September 07, 2023
Maunga Taranaki e tū mai ra !
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says the previous National Government can share the pride in giving Taranaki maunga a legal personality.
Te Ruruku Pūtakerongo, the Taranaki Maunga collective redress deed signed last Friday in Waitara by Ngā Iwi o Taranaki and the Crown, was the 100th deed to be signed since Treaty of Waitangi negotiations began, and the final redress deed to be signed in the Taranaki rohe.
Egmont National Park will be renamed Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki and vested in a legal person, named Te Kāhui Tupua and will effectively own itself.
It will be managed by the Department of Conservation, with oversight by a board of Iwi and crown appointees.
Mr Hipkins says it follows the template established by former National Government treaty negotiations minister Christopher Finlayson.
“People raised eyebrows about it at the time – actually it was a very positive step forward as many of the co-governance arrangements that we’ve put in place have been positive steps forward as well and I think it’s a real shame if people try to use these things as a wedge to divide when actually they should be seen as a huge step forward towards greater unity for everybody,” he says.