Central North Island Inquiry WAI 1200

Friday 3 August 2007

The Waitangi Tribunal has just released a further volume of its big report on Treaty claims in the central North Island region. This inquiry is the largest the Tribunal has ever undertaken, covering more than 120 claims from across the Rotorua, Kaingaroa and Taupo districts.

The latest volume looks at natural resources. In particular, it investigates claims relating to the substantial geothermal and water resources of the region. Central North Island Māori claim that these resources were taonga which they used and cherished, and that the Crown tried to undermine their rangatiratanga by taking the resources and assuming control. The Crown, for its part, claims the right to own and control the resources as part of its right to govern for the benefit of all New Zealanders.

The Tribunal’s view is that a balance needs to be struck. Before the arrival of settlers, central North Island Māori held all natural resources, just as they held all land, under customary tenure. That was akin to a property right in English law. The Treaty says that Māori should not be deprived of their rights without their full and free consent. The Tribunal has found that, in the case of the central North Island’s natural resources, the Crown has often breached the Treaty on this point.

In addition, the Tribunal has found that Māori of the region have frequently been excluded from any meaningful role in decision-making over the use of natural resources - despite, in many cases, being directly affected by the downstream results of those decisions. Impacts of such decision-making have included the modification of particular springs, lakes, rivers and streams of importance to them; the flooding or swamping of their land (including places special to particular iwi and hapū); the reduction of native fish stocks; and the loss or degradation of geothermal features.

The Tribunal has, however, made no general recommendations in respect of possible Treaty settlements with the various hapū and iwi. Rather, it has preferred to leave it to claimants and the Crown to address these matters in negotiation.