Mike Butler: Ninety Mile Beach tribe accepts $23.7m to end complaints

Far North tribe Te Aupouri on Saturday agreed to end their complaints in return for at least $23.7-million. The mainstream media has provided varying degrees of detail in their reports, but none have detailed the complaints, also referred to as “historical grievance”.

The historical grievances “include claims about the Crown’s handling of pre-Treaty land transactions, surplus lands, pre-1865 Crown purchasing, the operation and impact of the native land laws, 20th century Maori land administration by the Crown, the Crown’s failure to respect, provide for and protect the special relationship between Te Hiku iwi and Ninety Mile Beach (Te Oneroa-a-Töhe), the socio economic effects of colonisation, and the Crown’s failure to deliver the promised benefits of settlement”, according to the summary posted on the Office of Treaty Settlements website.

Te Aupouri is one of five tribes in the Te Hiku o Te Ika a Maui (the tail of the fish of Maui), whose traditional area is the region from the Hokianga Harbour to Mangonui, northwards. Te Aupouri claims 9333 tribal members.

Financial redress includes $21-million to buy the Crown-owned Te Raite and Cape View farms, part of Te Kao School, and a landbanked property at Te Kao, according to the Northern Advocate newspaper.

Eleven properties will be vested in Te Aupouri, and seven jointly vested in Te Aupouri and one or more other Te Hiku iwi. The 18 properties total about 1369ha. It is unclear from the newspaper.report whether these were commercial or cultural redress properties. The value of the properties was not reported.

Te Aupouri, Te Rarawa, Ngai Takoto and Ngati Kuri will jointly own the 21,283ha Crown forest land on the Aupouri peninsula and will receive a share of the accumulated rentals - about $2.2-million to each iwi. Te Aupouri will receive a 30 per cent share of Crown forest land on the peninsula. Again, the value was not stated.

Te Aupouri will also receive $380,000 for cultural projects.

Nineteen geographic names will be changed. Ninety Mile Beach becomes Te Oneroa-a-Tohe. The settlement will create the Te Oneroa-a-Tohe Board to manage the beach - a new permanent joint committee with 50 per cent iwi members and the other half from the Northland Regional and Far North District councils. No details of meeting fee funding.

The Crown is providing a one-off contribution of $137,500 per iwi to install interpretative signs, raise carved poles (pouwhenua) at Waipapakauri and fund regeneration activities along the beach. Public access to the beach is confirmed.