Rawiri Taonui: Good news for all in lakes settlement

The proposed deed of settlement for the Rotorua lakes is testament to the unwavering character, patience, perseverance and integrity of Te Arawa.

The Government's offer is fair. It includes a formal apology acknowledging Crown breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, a cultural redress package incorporating the correction of place names and protection of wahi tapu, 200 fishing licences without fee, other financial redress ($2.7 million for historical claims and a $7.3 million buy-out of the annuity), vestment of title to 13 lakebeds, and membership of the strategy group that, in partnership with the Rotorua District Council and Environment Bay of Plenty, will manage the lakes.

The proposal constitutes long overdue recognition of Te Arawa's contribution to the wealth of the Pakeha community of Rotorua and New Zealand. The tribe was at the forefront of tourism development under the Magna Carta-like Fenton Agreement, which gifted land for the township of Rotorua.

The accumulated benefits to generations of Pakeha combined with the equity losses to Te Arawa would total several billion dollars.

Generously, Te Arawa postponed claims to the lakes during World War I, gifted a percentage of the pathetic lakes annuity to assist the Crown during the Depression, and repeated this gesture in support of the country during World War II.

The agreement bridges the equilibrium of wisdom and compromise. Recognition of Te Arawa's historical-cultural affinity with the lakes and the transfer of the lakebeds is balanced by the guarantee of free public access for recreational activities such as swimming, boating, water-skiing and fishing, along with the preservation of the existing rights of commercial users, boatshed and jetty owners.

In contrast, the objections of the Rotorua Lakes Protection Society and the National Party leader, Don Brash, lack grace, gratitude and generosity of spirit. Their claim that the offer constitutes special treatment for Te Arawa and renders Pakeha second-class citizens denies the facts.

The insistence that the Native Land Claims and Native Land Adjustments Act annuity of 1922 was an honourable "full and final" settlement is heinously unfair. The Crown frankly admits coercing that agreement.

Between 1909 and 1922, the Crown blocked, delayed or obstructed tribal applications for lake ownership to the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and the Native Land Court, despite a ruling from two courts that the Crown's claim to the lakes was insufficient and that of the tribe more valid.

The years of deliberate delay forced Te Arawa into the fait accompli of the paltry annuity, which over subsequent years contributed to their marginalisation and suffering.

The impact of this history cannot be dismissed. Successive governments had already unjustly fined Arawa people for fishing the lakes their ancestors had fished over five centuries. A stream of petitions, protests and pleas were made and ignored.

The Stout-Ngata Commission of 1908 found that Te Arawa had suffered "grievous loss". Seven years later, the Arawa District Council commented on the huge number of destitute Maori begging to fish the lakes of their ancestors.

The view of the Lakes Protection Society that Te Arawa is incapable of contributing constructively to the administration of the lakes is pitiful. Te Arawa successfully managed the lakes for several centuries. The community can only benefit from partnership with Te Arawa.

We have only to look back to the 1980s Kaituna River claim, which saved that river and led to the clean-up of Lake Rotorua. One can also look at the relationship between Ngati Whatua, the Auckland City Council and the Auckland Regional Council, and those between Ngai Tahu and a host of local bodies in the South Island, to see the mutual benefits of Maori and Pakeha working together as equals.

After all, it is the Crown, the local bodies, and the facts of Pakeha settlement and farming that are responsible for the extinction of native flora and fauna around the lakes and environmental degradation through excessive nutrient loading. In a poignant touch under the deed, local government will continue to be responsible for removing and controlling lake weed and rubbish.

Whether or not the agreement relates to the foreshore claim is a mute point. The claim is just, the Crown has admitted fault and the settlement is more than fair to Pakeha.

There may also be future discussion about sharing commercial fees associated with the lakes. If so, we need to trust in the integrity of the partners that such arrangements will be fair.

The critics suffer two fears. The first is that in having to give up years of advantage, some Pakeha fear that Maori might do to Pakeha what Pakeha have done to Maori.

This is groundless, as always Maori give up more than they gain, and there are no instances of injustice to Pakeha where such arrangements apply.

The second is that when Maori are given a level playing field, they will do better. This is insidious and, sadly but inevitably, is born of ignorance and arrogance.

Te Arawa have several weeks to discuss and vote on the settlement. All going well the deed will be signed this month. It should be a good Christmas for the Pakeha and Maori people of Te Arawa and Rotorua.

Te Arawa has more grace than I do. As a member of a more northern, less forgiving and overly boastful tribe, Ngati Kiki-nono, I would have insisted on a charge of $1 per minute for swimming and boating on the lakes, and an extra $1 for anyone who thought this might be racist.

The money would be divided between Te Arawa and relevant local bodies, with a nominal 1 per cent dedicated to assist Auckland's road problems, thereby demonstrating that treaty settlements are for the benefit of all people.

On a brighter note, I would also cancel the fishing licence system. The catching, cooking and eating of colonial imperialist invading trout is something all New Zealanders should enjoy - free.

* Rawiri Taonui is the head of Canterbury University's School of Maori and Indigenous Studies.