The Māori Affairs Committee is calling for public submissions on the Ngāti Ruapani mai Waikaremoana Claims Settlement Bill.

The bill proposes to enact the cultural, financial, and commercial redress agreed in the Treaty settlement signed between the Crown and Ngāti Ruapani mai Waikaremoana on 25 February 2026. This includes returning properties at Kaitawa and Turio Kahu to the iwi. The bill would also add large areas of land to Te Urewera, and it sets out how existing rights and access arrangements on that land would continue.

The bill would allow certain commercial redress properties to be transferred to the iwi’s trustees and create a 185year right of first refusal over certain other Crownowned land. The bill would also finalise the settlement by settling all historical claims.

The bill also records the Crown’s acknowledgements and its formal apology to Ngāti Ruapani mai Waikaremoana for the historical actions that caused deep and longlasting loss of land, autonomy, and wellbeing for the iwi.

The Māori Affairs Committee may consider travelling to the Ngāti Ruapani mai Waikaremoana rohe to hear submissions on this bill. You may wish to bear this in mind when indicating whether you would like to make an oral submission on this bill.

This bill is available online from the ‘Related links’ panel.

Tell the Māori Affairs Committee what you think.

Make a submission on the bill by 11.59pm on Friday 10 April 2026.

For more details about the bill:

• Read the full content of the bill

• Get more details about the bill

• Get more information on the deed of settlement

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