Te Arawa lakes deal under threat

By CHERIE TAYLOR in Rotorua
Te Arawa's $10 million-plus lakes settlement could sink with next month's election.

The deal between the Rotorua-based tribe and the Crown includes a $10 million cultural redress package and was to have been legislated before the end of the year.

However, the election has crept up on Te Arawa and the Crown, and if National wins - the deal is off. In December, Te Arawa and the Crown signed a Deed of Settlement for the return of 13 of the region's lakebeds.

It was hailed as a new beginning for the tribe and included an apology for past breaches of the Crown's Treaty of Waitangi obligations.

Te Arawa was to set up a Post Settlement Governance Entity to manage the settlement package on behalf of the tribe and the government was to introduce a bill legislating the settlement by the end of this year.

However, National's Gerry Brownlee says if his party wins the election it would not return the lakes to the iwi.

Debbie Hannan, press secretary to Minister in charge of Treaty Negotiations, Mark Burton, said significant work had gone in to drafting the legislation since the deed of settlement was signed last year.

She stressed Te Arawa's governance entity was not ratified by iwi until a fortnight ago, and Mr Burton had not signed it off until Tuesday.

The Government had "every intention" to pass the legislation when Parliament resumed following the election, she said.

Rotorua's Sir Howard Morrison was disappointed the Labour party had failed to finalise the settlement.

Sir Howard said Te Arawa's deal with the Crown should already have been finalised, whether Labour retained power or not.

"I'm really disappointed they haven't done this.

"It fills me with despair," he said.

Race relations in New Zealand were at an all time low.

National's negative statements about the settlement were out of line, Sir Howard said.

A poll of Rotorua residents before the settlement showed more than 60 per cent of the community supported the return of the lakes.

"It will be problematic for our people if National dig their heels in," Sir Howard said.

Te Arawa Maori Trust Board chairman Anaru Rangiheuea said he "was not in a position to comment on the lakes issue at this time".

Board manager Roku Mihinui said ratification of the Post Settlement Entity group had been completed but there would be "no statement from the board until after settlement".

Mr Brownlee, National's Maori affairs spokesman, confirmed National would not finalise the deal in its current form.

"We did not sign this agreement and I don't feel any obligation whatsoever to honour it," he said.

"Te Arawa made a mistake by not speaking to us about this before now."

The deal had been signed and sealed in 1922 with the Fenton Agreement which granted the tribe cultural fishing rights and an annuity of ?6000, Mr Brownlee said.

"We appreciate the annuity is no longer satisfactory but return of the lakes is not appropriate."

Office of Treaty Settlements director Andrew Hampton confirmed the deal was subject to legislation being passed.

While time had run out for Labour to table the bill concerning the lake's settlement before the election, any new government would be obligated to introduce it at a later date, he said.

However, that did not necessarily mean the bill would become law.

Te Arawa kaumatua Mike Rika was angry about the prospect of the deal crashing.

"Our people are going to be sad if this doesn't go through. A large amount of public money has gone into settling the lakes issue. How much more money will have to be spent on this? Labour promised it would be dealt with before the election and they haven't done so."

At December's deal-signing Rotorua deputy mayor Trevor Maxwell was disappointed to find the issue could again become a "political football".

"My own feeling is Te Arawa will be disappointed after all the hard, positive work that many people have put in over many years to receive an agreement that satisfied so many people," he said.