Tongariro National Park Treaty of Waitangi talks restart but dark clouds loom

Tongariro National Park. Photo / Alan Gibson

Treaty negotiations for Tongariro National Park have resumed between the Crown and the central North Island iwi of Ngāti Tūwharetoa.

Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little and Conservation Minister Willow-Jean Prime met iwi representatives to discuss cultural redress in Taupō earlier this week.

An agreement is crucial to the completion of the comprehensive settlement between Tūwharetoa and the Crown.

Other iwi and hapū with interests in the park are also expected to join the negotiations.

Tongariro National Park is the country’s oldest and has more than a million visitors a year. It was established in 1907 after years of controversy.

Ngāti Tūwharetoa leaders opposed the peaks of Tongariro, Ngāuruhoe and Ruapehu being the subject of a deed of settlement with the Crown in 1887.

However, the then paramount chief of Tūwharetoa, Horonuku Te Heuheu Tūkino, saw it as a partnership with Queen Victoria to preserve the sacred nature of the mountains and his people’s association with them.

Tūwharetoa role abolished

But in its 2013 report on the National Park District Inquiry, the Waitangi Tribunal found the Crown had not always honoured its obligations to protect and preserve the mountains.

The role of Tūwharetoa in the governance and management of the park was “diluted” and eventually abolished. Commercial development caused physical and cultural degradation of the environment.

More than 4047ha of iwi land was taken for defence purposes between 1914 and 1973, then transferred to the Tongariro National Park when it was no longer required and without compensation.

Today, a significant portion of the tribe’s ancestral lands remains in the conservation estate.

Little told Te Ao News negotiations would focus on cultural redress and might include discussions on the future governance and management of the park.

He had no comment on Ngāti Tūwharetoa opposing the liquidation and sale of assets of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (now in liquidation) and said the negotiations weren’t intended to “directly address any existing commercial activity on the maunga” but might look at a framework of regulations on the matter.

Chateau future

Kānoa, the regional economic development and investment unit for MBIE, would continue to work with iwi and hapū throughout the liquidation of RAL assets.

A spokesperson for Regional Development Minister Kieran McNulty said Kānoa would also manage bids for the ski field and this would inform advice to the Cabinet on the next steps.

Meanwhile, in addition to concerns over Ruapehu Lifts, regional officials are worrying over whether seriously seismic unsound The Chateau and its attached businesses in local towns can be revived.

Some estimate that the cost of ending the lease is uncertain but may be up to $100 million.

In the meantime, maintenance and repair of the empty buildings is costing the Department of Conservation $150,000 to $200,000 a month.