Hapu and iwi in dispute over claim involving Whakarewarewa settlement

A dispute over Maori land ownership has erupted between hapu and iwi within the small village of Whakarewarewa.
Families within the village say land belonging to them will be given to the wrong people when Te Arawa takes over assets and land agreed on in an $85 million Treaty settlement between the Crown and the iwi.
The deal will see about 70 hectares of land, including the area known as Te Puia and three reserves in the Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley, going into a joint trust representing Ngati Whakaue and Tuhourangi and Ngati Wahiao.
A group from within Ngati Wahiao, Te Maru o Ngati Wahiao, say the deal will leave them out and give the two big iwi, Ngati Whakaue and Tuhourangi, power over the land.
Eru George, chairman of Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa, who negotiated on behalf of the iwi, said the group were premature in their actions because once the land in question was handed over to the iwi, all three groups would be able to put their case forward.
However, Te Maru o Ngati Wahiao group spokeswoman Tarati Kinita disagreed they were jumping ahead, saying it was better to sort it out sooner rather than later.
She said Tuhourangi had no customary association with the land because they arrived in the valley after Mt Tarawera erupted and Ngati Whakaue had sold their land in the valley. "The problem we have is through the settlements, they are now ready to complete a bill [in Parliament], turn it into legislation and that legislation will dictate how [land control] is determined here."
Ms Kinita said they had an issue with the process, which would see the land handed to Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa, who negotiated on behalf of the iwi.
"We are not as Wahiao able to be counted into Te Pumautanga's process. We have to be a beneficiary of their entity in order to participate in their processes.
"We're not and we choose not to be, because they don't fully represent our interest here. We are talking purely Ngati Wahiao here," Mrs Kinita said.
The group want the Maori Land Court to decide who has title over the land before the settlement is passed into law.
"All we want is our day in court, to be given the opportunity to have our side of the argument heard and for the courts to make a decision and not let politicians deciding what should be done."
Te Maru o Ngati Wahiao member and lawyer Donna Hall said the group represented about 2000 Ngati Wahiao families in and around Whakarewarewa Village.
She said the group had a legitimate claim which needed to be addressed. The group also claims Minister of Maori Affairs Pita Sharples sold the hapu out.
"Basically, Pita Sharples thinks that Maori ought to sort out their internal disputes themselves and should stay out of the courts," Ms Hall said. "That is all very well but does little to help a hapu like Ngati Wahiao that is about to lose its customary property rights into Whakarewarewa Valley, on the basis of legislation which Pita is promoting."