Taranaki iwi Ngāti Maru step closer to having Treaty of Waitangi claims settled

MPs Angela Roberts, Glen Bennett and Steph Lewis, seated beside Warren Fraser, Te Arawhiti deputy CEO strategy and policy, at Parliament for the reading.

By RNZ

The last Taranaki iwi to have their Treaty of Waitangi claims settled is one step closer to achieving this, after the Ngāti Maru (Taranaki) Claims Settlement Bill passed its first reading at Parliament on Tuesday, July 6.

The settlement recognises the Crown confiscation of half of the whenua of Ngāti Maru in the 1860s and how the Crown's poor management of reserves set aside for the iwi resulted in them losing most of their whenua.

The Taranaki iwi will receive financial and commercial redress valued at $30 million, including Crown forest valued at $3.65m.

They will also have 16 sites of cultural significance returned to them, and will receive an apology from the Crown for the breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The apology will include recognition of the imprisonment and exile of Ngāti Maru people engaged in peaceful protest at Parihaka.

Minister of Treaty Negotiations Andrew Little said it would "never be able to compensate Ngāti Maru for the true measure of the loss they have suffered", but he hoped it would "go some way to atone for these injustices".

Māori Party co-leader and uri o Taranaki Debbie Ngārewa-Packer said the theft of whenua in Taranaki and the rape and murder of women and children was "devastating".

"It's important for Aotearoa to know the true history and the resilience that Taranaki and indeed Māori, and tangata whenua have endured to be here today."