Lady Crown, the leader of Ngāti Rangihou Kanguru hapū, maintains that in the early 1800s aboriginal leaders entrusted their Māori king to 112 acres in Parramatta. Photo / 9 News
Lady Crown, the leader of Ngāti Rangihou Kanguru hapū, maintains that in the early 1800s aboriginal leaders entrusted their Māori king to 112 acres in Parramatta. Photo / 9 News
A trans-Tasman Māori leader says a Māori group claiming land in Sydney has outstayed their welcome in Australia and he will even pay for their ticket home.
A Sydney-based leader of the Ngāti Rangihou Kanguru hapū claims a local tribe gifted them a 112 acre (45ha) site in Parramatta inthe 1800s.
Māori Council executive director Matthew Tukaki has been a business leader in Sydney for many years, and said his message for the group was simple.
"Go and ask for forgiveness of the local mob, of those local Aboriginal land owners, and also make your way home. You are not wanted in that country after this.
"It is time you came home and figured out who you really are. If that means sitting down calmly with your tribal elders, then by all means do so. I'll even pay for the ticket."
In an interview with Australian radio station 2GB, hapu leader Lady Crown said the group would go "all the way" in their legal fight.
"The Aborigine people have gifted it time and time again. It's all in the federal court records, all the documents and the letters have all been submitted.
"We won't stand for any young buck in the courtroom trying to dismiss our culture, our customs, our tradition and our values with bits of paper."
But Tukaki, who has been working with the Parramatta tribes as chair of Suicide Prevention Australia, said he was not aware of them ever handing over sovereignty of their land to another people.
"It is both disturbing and quite confounding they feel they have the right to plant a Maori sovereignty flag on a First Nations plot of land.
"The claim has not only no merit, but we are driving a wedge through what is a very trying time for Aboriginal people."
The disputed area is an Eastern section of cental Parramatta, taking in park lands and reserves along with part of a river. Photo / 9 News
Mahuta, who is in Australia to attend an indigenous knowledge event, told Australia's National Indigenous Television News she did not support the group's claim.
"My advice is that when you're away from your own indigenous lands, you must respect the people of the land who come from that land.
"Any rights that you have, should be taken back to New Zealand … the rights that they can absolutely assert are in their own country."
Māori Party president Che Wilson said he fully supports Mahuta's position.
"Many have lived there for generations and therefore call it home, but Australia is not the tūrangawaewae of the Maori people. We need to respect our Aboriginal cousins.
"Even though we lived there, it doesn't mean that our whakapapa connects us to that land through our Maori blood."
