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February 10, 2022
Tribunal call rejected for Wairarapa Bill
Adam Gifford
Posted On February 10, 2022
Download AudioTreaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little says it’s important to get a claim settlement bill before parliament despite a Waitangi Tribunal recommendation it be put on hold.
The Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki-nui-ā-Rua Claims Settlement Bill was introduced last week.
Yesterday the Supreme Court started hearing Wairarapa Moana Ki Pouākani Incorporation’s challenge to an Appeal Court judgment overturning an order that it be compensated for land taken to build hydro dams on the Waikato River.
The incorporation had objected to its claims being wrapped into other Wairarapa settlements.
Mr Little says the process has dragged on long enough.
“There have been different views and things have gone to the Tribunal, things have gone to the High Court, but I got to the point where given what was on the table, given what was happening, it was important to make sure the benefits of the agreement reached some years ago was actually going to get to the people for whom the benefit has been agreed,” he says.
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