KEY POINTS:
"This is a great day for the iwi of the Central North Island. We have reached our goal of ensuring that the Crown forests land of our region return to iwi. The Deed of Settlement between the Central North Island Forest Iwi Collective and the Crown will initiate the largest ever transfer of land to Maori from the Crown. "
"The Collective iwi will become the largest private forest land owners in New Zealand and the largest land owner in our region. The benefits to our iwi are economic and cultural. We will become major investors in the forestry sector and the land to be returned is culturally significant to us all."
"All the members of the Central North Forest Iwi Collective have worked extremely hard over the last ten months to develop this proposal. Our reward is the largest single settlement ever agreed between Maori and the Crown. Iwi will use this settlement for our economic, cultural and social development in the years to come."
"Our task now is to take this settlement and manage the lands we have received wisely. That will be our first priority. The generations of our people who have advanced our claims and the generations yet to come deserve nothing less."
"The consultation and communication process we have carried out in the last six weeks showed that we had wide and deep support from our members. Our people were intensely curious about the proposal and gave it strong scrutiny. "
Central North Island Iwi Forest Collective
The iwi that make up the Collective are: Raukawa, Ng ti Whare, Ng ti Rangitihi, Ng ti Manawa, Ng ti Whakaue, Ng ti Tuwharetoa and Ng i Tuhoe. Ng ti Rangitihi has six months to complete the endorsement process and be added to the settlement legislation. The affiliate Te Arawa iwi and hapu group represented by Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa have joined the Collective following the signing of their renegotiated deed of settlement on 11 June 2008.
Summary of Agreed Commercial Redress Package
" 176,000 ha of Central North Island licensed Crown forest land, and the associated accumulated rentals and ongoing rentals will be vested in a Trust Holding Company, CNI Iwi Holdings Ltd. The Collective's proportion of these assets will be 86.7 per cent by value, and the Crown's proportion will be 13.3 per cent by value. If Ngati Rangitihi completes the endorsement process the Collective's proportion will be 90 per cent and the Crown's 10 per cent.
" The Crown's proportion will be available for meeting other historical claims to the Central North Island forests land.
" The shareholders of the CNI Iwi Holdings Ltd will be the member iwi of the Collective, each with an equal vote, and the Crown.
" The Collective's share of the Crown forests land is valued at $195 million. The Collective iwi have agreed to allocate their share of the land amongst themselves on the basis of mana whenua, and in accordance with a process governed by the principles of tikanga Maori. The allocation process will be completed by 1 July 2011.
" The Crown will have six years to settle historical claims of other Central North Island Iwi claimants, after which any residual Crown interest will transfer to the Collective at a value to be agreed.
" The Collective's share of the accumulated rentals is currently around $223 million. These rentals have accumulated since the Crown Forest Licences were created in 1989.
" A forestry management company will be formed to manage the lands on behalf of the Trust Holding Company.
" The annual rental income from the Crown Forest Licences on the land subject to this agreement totals $15m.
" The annual and accumulated rentals will be shared among the Collective members as follows
CNI Forest Iwi Collective Members Percentage Share of Accumulated and annual rentals
Ngai Tuhoe 27.2987 per cent
Ngati Tuwharetoa 26.8837 per cent
Affiliate Te Arawa iwi and hapu 16.1976 per cent
Raukawa 14.7452 per cent
Ngati Manawa 6.2378 per cent
Ngati Whare 4.8891 per cent
Ngati Whakaue 3.7479 per cent
" The Deed of Settlement records the Crown's willingness to enter into discussions with the Collective about the potential availability to the Collective of assets and interests of the Crown within the CNI area, and the Crown's support of the Collective exploring joint ventures with State enterprises in the Central North Island region.
" In a separate agreement the Crown and the Collective will also agree on the provision of New Zealand units to the collective under the pending emissions trading regime.
" The participating iwi will negotiate the remainder of their historical settlements directly with the Crown. This will include a Crown Apology, Crown Acknowledgements for breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, an historical account, any further financial and commercial redress and a cultural redress package including the return of culturally significant sites in the kiwi's rohe.
