Tai Rāwhiti Protest: A Burning Question On Ngāti Oneone's Redress
An online petition supporting the hap has over 1950 signatures.
A fire signalling Tai Rāwhiti hapū Ngāti Oneone's call for the return of their ancestral lands has been burning for over six weeks.
The hapū said it will stoke the fire until the grievance is resolved, but after three generations of attempting to remedy it, does not want the redress to fall on them.
'It always falls on us to 'make the case',' Ngāti Oneone chairwoman Charlotte Gibson told Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) when the movement started on 5 May.
The Crown said any potential redress in this case is the responsibility of the landowner and the hapū.
As part of its protest, members of Ngāti Oneone have inhabited Te Pā Eketū Shed, a warehouse-sized property on Gisborne's Hirini St.
Rather than an 'occupation', the hāpu calls the action 'a reclamation of whenua'.
The location is where Ngāti Oneone's marae and pā were originally established in 1852 before being removed for harbour development under the Private Works Act.
Eastland Port, of which Trust Tai Rāwhiti is the sole shareholder, owns the shed and others on the hapū's ancestral land on Hirini St and the Esplanade.
At the beginning of the protest movement, the hapū called on the trust, Eastland Port and Gisborne District Council to return land not used for 'core business'.
Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann told LDR the council had started exploring how land could potentially be returned following formal requests from Ngāti Oneone in 2024.
This includes investigating the relevant legal processes, policy settings and the interests of other Treaty partners.
However, Trust Tai Rāwhiti, which has a funding partnership with the council and serves as the region's economic development and tourism organisation, earlier said addressing historical Treaty breaches was not its responsibility, but rather a matter for the Crown, after it sought independent legal advice.
'We support Ngāti Oneone in pursuing this with the Crown,' chairman David Battin told LDR when the protest started.
Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka had a different view.
The 2010 Ngāti Porou settlement of historical Treaty of Waitangi claims includes Ngāti Oneone, Potaka told LDR.
'The matter being raised … is outside of the process for the settlement of historical Treaty claims.
'Any exploration of options to return and/or purchase the land is a matter for the landowner agency to undertake in discussion with Ngāti Oneone,' he said.
Regarding Potaka's statement, a Trust Tai Rāwhiti spokesperson this week said trustees continued to 'engage directly with Ngāti Oneone and remained focused on constructive resolutions'.
The 'reclamation of whenua'
Gibson confirmed the hapū had met with the landowner groups involved under Trust Tai Rāwhiti and would have a meeting with the council next week.
She was unsure whether the groups would respond individually or together.
The hapū has committed to maintaining the protest for two months and then will reassess depending on outcomes, she said.
'We'll keep the fire burning until we've had an acceptable response.'
In addition to the return of land, the hapū has made other requests to the landowners through an online petition signed by over 1950 as of Friday.
The petition urges the Tai Rāwhiti leaders to take three actions: 'Whakahokia Whenua Mai', which requests the return of land not used for core business, 'Whakamana Tangata' and 'Te Tiriti'.
Whakamana Tangata requests that Trust Tai Rāwhiti financially compensate Ngāti Oneone for 'the alienation' of their lands without conditions.
'Te Tiriti' requests that the leaders seek a pathway that treats Ngāti Oneone in the same vein as a 'Treaty' partner, rather than 'a community group'.
Gibson said that after Eastland Port sold a shed on their ancestral land to the Gisborne Tatapouri Sports Fishing Club three years ago, they worried about what could happen to the rest of their ancestral land, so they started negotiations for the Te Pa Eketū Shed.
If the land were sold, it would be harder to reclaim, she said.
However, they then realised the port had other sheds in the area, not used for 'core business'.
'In my view, it's not an occupation, it's a reclamation of whenua,' Gibson said, explaining that the shed had been leased while negotiating the sales and purchase agreement.
The port would send the hapū the bill, which they would send to Trust Tai Rāwhiti, who would pay Eastland Port (owned by the trust), she said.
Trust Tai Rāwhiti was going to give them $1.4 million to purchase the shed, but the hapū wanted to use the money to buy the lot.
When their request was denied, they understood and looked into other ways of obtaining the sheds, Gibson said.
However, when the hapū got the sales and purchase agreement, things shifted.
'There were four clauses within the sales and purchase agreement, which undermined Mana motuhake [self-determination], which made it untenable,' said Gibson.
On 5 May the beginning of the hapū's 'Reclamation of whenua', they were supposed to sign the sales and purchase agreement but decided to 'reclaim' the land instead.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Engagement should have come ‘earlier'
Southland District Council has proposed that the region's four councils combine into two unitary authorities. PHOTO: APL FILES Southland District Council did not engage with its Treaty partners when formulating a bold new proposal to amalgamate southern councils, a document has revealed. But mayor Rob Scott has defended the process, saying there will still be opportunities for providing feedback. Last week, the Local Government Commission announced it would investigate a potential reorganisation of the region's four councils — Southland District Council, Invercargill City Council, Gore District Council and Environment Southland. The initiative was spearheaded by Mr Scott with a goal of saving money and improving efficiency. A determination document released by the commission showed the council failed to engage with both Ngāi Tahu ki Murihiku and Te Ao Mārama Inc — a company which represents the four Southland rūnanga in resource management. The oversight came to light after the commission reached out to Te Ao Mārama to request feedback on the potential reorganisation. Te Ao Mārama told the commission that Ngāi Tahu ki Murihiku was not opposed to an investigation, but noted the council did not engage with either party in developing the initiative. The company said the initiative could impact "matters of importance" to the iwi and there was not enough information for them to form an opinion on preferred options. Te Ao Mārama kaiwhakahaere kaupapa taiao Dean Whaanga told Local Democracy Reporting his group would have liked to be engaged "much earlier". Regardless, they supported the commission's investigation and were approaching it with an open mind. Te Ao Mārama looked forward to sharing their mātauranga and insights with the commission on behalf of Ngāi Tahu ki Murihiku, he said. "We have a good relationship with the Southland District Council and work constructively together." Mr Scott said he reached out to Ngāi Tahu's chair early in the piece but believed the timing must not have been right for them to respond. The proposal was not in its final stages and both parties would have an opportunity to feed into the final piece of work, he said. "It's not a process that you do every week, but I'm comfortable with the way that we've gone about it." The commission's investigation is expected to take at least 12 months. ■LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Scoop
2 days ago
- Scoop
Council Should Have Engaged Māori Stakeholders ‘Much Earlier'
Southland District Council did not engage with its Treaty partners when formulating a bold new proposal to amalgamate southern councils, a document has revealed. But mayor Rob Scott has defended the process, saying there will still be opportunities for providing feedback. Last week, the Local Government Commission announced it would investigate a potential reorganisation of the region's four councils — Southland District Council, Invercargill City Council, Gore District Council and Environment Southland. The initiative was spearheaded by Scott with a goal of saving money and improving efficiency. A determination document released by the commission showed the council failed to engage with both Ngāi Tahu ki Murihiku and Te Ao Mārama Inc — a company which represents the four Southland rūnanga in resource management. The oversight came to light after the commission reached out to Te Ao Mārama to request feedback on the potential reorganisation. Te Ao Mārama told the commission that Ngāi Tahu ki Murihiku was not opposed to an investigation, but noted the council did not engage with either party in developing the initiative. The company said the initiative could impact 'matters of importance' to the iwi and there was not enough information for them to form an opinion on preferred options. Te Ao Mārama kaiwhakahaere kaupapa taiao Dean Whaanga told Local Democracy Reporting his group would have liked to have be engaged 'much earlier'. Regardless, they supported the commission's investigation and were approaching it with an open mind. Te Ao Mārama looked forward to sharing their mātauranga and insights with the commission on behalf of Ngāi Tahu ki Murihiku, he said. 'We have a good relationship with the Southland District Council and work constructively together.' Mayor Scott said he reached out to Ngāi Tahu's chair early in the piece but believed the timing must not have been right for them to respond. The proposal was not in its final stages and both parties would have an opportunity to feed into the final piece of work, he said. 'It's not a process that you do every week, but I'm comfortable with the way that we've gone about it. I'm comfortable with the thoroughness of it. And I'm also comfortable with the potential outcomes,' Scott said. The commission's investigation is expected to take at least 12 months.
The Spinoff
3 days ago
- The Spinoff
The tension between central and local government bubbles to the surface
Local government says it needs certainty from central government beyond election cycles. Central government says local government is wasting money on unnecessary projects. Who's right? Simon Watts, minister for local government, has kids. He's learned that when you give them a full day free to do whatever they want, they might 'make some bad choices'. But give them five options, and they can pick the one they want to do. He's on stage at SuperLocal, Local Government New Zealand's annual conference in Christchurch, answering a question about the government's move to stop 'wellbeing' and 'the environment' being part of councils' remit. 'People don't have an appetite for nice-to-haves,' he says. 'You weren't elected to make easy decisions, you were elected to make difficult decisions. The best thing I can do is to help you on that journey.' Broadcaster Miriama Kamo, hosting the discussion, pointed out that some local government members might not appreciate the metaphor. 'That's a bit patronising, mate,' someone yelled from the audience. At SuperLocal, the tension between central government and local government is nearly palpable. A brief, videoed address from Christopher Luxon is met with about three people applauding. With RMA reform and a potential rates cap on the agenda, the government is saying that councils are spending too much money on unnecessary projects. Councils are saying that actually, they are focusing on basics – and ever-changing directions from central government is a waste of their resources. Chris Bishop, the minister for RMA reform, addressed attendees at a plenary session. 'Ratepayers don't care what Greenstar rating your new council facilities have or whether some international architectural body thinks your latest build is pretty or not. The only awards your projects should be winning are for cost efficiency and effectiveness,' he said. There was an audible groan somewhere in the room. He kept going, talking fast to get through his speech, saying that councils needed to be better at planning for housing growth and that the government needed to make this easier. He promised two bills by November: one to replace the development contributions system so that developers pay more for infrastructure their new housing will require, and another to fund infrastructure development. Bishop's key announcement was also aimed at council efficiency: with whatever replaces the RMA on the way, he is removing (in most cases) the requirement for councils to take the RMA into account when making their plans. 'Plans completed under the RMA may be incompatible with the new system,' he said. Most plan changes will have to wait until the new system is in place, although particularly urgent changes, or changes related to Treaty settlements or natural hazards, will be exempt. 'Minister Bishop's announcements today were really good for local government to hear, with some certainty about where the RMA is going, [and] the timeframes around when we're going to hear further announcements,' said Sam Broughton, Selwyn District mayor and president of Local Government New Zealand, at a press conference afterwards. On the whole, though, local government is frustrated, because they feel that they're not using their budgets on 'nice to haves'. 'If I use my council as an example, 80% of our spend is on water pipes, wastewater pipes and transport systems. So the other 20%, you've got to include your recycling, your rubbish, your pools, the things that actually communities still think are essential.' To Broughton, and local government in general, changing directives from central government make it hard to plan long term, making councils more inefficient and wasting resources. 'Every time we have an election, there's a flip-flop, and it's just a distraction from us getting on with the work,' he said. One government wants wellbeing and environment to be part of plans; the next doesn't. One government wants to overhaul the RMA in one way; the next wants to overhaul the RMA in another way. 'We need ways of doing things so changes of government don't rip up previous governments' work – a pipeline of work that is agreed cross-party,' Broughton said. To prevent what he sees as wasteful council spending, the government is investigating legislation that would cap how much rates can rise, said Watts. 'It has to achieve the outcome that we're looking for.' The giant Taxpayers' Union truck parked outside the Te Pae conference centre emblazoned with pictures of mayors and how much rates have increased in their regions is a reminder of vested interests in this issue. But linking rates to household inflation doesn't make sense, Broughton said; much of what councils spend money on isn't in the CPI basket. 'Rates capping itself is actually a discussion about who makes decisions locally about what's delivered. Is it central government? Is it more power to Wellington?' Broughton said, mentioning that New Zealand is one of the most centralised countries in the OECD, with central government controlling the vast majority of government spending. Part of Wednesday's conference session was the release of an LGNZ-commissioned report quantifying local government's economic contributions: $20.1 billion operational and capital expenditure, $2.2bn in public administration and $500 million in long-term productivity gains. 'There's some basic things that councils have to get involved in because central government isn't stepping up to fit the needs of local communities,' said Broughton. His council is funding a health centre, because many people in Selwyn have to leave the district to go to the doctor. While there's certainly tension between central and local government, there's also a desire to get things done. Broughton was asked about Simon Watts' 'kids' comment at the stand-up. 'I think people like to play politics around language,' he said. 'But Minister Watts has also said he wants a situation where we sit around the table as adults. Councils get elected locally to think about what's in the best interest of their local community. And that is really hard work that requires mature minds.'
