Wakatū Incorporation represents descendants from the customary Māori land owners, the whānau and hapū of the Whakatū, Motueka and Mōhua rohe. Photo / Tracy Neal
Wakatū Incorporation represents descendants from the customary Māori land owners, the whānau and hapū of the Whakatū, Motueka and Mōhua rohe. Photo / Tracy Neal
Efforts to bolster the arrangement preventing any sale of Crown land earmarked for return to Nelson Māori have failed in the Supreme Court.
That's because the court believes there's enough protection in place to make sure this doesn't happen before a High Court hearing on remedies for the loss of the Nelson Tenths – the portion of land purchased during settlement in the 1840s that was to be reserved for Māori, but never was.
Wakatū Incorporation, which has spearheaded the fight for the return of the Tenths on behalf of its 4000 shareholders, isn't so sure the land is safe from sale, before it's returned.
Wakatū has about 4000 owners, who descend from the customary Māori landowners, the whānau and hapū of the Whakatū, Motueka and Mōhua rohe.
Wakatū Incorporation chair Paul Morgan says there's not a lot of faith in the Crown's legal processes. Photo / Tracy Neal
The organisation's chair, Paul Morgan, told Open Justice there's not a lot of faith in the Crown's approach or the judicial response.
"There's no trust whatsoever".
But he is heartened by signed commitments from government agencies now operating premises from the land in and around Nelson that nothing will change before next year's hearing to decide remedies.
The land has been the focus of a long-running and complex grievance for Māori across Whakatū/Nelson.
It dates back to the arrival in the early 1840s of the first settler ships, and the broken promises which followed.
The New Zealand Company colonisation scheme intended to reserve a tenth of all land purchased for the ongoing and future prosperity of local Māori.
The land was never reserved as agreed. Nor were Māori occupation lands, urupā and waahi tapu sites protected, Wakatū Incorporation said.
The Supreme Court determined five years ago that the Crown had a duty to reserve this land for the benefit of the customary owners, but questions of liability, loss and remedy were yet to be determined.
Since the Supreme Court decision, efforts have been made to seek a moratorium that would prevent any sale of land held by Crown entities and agents, and state-owned enterprises.
The aim was to bolster what was seen as "various inadequacies in the current protection arrangements".
The portion of land known as the Nelson Tenths were to have been reserved for Māori on settlement in the 1840s, but never was. Photo / Tracy Neal
Kaumātua Rore Stafford, who was representing the descendants of the customary landowners in the legal process, initially sought to have this settled by way of a High Court judicial review. That was declined, and an appeal to the Court of Appeal was also unsuccessful.
Stafford then appealed to the Supreme Court, against the Attorney General, Kainga Ora (Homes and Communities), Housing New Zealand, Health New Zealand (previously the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board), and the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology.
The Supreme Court has now dismissed the application for an appeal. It said the interests of local Māori were sufficiently protected in terms of interim relief as a result of undertakings given over the course of the recent proceedings.
The court accepted there were matters around the Crown's obligations which might raise questions of general or public importance, but they would be addressed in a High Court hearing set for August next year.
In the meantime, the court considered any such matters involving the proposed sale of land in question would be better dealt with when and if this arose.
Morgan told Open Justice that while there was a programme in place to provide assurances, they had needed to "eke that out along the way".
"There's plenty of evidence to show we need to be careful," he said, including reference to the handling of current settlement claims in the Wairarapa, which he said resembled the situation in Nelson.
"It makes us nervous. We wanted the Nelson Tenths arrangement to be fulfilled.
"The Crown is in possession of our land, and it has not honoured the arrangement."
Morgan said a "substantial summary" of what was viewed as rightful assets had been prepared for submission ahead of next year's High Court hearing on remedies.
