December 02, 2012
Mangatu justice aim of Te Aitanga a Mahaki
East Coast incorporation Mangatu Blocks has made its final submissions to the Waitangi Tribunal on who’s land was taken from in 1961 should be returned.
Mangatu went to court to force the hearing when the Crown tried to include what is now a commercial forest in Te Aitanga a Mahaki historic claim settlement package.
Willie Te Aho, the lawyer for Te Aitanga a Mahaki, says the descendants of the 1961 owners want the land back as well as accumulated rentals and compensation.
“It’s within the Te Aitanga a Mahaki proposed settlement package and that’s where the challenge has been, but Te Aitanga a Mahaki has been very clear, see where the justice lies. If the Waitangi Tribunal decides this land should go back to the 1961 owners to achieve justice, then Te Aitanga a Mahaki will not stand in the way of that,” he says.
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