Ngati Apa loses appeal to Privy Council

The Privy Council has rejected a claim by South Island iwi Ngati Apa that it was not sufficiently represented during proceedings that defined the territorial boundaries of Ngai Tahu's Waitangi Tribunal claim.

The 1990 judgement from the Maori Appeal Court was the basis for Ngai Tahu's claim, settled in 1998 for $170 million.

It recognised Ngai Tahu's territory boundary (rohe) as encompassing all of the South Island, except a small triangle around Marlborough and Nelson.

Ngati Apa laid proceedings contesting the judgement in 1998, claiming customary rights to areas of West Coast land between Kawatiri and Kahurangi Point, which fall in the region granted exclusively to Ngai Tahu.

Its case before the Privy Council was that Ngati Apa was not represented during Maori Appeal Court hearings which led to the 1990 judgement.

However, the council's decision, released overnight and presented by Lord Mance, said it was clear Ngati Apa was represented by the association Te Runanganui o Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka a Maui.

Te Runanganui's membership included people descended from nine iwi, including Ngati Apa.

The council also pointed to numerous newspaper articles and notices as evidence information regarding the proceedings was in the public eye before, during, and after the hearing.

"... the newspaper reports constitute part of an overall picture which it is important to put together in considering whether the people of the Ngati Apa iwi as a whole were aware that an issue regarding entitlement to land was being determined on their behalf, and had a fair opportunity of taking an active part in or of objecting to this course of events," Lord Mance said.

In rejecting Ngati Apa's claim, the council also pointed to the delay between the judgement in 1990, and the first suggestion of lack of representation or injustice in 1999.

Had the claim been justified, it would have emerged at a much earlier point, the decision said.

The appeal was dismissed.

- NZPA