KEY POINTS:
Maori occupying an 1100ha block of Crown-owned Coromandel Peninsula land say their action is a re-possession.
And they intend to stay as long as it takes to get back the land they say belongs to them.
The group of Hauraki Maori moved on to Whenuakite Station, between Whitianga and Tairua, on Sunday morning.
"It's a re-possession, not an occupation," Ngati Hei spokesman Joe Davis told the Waikato Times.
He said the land, understood to be worth in the vicinity of $10 million, should be handed back to Hauraki Maori as part of their Treaty of Waitangi settlement deal.
Tenders for the land, between Whitianga and Tairua, closed on February 13. Landcorp was to chose the successful tender this week but Hauraki Maori are to lodge an injunction against the sale and a claim with the Waitangi Tribunal.
Mr Davis said the protesters had had enough of Maori land being sold to private individuals and developers.
"The land should be returned as part of our redress," he said.
"We're here to state that to our ministers and to the Office of Treaty Settlements - they need to reassess their position."
Mr Davis said about 150 people had visited the protest site, made up of tents, awnings and a makeshift marae.
A hui held at Whenuakite Station last night attracted about 50 people to discuss the future of the occupation.
Mr Davis told the Waikato Times there was a consensus the occupation would continue as long as it was needed.
Mr Davis said it was not just Maori opposed to the sale of the land, and the group planned to do all it could to stop it.
"We're going to exhaust all avenues and take this as far as we can."
Landcorp chief executive Chris Kelly said earlier it had offered the farm to the Office of Treaty Settlements, but the offer was rejected.
"We are caught in the middle," Mr Kelly said.
A Waitangi Tribunal report into the Hauraki claim last year found the tribe was due restitution after being marginalised by the transfer of resources and land to others.
Treaty Negotiations Minister Mark Burton said today he was looking into issues around the sale of the land.
Mr Burton said the Office of Treaty Negotiations always discussed proposed sales on land that was under negotiation with the relevant iwi.
However, in this case there was no mandated negotiation underway.
- NZPA
