress if both iwi groups could agree on overlapping interests, including Hauraki’s interests in Tauranga Moana (the seas of Tauranga).

If the groups could not agree, the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations may make decisions about contested redress so the settlements can proceed.

Ngāi Te Rangi chief executive Paroa Stanley said there was about $100 million tied up in properties under the settlement and “we need to conclude this so our people can get on with their lives”.

The iwi recently staged a peaceful protest on Tauranga Harbour, blocking Port of Tauranga pilot boats from guiding vessels, and has more protests planned.

Stanley said in September it had provided the Crown options and removed contentious issues from the settlement, including the matter of Hauraki’s rights over Tauranga Moana. The settlements could then progress and the two iwi groups could continue to discuss the excluded matters separately.

“That way we can move on and this is a cop-out. We’re getting grumpy. We’ve been protesting since the start of 2016 and it’s still going, which is ridiculous.”

Stanley said the Waitangi Tribunal had, in 2019, found in favour of Ngāi Te Rangi and other iwi including Ngāti Ranginui and Ngātiwai, criticising how the Crown handled overlapping claims with Pare Hauraki.

The tribunal’s finding said: “Over several years, the Crown failed to properly consult and share information with them over redress it was proposing to offer Hauraki.”

A key issue for Tauranga Moana iwi was a provision in the Pare Hauraki Collective Deed of Settlement allowing Hauraki iwi to participate in a group governing the management of Tauranga Harbour.

Paora Stanley, in between Mauāo and Matakana during the peaceful protest. Photo / Whakaata Māori

“We contended that Hauraki only had interests and the difference between the two is once you give them rights, that means they are mana whenua with historic[al] and territorial rights over the land,” Stanley said.

“They have a viable interest in Māori terms and we understand and recognise the interest. But we do not recognise its mana whenua rights so, for example, if you need cultural consent, it goes to either one of three iwi in Tauranga Moana so it [adding another iwi group] pushes it out quite substantially.

“Hauraki says it’s not after mana whenua rights but their actions say they are. This isn’t actually about Hauraki, it’s about the Crown and how they are being lethargic in trying to resolve this.”

In his view, the settlement was being stalled because of the upcoming election.

“[The Government] just trickle it along without too much drama to get them over the election time and then it doesn’t matter whether you have a whole bunch of angry natives.”

Ngāi Te Rangi protest at Pilot Bay in 2017. Photo / Andrew Warner

Paul Majurey of Pare Hauraki said in almost six years, the Labour Government had only brought about a dozen settlements to a conclusion.

“We agree with our Tauranga whanaunga [kin] that the Crown needs to stop prevaricating and do its job so we can all make things better for our people.”

Majurey said the settlement process was long, complex and occasionally fraught.

“What was notable, however, was the co-operation between Pare Hauraki and Tauranga Moana in reaching agreements on various issues. We agreed on a fair and informed division of redress, which reflected our respective interests in our tribal areas.

“We agreed, for example, to split Athenree Forest 60 per cent to Hauraki to 40 per cent for Tauranga. We also agreed to each having 17 right-of-first-refusal properties in the Te Puna-Katikati Blocks. We literally shook hands on it.”

“The Crown oversaw this and was party to it. Yet, rather than standing up for the process when Ngāi Te Rangi subsequently reneged on their commitments, the Crown choked and put our settlements to one side.”

The fact Pare Hauraki has been present for centuries in Katikati and Te Puna did not diminish the rights or interests of the other iwi of Tauranga Moana, Majurey said.

“It sits alongside their rights and interests. It recognises them as mana whenua and complements them.”

Te Arawhiti acting tumu whakarae (chief executive) Tui Marsh said the Crown was ready to progress when Ngāi Te Rangi was ready and this had been consistently communicated to Ngāi Te Rangi.

Ngāi Te Rangi signed a deed of settlement in 2013 and a significant amount of its settlement redress had already been provided.

“A bill to give effect to those parts of the settlement that require legislation was introduced to Parliament in 2017 but is being held at second reading, at the request of Ngāi Te Rangi, until overlapping interests for Hauraki Treaty settlements are addressed,” Marsh said.

“Minister Andrew Little met with Ngāi Te Rangi in May to hear their views and in an attempt to find a constructive way forward. Ngāi Te Rangi and Hauraki kaumātua have agreed to meet and the Crown encourages them to do so.”

If they could reach some agreement, they would both be able to progress their settlements, Marsh said.

“The provision of redress to iwi for the Crown’s historical Treaty breaches can reflect different interests and associations with an area.

“It was not intended to denote mana whenua as that is not the Crown’s role. That is a matter for iwi to determine.”

However, Te Arawhiti acknowledged overlapping groups “are not always able to reach agreement and the settlement process cannot be held in hiatus indefinitely - that would not be fair”, Marsh said.

In those instances, the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations may make decisions to progress the settlements.

Information about the settlements provided by Te Arawhiti said both the Ngāi Te Rangi and Pare Hauraki settlements include redress agreed to by Tauranga Moana iwi, including Ngāi Te Rangi and Pare Hauraki iwi.

In 2017 Ngāi Te Rangi decided not to support these agreements about redress the Crown had offered to Pare Hauraki iwi.

In 2019, the Waitangi Tribunal said that where agreements on overlapping issues had been reached between groups, the Crown was entitled to rely on those agreements.

Te Arawhiti said Pare Hauraki iwi did not agree to the Ngāi Te Rangi proposal that the contested redress be cut out of their settlement.

Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little. Photo / Marty Melville

Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little said while the Crown was closer to settling all historical Treaty of Waitangi settlement claims, there were challenges including the increasing complexity of overlapping interests.

“We have given Ngāi te Rangi and Hauraki iwi the time and space to progress those discussions and continue to encourage them to do so. Redress for settlements undergoing the negotiations process would be subject to negotiations.”

Stanley said Ngāi Te Rangi was planning a protest a week for 10 weeks, with the last one planned to take place in Wellington at the Beehive.

These would “focus on our kaupapa and pride and mana”, Stanley said.

A Port of Tauranga spokeswoman said it was advised well in advance of the harbour protest and assured that the tug boats would not be impeded if they were required for an emergency.