Taranaki maunga becomes legal person, Govt acknowledges ‘immeasurable harm’ inflicted on iwi

Almost a decade of settlement negotiations between the Crown and Taranaki formally concluded yesterday, when Parliament voted unanimously to pass a law that formally grants legal personhood to Taranaki maunga (mountain).

The redress bill also acknowledged the historical grievances inflicted on Taranaki’s eight iwi by the Crown.

Parliament voted in favour of the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill yesterday evening, marking the 100th settlement between the Crown and Māori and the end of nine years of negotiations.

The Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill received an affirmative vote in Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Hundreds of descendants of Taranaki’s eight iwi gathered at Parliament, many filling the public gallery, to witness their maunga gain legal personhood and the country’s Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith formally acknowledge the “immeasurable harm” of the past.

“Today is a historic day for nga iwi o Taranaki,” Goldsmith said in the House.

Goldsmith said since the signing of the Treaty in 1840, the Crown’s actions had caused the iwi of Taranaki significant grievance. After European settlers established themselves in the area in the early 1840s, the Crown began purchasing land in the Taranaki region.

Māori grew concerned when the Crown began acquiring land from individuals or groups, often without the consent or knowledge of key leaders or the wider community, Goldsmith said. Māori land at the time was typically communally “owned” by multiple if not 100s of people.

In 1860 the Crown used military forces to complete its purchase of land at Waitara, leading to wars between the Crown and Māori, he said. A few years later, the Crown unfairly punished Māori by confiscating 1.2 million acres of Taranaki land, including the mountain.

“The Crown’s breaches of the Treaty mean that immense and compounding harm have been inflicted upon the whānau, hapū and iwi of Taranaki, causing immeasurable harm over many decades.”

Taranaki lead negotiator Jamie Tuuta, who watched proceedings from the public gallery, said today was an important day for the iwi “as the recognition of our maunga as a legal person, as tūpuna, and as an indivisible and living being is passed into law”.

The national park will be renamed Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki and the highest peak will have its name changed to Taranaki Maunga.

The Department of Conservation will continue its operational management of Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki as a national park, with the public retaining freedom of access.

Goldsmith will deliver a formal apology to Taranaki iwi in the future.

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.