NEW ZEALAND
Above: The alternative New Zealand flag was designed by architect Kyle Lockwood, and features New Zealand icons, the silver fern and the Southern Cross..
Treaty of Waitangi Claims Settlement Legislation The Minister for Treaty Negotiations, Hon.
Christopher Finlayson MP (National), described the reparations under the Treaty of Waitangi contained in the omnibus Te Hiku Claims Settlement Bill as “one of the largest returns of land to Māori ownership through any Treaty settlement.” Six Bills were divided from the original Bill at the Committee stage, four of these detailing the settlement provisions between the Crown and four Far North iwi [tribes]: Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupouri, NgāiTakoto, and Te Rarawa.
Cultural redress to the iwi includes the addition of Māori place names as official geographic names for certain areas: Cape Reinga will also be known as Te Rerenga
Wairua, and Te Oneroa-a- Tohe is the restored name of Ninety Mile Beach.
Furthermore, a new body known as Te Hiku o Te Ika Conservation Board has been established, made up of Te Hiku tribal representatives and the regional council, to provide Māori governance and protection over the area. Mr. Finlayson said that the individual settlements were significant and provided each of the iwi an opportunity to determine their future. “Collectively, however, the settlements are truly unique. The iwis’ decision to join together to negotiate and agree common arrangements across significant redress … reflects the ancestral network that binds all together, but it also speaks to a great vision. It takes true leadership to work together to that degree.” Several members paid tribute to a number of key iwi leaders who had passed away during the lengthy course of negotiations. The other two Bills to be divided from the original Bill were the Ngāti Kahu Accumulated Rentals Trust
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Bill, which safeguards rental moneys from forest land for the Ngāti Kahu iwi, who have not yet reached settlement with the Crown, and the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal Act 1977 Amendment Bill.
The Bills unanimously passed their Third Reading on 8 September 2015. Speaking in the Third Reading of the Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Bill, which also passed its Third Reading unopposed on 8 September,
Mr Pita Paraone MP (New Zealand First) stated that “it reflects, like all claims, the contribution that iwi who settle their Treaty claims make to this nation by accepting a settlement that really does not reflect 100 per cent compensation, to which they are entitled.”
The Bill gives financial and cultural redress to Te Kawerau ā Maki, an iwi that holds customary interests in areas around Auckland. The financial redress, recognising the losses suffered by the iwi, includes $6.5 million plus interest
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and 86% of Crown- licensed forestry land. The accumulated rentals that come with the forest will provide a cash reserve and will allow other commercial opportunities to be taken up. The iwi is also granted right of first refusal over other Crown-owned properties. Cultural redress includes the vesting of nine culturally significant sites, including lands on which Te Kawarau ā Maki can establish a marae [meeting place] and an urupā [cemetery]. Māori names are also returned to several geographical areas.
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