Ngapuhi claim on Auckland “now almost certain”

The Ngapuhi leader David Rankin has announced that plans are already well under way for Ngaphui to make a Treaty claim on the greater Auckland area. It comes just a day after the Maori King Tuheitia said that Tainui were also planning to make a claim on Auckland.

Mr Rankin says that Ngapuhi’s history in Auckland extends back for several centuries, and that there are numerous sites in the city that are sacred to the iwi. He also points out that Ngapuhi make up the single biggest Maori population in Auckland, “so historically, and because of current occupation, Auckland is a Ngapuhi city first and foremost.”

The basis of the claim will be that because the Crown ignored Ngapuhgi when settling the Auckland claim with Ngati Whatua, a breach of the Treaty occurred.

Mr Rankin says Ngapuhi’s plans for a claim go back five years, and he decided to make them public after Tuheitia’s announcement. “In a way”, he says, “the King of Huntly is being a bit cheeky. His ancestors didn’t even sign the Treaty and now he wants a piece of the action. But Ngapuhi’s message to him is clear: keep out of Auckland until we’ve finished with it!”

ENDS

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