08 April 2016

Urgent hearing sought before Waitangi Tribunal on Government’s response to report on Crown Maori land reform

An urgent hearing has been sought before the Waitangi Tribunal by 15 individuals on behalf of their hapū and whanau in response to the Crown’s lack of response to the Tribunal’s report on the government’s controversial proposed repeal and replacement of the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993.

The report, released on 11 March 2016, found that the Crown’s proposed bill did not comply with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi both as to the process the Crown used to develop it and its substance. The Tribunal found that the Crown had not engaged in adequate consultation with Maori. It specifically found that on something as important to Maori as land, it should not be pressing forward without widespread support of Maori.

The Tribunal further found that the substance of the bill did not comply with Treaty principles because the Crown had not established a factual foundation for many of the assumptions it made, and recommended that the Crown develop a base of empirical data before progressing further in the process of land reform.

Despite this report and its findings, the Crown is continuing on the path to introduction of the bill. In spite of requests, the Crown has declined to release the current draft bill or engage in consultation with the Maori community about its contents.

The claimants say that landlocked land, public works takings, unreasonable rates and poor quality land are the barriers to improved Maori land production and these issues are not addressed by the Crown’s Bill.

The current urgency application seeks Tribunal recommendations that the Bill not be introduced before nationwide consultation and proper research of underlying problems with Maori land and productivity have been done.

ENDS

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