Waikato-Tainui remaining claims negotiations update

nā Rāhui Papa

Ka timu te tai, ka pari te tai

Kanapanapa ana te wai

Ko te whare o Tangaroa e tuu nei

Ko te poho o Hinemoana e hora nei

He tai aroha ki ngaa mate huhua o te waa.

Ka rere te tai o whakaaro ki Hawaiki nui, ki Hawaiki roa, ki Hawaiki paamamao.

Tihei mauri ora!

Maa te Atua too taatou Kiingi hei manaaki.

E te iwi nui tonu, teenaa koutou katoa.

Over these past 12 months, the tongikura from Kiingi Tuheitia: Amohia ake te ora o te iwi ka puta ki te whei ao – to protect the wellbeing of our people is paramount has continued to guide our people and our kaupapa. With COVID-19 present in our communities, and the need to prioritise the wellbeing of our people, it has been challenging to advance the Waikato-Tainui Remaining Claims. However, we have made some progress.

As with the rest of the motu, we began 2021 with excitement. The virus had been quarantined at the border, and it was no longer an imminent danger to our whaanau. During this period of relative calm, we were able to hold Aspirations Waananga with our harbours whaanau, host the Minister and his team at Kaawhia and Aotea Moana, and hold a series of follow up hui with our whaanau. While these hui were happening, the Waikato-Tainui Negotiations Team were also progressing discussions at the table with the Crown.

Then Delta hit. The outbreak caused delays and disruptions to our workstream, particularly our efforts to engage kanohi ki te kanohi with our whaanau.

Fortunately, we had already established the negotiating framework which was informed by the aspirations waananga held earlier in the year. With this framework in place, the Negotiations Team were able to continue some discussions online with the Crown. While there have been no real agreements reached with the Crown, we have started some significant koorero. We are working with the Crown on the harbour definition, which is important because it sets the tone for negotiations. We have progressed an early draft of the historical account which serves as the basis for the Crown apology. More recently, we have started meeting with individual Crown agencies. These discussions will help inform specific settlement redress relating to each agency. If you continue reading you will find out more about each of these kaupapa.

Finally, as we progress negotiations, we remain committed to keeping whaanau up to date. Early next year, under the new traffic light settings, we hope to organise another round of engagement for our harbours whaanau and those living outside the rohe. We hope to see you all there.

Nei te tai o mihi e papaki ana ki a koutou, kia hari, kia koa, kia haumaru hoki te Kirihimete me te Tau Hoou Paakehaa.

Kia tau te maarirerire,

Rahui Papa Waikato-Tainui Negotiator

ENGAGEMENT HUI

The Delta outbreak has made it very difficult to connect kanohi ki te kanohi particularly in the later part of the year. However, just prior to lockdown, the Negotiations Team were able to meet with each harbour. We were delighted with the turnout across the rohe. At each hui, we provided feedback on the aspirations waananga which were held at the start of the year. The team also explained how these themes have contributed to shaping the settlement redress tools that are being negotiated across the four pou:

Taiao – what is best for our environment

Whai Rawa – sustainable economic, investment and commercial opportunities for our harbours whaanau

Kaupapa – protection, acknowledgement and inclusion of maatauranga, history, te reo me oona tikanga

Hapori – how settlement outcomes will support our communities and tribal members to thrive.

Throughout the Delta lockdown, the team maintained online hui with whaanau, and with the Crown and Crown agencies. We have continued to emphasise to the Crown the critical importance of fully comprehending the Tainui worldview prior to establishing their approach to negotiations. To this end, we had planned for the Minister to visit Whaaingaroa and Manukau in November. However, the visit was postponed due to lockdown restrictions. We are now in contact with the hapuu and the Minister and his staff to determine a suitable date to reschedule. Finally, when we can, under the new traffic light system, we will come back out to the whaanau to discuss the progress we have made within the negotiations. As well as visiting our whaanau in the harbours we would like to host a series of hui across the motu to connect with our taurahere whaanau. Watch out for dates, venues, and locations in the new year.

DEFINITION OF A HARBOUR

As a starting point, the team is urging the Crown to adopt a harbours definition that is holistic and has an integrated approach to resource management. While we are still developing what this approach looks like, and how it will be applied to our harbours, we are exploring and discussing examples such as the Urewera Forest and Whanganui River. These were both granted legal personhood, which means under New Zealand Law they have the same rights and responsibilities as a person.

The harbour definition is an important kaupapa because it will help to determine what redress is on the table and what is not. In our negotiations so far, it is apparent that we are unable to agree with the Crown on all aspects of the harbour definition. For example, a fundamental issue is that the Crown views the harbour as only the inner aspect of the moana. 

However, we have a more holistic view and take the stance that the water in the harbour, and the water out at sea are connected and are therefore one and the same entity. We will keep raising these issues with the Crown, and we will bring the harbour definition back to whaanau for discussion.

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT

The team has also progressed mahi on the historical narrative which includes a comprehensive account of raupatu and its consequences. We have engaged the services of prominent historian, Dr Vincent O’Malley, who is developing the historical account. To assure the report's integrity, he will seek input from our Oati Partners, Claims Advisory Group, and broader whaanau. He has provided the first draft of early pre-European history until the early compensation courts which took place between 1865-1867. The historical account will inform the Crown’s acknowledgements of its breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Crown apology. The Crown and the Negotiations Team can better decide appropriate settlement compensation if we have a shared understanding of what happened, and the impact of this on our harbours and our people.

WORKING WITH CROWN AGENCIES

We held an online hui with several chief executives of Crown agencies. This initial hui was a starting point for the team to strengthen existing relationships with these Crown agencies. Developing solid relationships with these agencies will help to implement future settlement outcomes. The meeting with the agencies also helped us determine which aspirations may have to wait for a settlement, and which we could work with the agencies to progress now.

More recently, the team have commenced engagement with specific Crown agencies that we have prioritised as part of progressing these negotiations. The team met with the Ministry for the Environment to discuss the aspirations that are within the Taiao Pou. Within these hui, the team are also gaining insight into the strategic direction of each agency. For example, the Ministry for the Environment shared their climate change work plan which has relevance to each of our harbours.

Meeting with each agency will continue into 2022, and it will be followed up with a round of workshops where Crown agencies and the team can discuss specific priorities that can be achieved now, and ones that might have to wait until settlement. While it is an exciting time ahead for our people to imagine beyond the final chapter of Wai 30 and the Remaining Claims, it is critical that we dream together and that we keep together on the journey towards settlement.

KEEPING IN TOUCH

If you have any questions about the Waikato-Tainui Remaining Claims please get in touch with Michelle Samson (Rights and Interests Executive Assistant) at michelle.samson@tainui.co.nz.

For more of our paanui, news, and to learn more about the Waikato-Tainui Remaining Claims visit our webpage https://waikatotainui.com/learn-post/waikato-tainui-remaining-claims/

Keep an eye on the Waikato-Tainui Facebook page for Waikato-Tainui Remaining Claims events, hui, and waananga happening in your rohe https://www.facebook.com/WaikatoTainu1