KEY POINTS:
Tauranga iwi have urged the Waitangi Tribunal to make detailed findings on land taken for public works, saying the practice amounted to a second raupatu (confiscation) in their area.
Kathy Ertel, representing Tauranga Moana iwi and hapu, said the tribunal had offered only broad brush findings on the subject in recent years, but the group needed comprehensive conclusions to settle its tribunal claims.
"The public works regime has been wielded like a vicious scythe in Tauranga," she said yesterday. "It would be difficult to identify a Maori whanau or hapu who have not been directly affected by this form of second raupatu."
Speaking in the final week of hearings on Tauranga Moana claims at the city's Hangarau Marae, Ms Ertel told tribunal members that Maori land had been targeted for public works projects from 1910, and assertions to the contrary by local authorities were naive.
"There are an immense number of examples and this is a very important topic to these people," she said.
The hearings are focusing on post-1886 claims by the Ngaiterangi, Ngati Ranginui and Ngati Pukenga iwi and are the second round of hearings on Tauranga Moana claims.
The first focused on 19th-century raupatu but, unhappy with the tribunal findings, Ngaiterangi pushed for a second round of hearings.
Settlement negotiations will begin after the tribunal releases a report on the latest submissions and are likely to be complicated.
Ngaiterangi claims co-ordinator Riri Ellis told the Herald there was a shortage of Crown-owned land in Tauranga and much of the land available was reserve that did not transfer into usable resources.
"If we were looking for a taken-land-returned type settlement, it would be unendurable and problematic," she said.
A cash settlement would also be difficult given that residential sections were now priced as high as $8 million in the fast-growing city.
"How can Tauranga Moana justifiably be settled with land when the likelihood of that settlement would be equal to four or five sections at that cost?" Ms Ellis said.
She said Tauranga was almost unique in that respect. Land the iwi argue was taken for public works includes Tauranga Airport, the Port of Tauranga, and numerous schools and reserves.
Spencer Webster, representing Ngaiterangi, said the Crown and authorities able to act for the Crown had breached their Treaty of Waitangi obligations by sometimes according Maori interests no priority.
He said the tribunal had found 19th-century raupatu was "a devastating blow" for Tauranga Moana but, in his submission, "the 20th century was a knock-out blow".
Ngaiterangi claimant and elder Kihi Ngatai told the Herald that grievances about land taken for public works were very deep-seated.
He believed the best solution would be requiring authorities to pay a rental or royalty on the land.
"Then everybody gets something," he said.
"It's a win-win situation."
The present hearings began in May and are due to end on Friday.
