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Whanganui land grab a treaty breach
The Waitangi Tribunal has recommended the crown return the title of Whanganui National Park to tangata whenua because it acquired the land unjustly and in breach of treaty principles.
The tribunal today released a report saying the 83 claims of hapu and iwi of the Whanganui inquiry district were largely well-founded.
It says since 1840 the Crown has caused Maori in Whanganui substantial harm through a multitude of policies, laws, decisions, acts, and omissions.
He Whiritaunoka: The Whanganui Land Report comes 16 years after the tribunal’s Whanganui River Report and a year after the river claim settlement.
Presiding Officer Judge Carrie Wainwright says the process of colonisation in Whanganui fell short not just of the Treaty of Waitangi but of the standards of justice and fair dealing that flowed from the Magna Carta.
Maori now own just 237,000 acres or about 11 percent of the district.
The tribunal says a settlement that supports the aspirations of the hapu and iwi of Whanganui for economic and cultural revitalisation will stimulate economic growth in the region.
It also encouraged the Crown to give Whanganui Maori greater involvement in local government and more control over matters that affect them, and to resolve some of the longstanding issues over public works takings of Maori land.
The Tribunal also weighted in on the spelling of Whanganui, saying the crown should respect the preference of tangata whenua for the name to include an “h” and overturn its decision to allow it to be spelled both ways.
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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