Claims Update 20 April 2007
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Negotiations
The negotiations continue to move along at a swift pace. We have progressed through the Historical Account and on to Crown Acknowledgements. We have also met twice with the Hon Mark Burton, Minister in charge of Treaty Negotiations. We put forward the nature of our claim and the determination of our people to control their own destiny into the future.
We are now in the midst of receiving the first offers from the Crown and so it is important for all our whanau and hapu to be prepared for upcoming hui to discuss these very important matters.
The negotiations process is difficult but we have a capable team who are doing their utmost to gain as much as we can for the future of all our hapu. We are looking to work towards an Agreement in Principle with the Crown around mid 2007. So it is crucial for all to take up the opportunity to have a look at where the claims are up to and state your views regarding the merits of the deal that will be before us.
Historical Account
As stated in previous reports, the historical account is at a stage where the negotiation team are ready to recommend to the Runanga to sign off based upon their own work and advice from our historians. The team has pushed hard for inclusion of the nature of the 1849 transaction and has gained a great deal more content than when we first started.
The Crown has subsequently formulated acknowledgements of breaches of the treaty which are being considered and the historical account is also being reviewed by an eminent historian. Essentially this work stream is all but complete. Now our team is focusing on other work streams.
Cultural Redress
After extensive discussions with our hapu in regard to the potential sites for cultural redress we are now in a position to examine the first offer from the Crown for cultural redress. This offer has to be examined along with the commercial offer in terms of weighing up the overall package.
Presentations have also been made to us by the Ministry for Arts & Culture, Ministry for the Environment, and the Ministry of Fisheries regarding the protocols they have used in previous settlements.
We have also done some analysis work on the Buller Collection which has many Ngati Apa taonga in it. Much of this material is held at Te Papa.
Commercial Redress
We are getting very close to receiving a fIrst offer from the crown A great deal of hard work has gone into this in tenns of the special factors of our claim that the negotiation team have promoted to OTSand the Minister.
These are factors such as landlessness and the nature of the relationship sought by Ngati Apa leadership in the 1849 Rangitikei Turakina transaction are signifIcant in that they set our claim apart from others. We have commissioned several analysis reports which have been utilised in the
negotiations to demonstrate the predicament of our people and the need for appropriate redress to ensue.
There are some Crown assets in our area and each needs to be considered in terms of their value for the future development of our hapu.
Overlapping Claims
This work stream has been relatively quiet in part due to the holiday period where many people are away. We have been in contact with representatives ofWhanganui lwi and a meeting with them is scheduled for May.
We will also be looking to meet with some Ngati Kauwhata claimants as they have corresponded with us and we can now start some discussions with them.
Wai655
We have received an application to the Maori Land Court from Uncle Gray Matthews which amounts to a challenge to the Runanga being the appropriate body to represent his claim. We have sought legal advice and submissions have been prepared. The Crown will also be involved in this case and they are consulting with Crown law in preparation for the hearing. We await feedback from the court.