Hauraki hoping to get Coromandel land back

Hauraki iwi hope a Waitangi Tribunal report will recommend the return of significant tracts of Conservation Department land on the Coromandel Peninsula.

The tribunal's Hauraki inquiry began in 1998 and consisted of some 40,000 pages of evidence from the 12 tribes.

It will be completed on Saturday when its report is made public.

Hauraki Maori Trust board Treaty claims manager John McEnteer said yesterday that the distinctive features of the claim included its attempts to retrieve ownership of natural resources and the "almost complete landlessness of Hauraki Maori".

Only about 2.6 per cent of land remained in Maori hands in the Hauraki region - a state of landlessness comparable only to those in the Waikato and Taranaki, he said.

"About 20,000 acres [8000ha] of Hauraki lands near Maramarua and the Athenree Forest were confiscated by the Crown following the 1860s land wars.

"Much of the land on the Coromandel Peninsula was acquired by the Crown as a result of early goldfield agreements and timber exploitation and is still retained by the Crown under the management of Department of Conservation or Crown Forests.

"Hauraki clearly expects the Crown to give it back and is hoping for a positive tribunal recommendation in this regard," Mr McEnteer said.

The Crown refuses to consider most minerals subject to Treaty claims - but this is nevertheless a key plank of the Hauraki claim.

It includes sub-surface minerals encompassing stone, aggregate, clay, gold and silver as well as geothermal resources and hot springs.

Mr McEnteer said: "We await the tribunal's findings on these resources with interest."

The tribunal had also been asked to report on Hauraki's interests in the foreshore, seabed and rivers, which formed "a significant focus of many claims throughout the four years of hearings".

The inquiry covered about half the geographic area of the traditional tribal region which stretches from Matakana River in the north near Leigh to Matakana Island in the Bay of Plenty.

As Hauraki gears up for the next step - negotiations with the Crown - it has indicated it plans to contest the agreement in principle signed between the Government and Ngati Whatua this month, saying it could prejudice their rights in Auckland City.