August 17, 2020
Ngāti Maru pencils in $30m deal
Ngāti Maru trustees and Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little have initialed a Deed of Settlement that will give the mid-Taranaki iwi $30 million in financial redress, former school properties, sections of conservation land and Te Wera Forest.
It will also get three schools and the Stratford Police Station for lease back to the crown.
Lead negotiator Anaru Marshall says whānau have waited more than 20 years for a settlement.
The deed will need to be ratified by uri before it becomes legislation, with ratification hui to be held in Waitara, New Plymouth, Auckland, Wellington and Taumaranui from mid-September.
The Ngāti Maru rohe stretches from the eastern side of Mt Taranaki to the source of the Waitara River, across to the Heao Stream and down to the Whanganui River and back across the Matemateaonga Ranges to Stratford.
The vast majority of the 220,000 hectares held by the iwi in 1865 was illegally confiscated by the Crown or sold through dubious deals.
Ngāti Maru will be the final iwi of Taranaki to complete its Treaty of Waitangi settlement.
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