Te Kawerau ā Maki, the iwi of the Waitakere Ranges, says a proposal for Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland Council (Council) to work more closely with the iwi to protect the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area is focused on preserving the Ranges for everyone and is nothing to fear.

Adopted in 2008, the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Act recognises the national, regional, and local significance of the Waitakere Ranges heritage area and promotes the protection and enhancement of its heritage features for present and future generations.

Section 29 of the Act also sets out that a Deed of acknowledgement must identify any specific opportunities for contribution by tangata whenua to the management of the land by the Crown or the Council, and Te Kawerau ā Maki CEO Edward Ashby says progress on this has been a long time coming.

“Every year for 17 years we have asked for our Deed to progress and every year we have been left waiting,” says Te Kawerau ā Maki CEO Edward Ashby.

“Our aim is not to lock the public out of having any sort of say but to enact what is provided for in law. That is, the collaboration of mandated parties to come up with a plan together and coordinate efforts to protect and enhance all the heritage features of the Ranges including natural and community outcomes,”

Mr Ashby says the legislation is largely forgotten and unimplemented with management happening in uncoordinated silos and fear mongering comments that Te Kawerau ā Maki is trying to take control over the whenua is a distraction from the real issue of protecting this taonga.

“This must be one of the only nationally significant places on earth without a plan,” says Mr Ashby.

“We want the area to thrive – to protect threatened species and increase their numbers, to protect our dark skies and landscape qualities, to have better quality recreation for Aucklanders who run, tramp and walk through the Ranges, and for the people that live there – all of us – to have strong communities. We can only do this if we work together.”

Mr Ashby says Te Kawerau ā Maki Deed of Settlement promised a new relationship with the Crown based on mutual respect and cooperation but a generation of Te Kawerau ā Maki people are growing up on the broken promise of the Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area Act.

“The Crown is at risk of repeating history. It was the Crown that purchased land without consultation or investigation of customary rights. It was the Crown that failed to apply the regulations it had established to protect Mâori and it was the Crown’s actions that led to Te Kawerau ā Maki being virtually landless with no marae of urupā of our own”.

Mr Ashby says the Auckland Council had voted unanimously to support the Deed progressing in principle, which included four identified opportunities for it to work together—but now several councillors are backtracking on that decision.

“Our culture, our indigeneity, and our legal rights have been framed as a threat but we must emphasise that decision making powers about the Waitākere Ranges remain with their respective entities: the Council and the Department of Conservation will continue to make final decisions over land where it is custodian as will Te Kawerau ā Maki. This is simply about us working together.”

Notes:

• Te Kawerau ā Maki are a West Auckland-based iwi, with the tribal heartland of the iwi being Hikurangi and Ngā Rau Pou ā Maki (Waitākere Ranges).
• Te Kawerau ā Maki are represented by Te Kawerau Iwi Settlement Trust, which is the post-settlement governance entity established and mandated through the Te Kawerau ā Maki Claims Settlement Act to represent the iwi and to administer Treaty settlement assets.
• Today our iwi is in the process of rebuilding our political, social, cultural, environmental, and economic well being. This includes our visible presence at the Arataki Centre, the Henderson Civic Building, and our planned marae at Te Henga and Te Onekiritea (Hobsonville).

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