September 23, 2016
Rangitane settlement before parliament
It’s now before the Maori Affairs select committee for submissions.
Treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson says it’s a significant milestone for the iwi and will improve the future prospects of the iwi, the region and New Zealand as a whole.
The settlement provides commercial and financial redress of $32.5 million and the opportunity to purchase Crown properties and part of the Ngaumu forest.
Pukaha / Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre Reserve will go to Rangitane as a site of cultural significance and then be gifted back to the Crown and the people of New Zealand.
The settlement is unusual in that it acknowledges the interests of an iwi through a region where another iwi, Ngati Kahungunu, also has sway.
When the deed of settlement signed in Dannevirke last month, elders from Rangitane o Wairarapa and Rangitane o Tamaki nui-a-Rua says the most important thing was that they were being recognised as a distinct iwi in the region.
Second readings were also held during extended sitting hours yesterday for the Rangitane o Manawatu Claims Settlement Bill, Te Atiawa Claims Settlements Bill, Taranaki Iwi Claims Settlement Bill and the Ngatikahu ki Whangaroa Claims Settlement Bill.
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