This report is in response to claims relating to the development, finalisation, and implementation in the 1960's of the Tarawera Forest joint-venture scheme, a tripartite forestry scheme involving private enterprise (originally Tasman Pulp and Paper Company Limited), the Crown, and several thousand Maori . In essence, the claims assert that the Crown secured the involvement of the Maori participants in the scheme by means which were in breach of Treaty principles and which caused them prejudice. The relevant Treaty principles are those of active protection and partnership. The claimed prejudice is, first, the unnecessary and non-consensual loss from Maori ownership of more than 38,000 acres of land, including the sacred maunga Putauaki and, secondly, the loss of financial benefits that, it is said, should have been obtained from the joint venture by the Maori participants but were not.
The primary group of claimants (the Wai 411 claimants) represent the former owners of the 38,000 acres of Maori land and the current shareholders and debenture stock holders of Maori Investments Limited (MIL). MIL is a holding company created in 1968 for the specific purpose of administering the 10.8 percent stake in Tarawera Forests Limited (TFL) that was obtained by the former owners of the Maori land in return for contributing their land to the venture. Supporting the Wai 411 claim but focusing specifically on the loss of ownership of Putauaki were the Ngati Awa (Wai 46) claimants. The other claim reported on here (Wai 872) was made by an individual Wai 411 claimant during the course of the Tribunal's hearing.
A key feature of the Tarawera Forest joint venture was that ownership of the land contributed by the three venturers passed to TFL in return for a stake in that company. The claimants' land loss grievance rests on their view that the owners of the Maori land would have much preferred to lease it than lose title to it, and that a lease could have been achieved in place of the joint venture if only the Crown had acted consistently with its duty actively to protect Maori interests. Instead, the claimants allege, the Crown put its own interests ahead of those of the Maori landowners and secured their involvement in the joint venture by a variety of unfair tactics, the effect of which was that the Maori owners did not sufficiently understand or consent to the venture's terms. The sense of grievance that surrounds the loss from Maori to private ownership of such a large area of land, including the taonga Putuaki, is exacerbated by the fact that the Tarawera Forest joint-venture has proved to be a 'one-off' scheme. All other forestry projects utilising Maori land have involved leases, and some have enabled the Maori lessors to own the forest on their land at the end of the lease's term.
The claimant's second grievance is that the joint venture has not given to the Maori participants the returns promised to those who knew of it, let alone the returns that they claim would have been obtained if the venture had been negotiated fairly. At the heart of this grievance, too, is the view that the Crown put its own interests first and, by various unfair tactics, ensured that the Maori landowners became party to a venture on terms that were not to their greatest advantage.
The nature of the claims has required the Tribunal to undertake a detailed examination of the events surrounding the development and implementation of the Tarawera Forest joint venture. The first issue is the fairness, in terms of the Crown's obligations to protect Maori interests, of the process by which the joint venture was conceived and became a reality. The second issue is the attitude of the Crown throughout that process. We have found that the process followed in establishing the joint venture was inconsistent with what the Treaty principle requires of the Crown. We have also found, however, that the Crown was not motivated by bad faith in that process. Further, we are satisfied that the two claimant groups have been prejudiced by the loss of ownership of the former Maori land and the sacred mountain, and that the financial returns to MIL from the joint venture do not offset that loss. We are not satisfied, however, that the claimants have lost financial benefits due to them from their participation in the joint venture. Finally, we consider that the prejudice resulting from the loss of land ownership requires redress from the Crown, and we have made recommendations on that matter at the conclusion of this report. |
