Tamaki 13 looking forward to peace and prosperity

A Ngati Whatua negotiator hopes the signing of the Tamaki Makaurau Collective settlement will lead to a new era of peace and prosperity for tribes in the region.

Representives of 10 of the iwi and hapu are covered by the settlement signed on Saturday, with Ngati Paoa, Ngati Whanaunga and Te Akitai still working on final details.

Ngarimu Blair from Ngati Whatua o Orakei says much is made of the battles for the Auckland isthmus, as it that is the whole story.

“However to become the most prosperous city from 1000 years ago through today there were times of peace and we have extensive periods of peace where our leaders brought us together, leaders like Huakaiwaka, Tuperiri and many others through our history, and today we are on the cusp of another era of peace and prosperity,” he says.

The collective settlement which recognises the shared interests of the 13 iwi and hapu in 14 maunga and four motu in Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf, and gives the right of first refusal on surplus Crown land.

Three of the iwi have concluded individual settlements, and the Crown hopes to complete the others over the next year.

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