August 03, 2022
Forest carve up overthrown
A judicial review of a tikanga-based process used to allocate CNI forests land amongst eight iwi has found an adjudication panel made decisions outside its statutory powers and failed to allocate the land on the basis of mana whenua interests.
High Court Justice Cheryl Gwyn says the decision can’t go back to the panel because two of the three members have died, so she asked the parties to explore options for resolution which uphold the integrity of the underlying Treaty settlement.
Under the 2008 settlement, 176,000 hectares of Central North Island forest land including the Kaingaroa Forest was transferred to a company owned by the eight iwi, along with $223 million in accumulated rentals.
The decision on mana whenua will determine each iwi’s share of ongoing rentals after 2043.
Because of the number of overlapping interests in the blocks, an adjudication panel was appointed at the end of 2013 consisting of Moana Jackson, Wayne Ngata and Tahu Potiki.
The panel presented its decision in June 2014, but this was appealed by Ngati Manawa who said it had failed to finish the job of allocating the land.
Justice Gwynn has given the iwi until November 1 to either come up with a resolution or ask for the appointment of a new adjudication panel.