Wai 45 Renewed Muriwhenua Land Inquiry

Te Paatu ki Kauhanga hapū have long standing grievances in relation to acts and comissions of the Crown in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi since 1840. Te Paatu ki Kauhanga have prosecuted claims against the Crown in the Waitangi Tribunal within the Muriwhenua Inquiry, the Paparahi o Te Raki Inquiry and in the courts seeking redress for their grievances, return of lands, waters, foreshore, seabed, marine and all available resources, restoration of relationships with all levels of government. Te Paatu ki Kauhanga seek to provide a platform for the rebuilding of their community.

In anticipation of the Crown engaging with various hapū and other organisations to negotiate a settlement of the historical Treaty claims in the Ngāti Kahu rohe, Te Paatu ki Kauhanga Trust Board is established as the hapū entity to receive and manage any settlement benefits for Te Paatu ki Kauhanga hapū.

In the late 20th century and into the 21st century, together with other tribal relations from Muriwhenua, Te Paatu ki Kauhanga participated in the available Waitangi Tribunal, other legal and political engagement processes in respect of their interests and claims over their lands, waters, coast and seas. Te Paatu ki Kauhanga are now taking steps to establish a Post Governance Settlement Entity (“PGSE”) intended to hold and administer those lands, waters and resources on behalf of the beneficiaries.

Te Paatu ki Kauhanga will continue to have direct input into the negotiation of their historical claims and its representatives will ensure their mandate by maintaining ongoing, organised hapū communications and structures.

Te Paatu ki Kauhanga intend to be ready to enter into discussions with the Crown and aspire to reach a stage where Te Paatu ki Kauhanga may negotiate and enter into a Deed of Settlement with the Crown to achieve the return of any available Crown land and resources in their rohe to them as an on-account part settlement of their historical Treaty claims against the Crown.

To meet the requirements for settlement prescribed by the Crown, a post-settlement governance entity needed to be established to sign the Deed of Settlement and to receive and administer the settlement assets received as part of the Te Paatu ki Kauhanga Treaty settlement. Te Paatu ki Kauhanga Hapū Trust is established and settled for this purpose and for the protection and advancement of Te Paatu.

In accordance with the Trust Deed, the whānau are entitled to benefit from settlement redress.

Wai 45 Renewed Muriwhenua Land Inquiry

Historical Treaty of Waitangi Claims are made by Maori against the Crown for breaches of the Treaty before 1992. Historical settlements aim to resolve claims and provide some redress to the claimant groups. When a settlement is reached, it becomes law.

Large Natural Groups (LNGs) are known as claimant groups and can be made up of a single iwi, a group of iwi or a collection of hapu from the same geographical area.

The settlement provides three types of redress including a historical account of the Treaty breaches, a Crown acknowledgement and apology, cultural redress, commercial and financial redress.

There are four stages in the Treaty settlement process including pre-negotiation, negotiation, legislation and implementation. The key objective is to negotiate a settlement of historical Treaty of Waitangi claims for Te Paatu ki Kauhanga.

To achieve this a cluster agreement was formulated and signed in August 2020 between Te Paatu ki Kauhanga Trust Board and claimants for Wai 1842, Wai 1359 and interested party status for Haititaimarangai 438 Trust.

An application was made to Crown Forestry Rental Trust to support the ongoing operations for claims before the Waitangi Tribunal in March 2021. The Land & Takutai Moana sub-committee is authorised by the trustees to lead Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) claims before the Waitangi Tribunal and the High Court.