In December 2020, the then-Labour Government announced the Crown was buying the disputed Ihumātao land from Fletcher Building for just under $30 million
The land had been occupied for years by protesters opposed to the land being developed for private housing
A steering committee, or rōpu whakahaere, was set up by the government to decide the future of the land
The Government is reviewing the management of the highly-disputed land at Ihumātao almost four years after the Crown purchased it.
By that point, those opposed to a 480-odd housing development at the site had been blocking any construction and occupying the area in South Auckland’s Māngere for years.
Stone structures in the Ōtuataua Stonefields at Ihumātao. Photo / Haruhiko Sameshima
Housing Minister Chris Bishop told RNZ on Tuesday that coalition parties opposed the deal at the time, and little progress has been made by the committee tasked with deciding how to use the land.
“All I’ll say is, it obviously is frustrating that you’ve got land there that could be being used for housing and that’s not happening at the moment,” he said.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (right) and Housing Minister Chris Bishop. Photo / Mark Mitchell
“Clearly we’ve inherited a fudge of a situation ... I don’t think anyone was happy with what happened under the previous Government and we were critical of it at the time.”
Potaka, who is also Māori Development Minister, said yesterday that he was working on finding a constructive and enduring solution and supported the group set-up to manage the land to do that.
Those comments contrasted with previous remarks where he raised the prospect of dissolving the group if it was not working.
“There are different groups involved, and there are different views, and that includes the Kīngitanga,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
The steering committee – rōpu whakahaere – is made up of three ahi kā representatives supported by the Kīngitanga, one Kīngitanga representative, and two Crown representatives.
It took 18 months from the Crown purchasing the land before the group first met due to the various mana whenua involved and differing views on who should be represented and trepidation about the process.
As it stands, the ahi kā representatives are made up of mana whenua from Te Aakitai Waiohaua, Te Kawerau a Maki and Te Ahiwaru.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop (left) and Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka.
But Potaka said the lack of consensus amongst those groups was making progress difficult.
“We have to be very careful when we throw a kōrowai [cloak] of mana whenua over a question without being deliberately clear who we’re talking about,” he said.
“What I’m focused on is ensuring we get a constructive and enduring solution, what we can’t do is presume all the mana whenua groups have the same view, we cannot do that.”
Potaka said there had been several discussions over the years about the role of the rōpu whakahaere and “whether or not they’re doing the job”.
“Certainly when the land was bought several years ago for $30m by the previous Labour Government, we thought it was an outrageous step into a space that was quite challenging.”
He said nothing of substance happened in the next two years despite it having cost the Crown $500,000 so far.
Potaka bristled at a question line on Tuesday morning about how mana whenua responded to the idea of dissolving the rōpu whakahaere.
“I think it’s a pretty rich question when you don’t know who you’re talking about ... who are you talking about, which mana whenua?”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Cabinet has not had discussions yet about scrapping the deal that was struck in 2020, which included leaving it to the steering committee to decide how to use the land.
“I think Tama Potaka’s right to ask the question, saying we’ve spent $500,000, we’ve had four years and nothing much has happened, are we getting good value for money or not?”
Labour’s Willie Jackson, who was Māori Development Minister when the steering committee was formed, said Potaka’s comments about its future were unacceptable.
“The reality is they should be given space and time, there’s a long history there, and yes it’s taking time but we have an agreement and he should just step out.”
Labour leader Chris Hipkins told RNZ the Government had set aside five years for the various representatives to determine how to use the land, “and that five years isn’t up”.
“If that process does reach an agreement and gets something constructive coming out the other side of it then that will be money well spent,” he said.
“Ultimately that site is sitting there empty at the moment and we do need to figure out what is happening with it.”
