Ngāi Te Rangi says public safety must come before commercial pressure or convenience as Tauranga Moana confronts the findings of an independent review into the deadly Mauao landslide of January 22.
The iwi has acknowledged the independent review into the tragedy while maintaining that the events of that day should be considered within the wider context of what happened across Tauranga Moana.
Ngāi Te Rangi had sought a Tauranga Moana-wide inquiry, noting Mauao was not the only location where lives were lost during the severe weather.
The iwi is remembering those who died in the landslides at Mauao and Te Whāro Maunga, their whānau, and the people who put themselves at risk attempting to save others.
But Ngāi Te Rangi says its response to the review is not about assigning blame.
Its focus is on what must change to prevent another tragedy.
Independent assessments and clear evacuation triggers
Ngāi Te Rangi wants enduring safety protections established before the lessons of January are considered closed.
Those protections should include independent geotechnical assessment, effective monitoring, clearly defined evacuation triggers, appropriately trained personnel and coordinated decision-making between Tauranga City Council and other stakeholders.
The iwi says the real measure of the independent review will not be identifying who should carry responsibility for the past, but whether its recommendations prevent people losing their lives in the future.
That means uncertainty itself must be treated as a risk.
Where experts cannot provide sufficient confidence about safety, Ngāi Te Rangi says the cautious option should prevail.
Pressure building to reopen Mauao
The iwi acknowledges there is considerable pressure to reopen Mauao.
Mauao holds enormous recreational and economic importance to Tauranga and attracts residents and visitors throughout the year.
But for tangata whenua, its significance goes considerably deeper.
Ngāi Te Rangi says the mana and mauri of Mauao sit with the iwi of Tauranga Moana and its people, and decisions about reopening should therefore not be driven solely by public demand, tourism or commercial considerations.
The iwi’s position is that Mauao should reopen only when decisions have been made at an iwi level.
Safety before convenience
That position establishes what is likely to become a critical test as authorities consider what happens next.
The question is not simply when walking tracks can reopen or when recreational and visitor activity can resume.
It is whether the systems surrounding Mauao are capable of identifying changing risks early enough to protect people — and whether those responsible have the authority, information and training to act decisively when conditions deteriorate.
For Ngāi Te Rangi, the deaths of January 22 mean the threshold for reopening must be high.
The iwi is signalling it would rather keep Mauao closed for longer than accept uncertainty that could expose whānau, visitors or workers to another preventable tragedy.
Mauri, mana and responsibility
The debate also reaches beyond conventional risk management.
Mauao is a tūpuna maunga, inseparable from the whakapapa, identity and history of Tauranga Moana iwi.
That means decisions about its future carry cultural responsibilities alongside engineering, environmental, recreational and economic considerations.
Ngāi Te Rangi’s message is that those responsibilities cannot be pushed aside because there is pressure to return Mauao quickly to normal use.
The tragedy of January 22 has already extracted too great a price.
For the iwi, the way forward must now be determined by evidence, caution, coordinated leadership and the mana of Tauranga Moana iwi.
The ultimate legacy of the review will not be the report itself.
It will be whether the lessons learned from those who lost their lives are strong enough to ensure another whānau never has to experience the same tragedy.
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