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Tribunal report confirms iwi ownership of Lake Waikaremoana
Tribunal report confirms iwi ownership of Lake Waikaremoana and paves the way for redress
The Māori Party welcomes the long-awaited Waitangi Tribunal report on Lake Waikaremoana released today.
“We are pleased for the claimants that eight years after the hearing began on Lake Waikaremoana they have some closure,” says Māori Party Co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell.
“Most importantly, the report confirms freshwater is a taonga and identifies the ownership rights of Tūhoe, Ngāti Ruapani, Ngāti Kahungunu, and Ngāi Tamaterangi to the lake bed.”
The 370 page report chronicles the iwi’s relationship with the lake and successive breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi by the Crown. Those breaches include the unilateral lowering of the lake in 1946 without consultation or compensation which has caused irreparable damage to the lake and the Crown’s failure to provide legal recognition of the tribes’ ownership of the lake.
Since 1971, two Māori trust boards have administered the lake and the Crown has paid to use it. However, in another breach of the Treaty, the Crown refused to pay for the use of the lake for hydroelectricity.
‘We are saddened by the historic erosion of Māori property rights and the persistent failure of the Crown to recognise Māori ownership of the lake which has had huge social and economic impacts on the claimants ,” says Māori Party Co-leader Marama Fox.
“However the comprehensive report does provide a good basis for iwi to negotiate a durable settlement,” says Mrs Fox.
The Tūhoe settlement made earlier this year excluded all Tūhoe interests in Lake Waikaremoana. Other affected iwi including Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Ruapani have yet to negotiate their Treaty settlements with the Crown.
“I look forward to continuing to support these iwi to reassert their rangatiratanga over Lake Waikaremoana,” says Mr Flavell, Waiariki MP.
“I know there are ongoing complications with the use rights to the lake particularly given the sale of Genesis Energy shares to the public earlier this year which the Māori Party opposed. However, I’m sure with goodwill on all sides, a just and enduring settlement can be reached.”
For a copy of the Waitangi Tribunal report on Lake Waikaremoana, go online to https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC_85335211/Te%20Urewera%20Pt%205%20Pre-pubW.pdf
ENDS.
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