November 14, 2012
Settlement day for Ngati Whatua
Members of Ngāti Whatua ō Orakei will be in parliament this morning to witness the passing of their treaty settlement legislation.
Two busloads left Auckland for the capital yesterday and more will fly in this morning.
Spokesperson Ngarimu Blair says delaying the settlement to fit in with other iwi in the Tāmaki Makaurau Collective allowed the hapū to extract a little more from the Crown, but the $16 million cash component is still relatively modest compared to the scale of the tribe's loss.
"We're using that as a down payment to purchase $120 million of Auckland land. We've got to pay for that out of our own pockets. Given our experience over the last couple of decades we think we can leverage this settlement for the benefit of our people," he says.
The cultural redress includes the return of the 31 hectare Pourewa stewardship area along the Pourewa Creek near Orakei Marae.
Copyright © 2013, Uma Broadcasting Ltd