Report Summary

Claim Wai 32 was received on 15 April 1987. It was lodged by Te Aho Welsh and others of Ngati Rangiteaorere and alleged that they had been prejudicially affected by the Crown’s granting of tribal land at Te Ngae to the Anglican Church. They claimed that the Crown should have returned the land to the tribe once it was no longer needed for a residential mission station.

The Tribunal constituted to hear the claim comprised Judge Heta Hingston (presiding), Sir Monita Delamere, and Professor Keith Sorrenson, and three hearings were held, one each in December 1989, July 1990, and August 1990.

The Tribunal subsequently released its report in December 1990. The Tribunal found that Ngati Rangiteaorere had been deprived of their land without adequate consultation or consent, in breach of article 2 of the Treaty of Waitangi, and recommended that compensation be paid to them for the time that they were denied the use of the land. Because the church wanted to return the land to the tribe, the Tribunal recommended that the Crown pass legislation to facilitate the release of the land from a trust it was subject to.