March 29, 2023
Wairarapa Moana takes on crown over foreshore and seabed rerun
Treaty of Waitangi Minister Andrew Little was in Masterton at the weekend to deliver a crown apology to Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua for historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi including the taking of Wairarapa Moana – but now the traditional owners of the lake say the settlement creates a new breach.
Wairarapa Moana Incorporation chair Kingi Smiler says to get the $115 million settlement over the line, the Wairarapa-based negotiators were forced to agree his incorporation’s separate claims were included.
That means the Waitangi Tribunal can no longer determine whether the incorporation should get back land at Pouakani which was given as a swap for the lake and then taken back to build a hydro dam on the Waikato River.
Mr Smiler says the Government pushing through the settlement in defiance of a Supreme Court finding is a repeat of the foreshore and seabed case.
“It’s disappointing that two Labour Governments now have created this and obviously we in the whanau think they need to be held to account which is why we are taking this action and to show the behaviour of the crown is totally inappropriate and they should be held to account for that,” he says.
Wairarapa Moana has asked the High Court for a declaratory judgment the settlement is inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act and the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights.