Claim Wai 6, the Motunui–Waitara claim, was brought by Aila Taylor on behalf of the Te Atiawa tribe on 2 June 1981 and concerned the control of discharge of sewage and industrial waste into the sea between New Plymouth and Waitara.
The claimants alleged that they had been prejudicially affected by a Crown policy that had resulted in a failure to properly control the discharge of sewage and industrial waste. They claimed that such a policy was inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty in that it had adversely affected Te Atiawa's main traditional fishing grounds and was causing irreversible damage to the larger seabed. The fishing grounds were a valuable source of food for the tribe, and they claimed that they had been deprived of the full, exclusive, and undisturbed possession of fisheries which they desired to retain, as confirmed and guaranteed to them by the Treaty.
The Te Atiawa fishing reefs (or kaawa) extend for some 30 to 35 miles along the sea coast of the north Taranaki bight and provide an abundant source of seafood. Collectively, they constitute one of the most extensive traditional fishing reefs of the Maori people. They are referred to in the songs and legends of the Te Atiawa people and were a source, not only of food, but of tribal pride and prestige.
The Waitangi Tribunal
Many of Te Atiawa's reefs were no longer useable by the 1980s because they had been polluted. The pollution had come from sewer outfalls along the coast and also from run-off. The worst pollution was from the Waitara Borough outfall, which emptied sewage and industrial waste into the sea near some of the reefs. This outfall was damaged and overloaded, which made the problem worse.
In 1981, the New Zealand Synthetic Fuels Corporation (Syngas) was given permission to build another outfall for its synthetic fuels plant at Motunui. This outfall would have emptied more sewage and industrial waste onto the reefs and would have affected the Motunui Reef, which was one of the few safe reefs left for collecting seafood. The outfall was to be built under strict conditions, but neither Syngas nor the Planning Tribunal, which gave Syngas permission to build the outfall, could guarantee that there would be no further pollution of the reefs. It was at this point that Te Atiawa made their claim to the Waitangi Tribunal.
The general Motunui reef system to which we are referring is unusual on the west coast because it is the only system of any consequence facing north. These areas contain an abundance of sea life which is an important food source for both the Maori and the European races. The Te Atiawa Tribe and its hapus have historic associations with the coast line in this area and depend upon the sea resources to provide them with the diet to which they have been accustomed for many centuries. Each hapu has its own particular reef or area and tribal custom discourages members of the one hapu from gathering food from the reef of another hapu. Thus the contamination of one reef would deprive the hapu which customarily was entitled to the sea food from that reef. Although the law does not prevent the gathering of sea food from anywhere along the coast, the evidence indicated that Maori custom, which is very strong amongst the members of the Te Atiawa Tribe, would act as an effective social prohibition.
The Maori people treat the reefs with the greatest of respect in so far as cleanliness is concerned: there are stringent tribal rules concerning the personal hygiene of the sea food gatherers which are incompatible with any discharge of sewage effluent into the ocean, no matter how well such effluent is treated.
The Planning Tribunal
The Tribunal constituted to hear the claim comprised Chief Judge Eddie Durie (presiding), Sir Graham Latimer, and Walter Willis. Hearings were held in July, October, and November of 1982, and the Tribunal presented its report to the Minister of Maori Affairs and the claimants on 17 March 1983.
The Tribunal found that the Crown had failed to recognise Maori interests guaranteed by the Treaty and that Maori interests should have been taken into account in the management of New Zealand's natural resources. It recommended that the proposal for an ocean outfall at Motunui be discontinued and that the Crown seek an interim arrangement with the Waitara Borough Council for the discharge of the synthetic fuels plant's effluent through the council's outfall. The Tribunal also recommended that both a regional task force and an interdepartmental committee be established; the former to plan for development in the region in the medium term and the latter to promote legislation for the reservation and control of significant Maori fishing grounds.
We were convinced that there is a need for a much greater awareness of the spiritual and mental concepts of the Maori in relation to seafood and water by non Maori who share the seafood resource and by those who are charged with its protection. It would be particularly wrong if the administration of Maori fishing grounds was entrusted only to those whose judgements are founded upon cultural values that are entirely irrelevant to Maori people.
The Waitangi Tribunal |
