June 16, 2017
Tauranga rejects cultural foothold for Hauraki
The chair of Ngai Te Rangi, Charlie Tawhiao, says the crown is trying to create rights for Hauraki in Tauranga Moana.
Tauranga tribes staged a water-borne protest on the harbour yesterday, and the boats will be out again tomorrow.
The Treaty Negotiations Minister is denying a secret deal with Hauraki is imminent, and the Waitangi Tribunal has already confirmed Hauraki has customary interests in Tauranga Moana.
But Mr Mr Tawhiao says interests are not rights, and the Hauraki rohe stops at Waihi Beach.
"If the crown is going to provide properties in our heartland to Hauraki iwi as part of their settlement, they are not just transferring a commercial value – because if that was the case they could give them money. They are transferring is a cultural foothold within Tauranga Moana which previously did not exist," he says.
Mr Tawhiao says letting Hauraki sit alongside Tauranga Moana iwi and local authorities in the governance of Tauranga Harbour, as the draft settlement deed proposes, would create a new grievance.
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