Maori group brings Treaty case for loss of Wellington

A Maori group has begun an unprecedented Treaty court action, suing the Government for the loss of Wellington city.

The case will come before the court only a few weeks before an election in which the Treaty is a tinderbox issue.

The Wellington Tenths Trust filed papers in the High Court on Thursday, unhappy with the settlement they have been offered.

It is believed to be the first attempt to sue for historic land losses since the Waitangi Tribunal was set up in 1975, and could force open Government settlement parameters.

The Government is thought to have been offering less than $12 million, well short of the $170m-plus wanted for the loss of 137,000 acres.

The tribes' court action is led by former Governor-General Sir Paul Reeves and former Maori Development Ministry chief executive Ngatata Love, who has described the land seizure as "naked fraud".

Barrister Phillip Green said the 14,500 claimants represented were entitled to justice, but the Crown was unwilling to give it.

Treaty Negotiations Minister Mark Burton said the Crown had been in negotiations with the iwi for some time, and he was awaiting advice on the court case's implications.

The move will be unnerving for the Government, which is in the final months of negotiating a land settlement with Auckland's Ngati Whatua iwi, and a foreshore settlement with the big Ngati Porou iwi.

Ngati Porou chairman Apirana Mahuika said his iwi was always reviewing whether it should continue negotiations "or go to a Plan B".

At the same time, the Ngati Te Whiti hapu has written to Mr Burton withdrawing its mandate and upsetting a $34m Taranaki settlement.

The Atiawa settlement became an election issue in 1999, when outgoing Treaty Negotiations Minister Sir Douglas Graham secretly signed the bare bones of the agreement with one faction.

Mr Green said he would file further High Court action over another big block of Wellington land, and ask the Waitangi Tribunal to order the compulsory return of Crown land in Wellington - a power the Tribunal has used only once.

"We have made no attempt to put any value on the loss, but obviously the loss of economic benefit from having had 137,000 acres taken ... without compensation, must be very significant..."

The Statute of Limitations requires a litigant to file papers within six years of discovering the alleged injustice: the trust will argue it discovered the injustice when the Tribunal reported in 2003.

The court papers say Wellington Maori sold 67,000 acres of their land for £1500, but the New Zealand Company settlers expanded that block to 137,000 with a stroke of the surveyor's pen.