18 September 2008

Ngāti Manawa signs Agreement in Principle with Crown

The Crown and Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Manawa have signed an Agreement in Principle to settle the outstanding historical Treaty claims of Ngāti Manawa, Treaty Negotiations Minister Dr Michael Cullen announced today.

Ngāti Manawa are a Central North Island iwi whose traditional tribal area centres on the Kaingaroa Plains and the upper Rangitaikī River.

The claims of Ngāti Manawa relate primarily to the New Zealand Wars, Crown actions and omissions in respect of the operation and impact of the Native Land Laws, the Crown’s land-purchasing techniques particularly in respect of land they wished to retain and twentieth-century land, river and forestry development.

The Crown recognised the mandate of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Manawa to represent Ngāti Manawa in Treaty negotiations in November 2003, and the parties signed Terms of Negotiation in May 2004. Ngāti Manawa’s claims to financial and commercial redress in respect of the Central North Island Forest land will be settled by the Central North Island Forestry Settlement which was signed in June this year. The Agreement in Principle signed today outlines the redress which will settle the remainder of their historical claims.

Dr Cullen congratulated Ngāti Manawa on this achievement.

“Reaching this stage was delayed some months by the development of the Central North Island settlement package, but the outcome is a better deal for Ngāti Manawa and a smoother process for completing negotiations. This illustrates the benefits of the Crown taking a more regional approach to settlement negotiations,” Dr Cullen said.

The Crown and Te Rūnanga Ngāti Manawa will now work toward a detailed Deed of Settlement, which will be subject to ratification by all members of Ngāti Manawa.

ENDS

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