Tūi Tūi Tuituiā

Asset sales spark urgent action

Government plans for the partial sale of Mighty River Power, Genesis, Meridian and Solid Energy sparked debate in 2013. The partial sale required the four state-owned energy companies to be removed from the State-Owned Enterprises Act, meaning that they would no longer be subject to provisions in section 9 of the Act which require the Crown to act in a manner consistent with the Treaty of Waitangi.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was among those who raised concerns about the impact of partial privatisation on Māori rights and interests in natural resources. It called on the New Zealand Government to take urgent action to safeguard Māori rights.

After consultation with Māori, the Government confirmed that the provisions of Section 9 would continue to apply and that the partial sale of assets would not impact on future recognition of Māori rights and interests in energy resources.

A petition, signed by 327,224 people,against the selling-off of state-owned assets triggered a citizen's initiated referendum. Forty-five per cent of eligible voters took part in the referendum, with 67.3 per cent voting against the partial asset sales programme and 32.4 per cent in favour. The referendum result, which is not binding on the Government, came just as the programme neared completion with only one remaining energy company, Genesis Energy, waiting to go up for partial sale.

Freshwater under discussion at national hui

Māori rights and interests in freshwater were top of the agenda at several national hui as the Government continued to engage with iwi on reforms for the management of freshwater.
Aside from the preservation of the human right to clean water and sanitation, iwi expressed their desire for any reforms to recognise that water is a taonga of paramount importance and cultural significance to Māori. Discussions on the governance of freshwater also acknowledged the central role water plays in Aotearoa New Zealand’s economy including in the generation of renewable energy.
In 2012, the Waitangi Tribunal made several recommendations on how a future mechanism for safeguarding Māori interests in freshwater could be achieved. Some of these recommendations are being acted on by Government, including steps to formalise a role for iwi to provide advice and recommendations on freshwater reforms.
More information on human rights and water can be found in the Human Rights Commission report, Human Rights and Water which is available at: www.hrc.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Human-Rights-and-Water-2012.pdf.

4G Spectrum sold off

Despite a Waitangi Tribunal recommendation that Māori be allocated a portion of the 4G spectrum, Tangata Whenua missed out when the radio band was sold off to make way for a new generation of mobile phone technology.
The radio spectrum is considered to be a taonga by Māori and in 1999, Māori successfully secured a block of the 3G spectrum resulting in the creation of the mobile phone provider 2degrees.
The Māori Spectrum Coalition appealed for a similar approach to be taken with the 4G spectrum and for a section of the radio band to be awarded to Māori. The request was not taken up by Government who auctioned off the last of the 700-megahertz band of radio frequencies in November 2013. Telecom, Vodafone and 2degrees were among those who secured slices of the spectrum.
4G was not the only spectrum issue faced by Māori in 2013. With television moving from analogue to digital broadcasting, a new law was passed giving Māori Television the right to switch to the digital spectrum and transferred spectrum management rights from the Government to the Māori TV Service Electoral College, Te Pūtahi Paoho.

Tūhoe signs innovative Treaty settlement with Crown

In June, over a thousand descendants of Ngāi Tūhoe travelled to Parliament to honour the signing of the iwi’s Treaty settlement with the Crown.
This significant settlement contained several innovative forms of redress, including giving Urewera National Park its own legal identity, meaning it is owned by no-one, but jointly managed by the Crown and Tūhoe.
Tūhoe also received a $170 million redress package and a formal apology from the Crown for its treatment of the Mataatua tribe. Over the next five years Tūhoe will move toward increased self-governance; giving the iwi greater control over local health, education and housing services. Priorities identified by the iwi include reducing poverty and unemployment, providing better housing and improving water, power and sewerage systems in the region.
Tūhoe is one of the tribes who did not sign the Teraty. In 1865 their lands were invaded by the Crown in Waikaremoana. Large scale land confiscations and unjust land purchases followed. Over a century later, the signing of the Tūhoe deed of settlement represents the beginning of redress for Ngāi Tūhoe’s suffering at the hands of the Crown.

Waitangi Tribunal

The Waitangi Tribunal is an independent commission of inquiry which has statutory responsibility for investigating claims brought by Māori into alleged breaches by the Crown of its obligations to hapū and iwi under the Treaty.
The Tribunal currently has three district inquiries and one regional inquiry underway. These are the Te Rohe Pōtae (King Country) district inquiry; the Porirua ki Manawatū district inquiry, the Taihape (inland Pātea or Mōkai Pātea) district inquiry, and Te Paparahi o te Raki (Northland)  − a regional inquiry which covers 7 Taiwhenua or districts. These district inquiries comprise the largest part of the Tribunal’s current work, collectively covering around 800 individual historical claims.

In 2013 the Tribunal released the following reports:

1. 
   The Ngāti Kahu Remedies Report responded to an application from Ngāti Kahu asking the Tribunal to make a binding recommendation for the return of land. Such binding recommendations apply to land previously transferred to a State owned enterprise and to Crown forest licensed land. The Tribunal concluded that it could not make binding recommendations but went on to set out a series of recommended remedies for providing redress to Ngāti Kahu for the Crown's historical breaches of the Treaty.
   
   
   
2. 
   Matua Rautia: The Report on the Kōhanga Reo Claim responded to the concerns of the kōhanga reo movement regarding risks to the future of te reo Māori following the release of a report to the Government from the Early Childhood Education Taskforce. The Tribunal recommended that urgent steps be taken by both Māori and the Crown to assure the long-term health of te reo as a taonga of Māori.
   

3. 
   Te Kāhui Maunga: The National Park District Inquiry Report which found that the Crown had not honoured an intended partnership with Ngāti Tūwharetoa and had established the Tongariro National Park without proper consultation. The Tribunal recommended that the Crown honour its Treaty obligations by making a new partnership arrangement for the national park. The Tribunal also found that Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangi and Whanganui iwi are entitled to compensation for use of their taonga to generate electricity, particularly in the case of Lake Rotoaira.
   

The Mangatū Remedies Report responded to four Māori groups that had asked the Tribunal to make a binding recommendation for the return of the Mangatū Crown forest licensed land. The Tribunal concluded that such a recommendation may not provide proportionate redress and would not be fair and equitable between the four groups. The Tribunal urged all the applicants to return to settlement negotiations with the Crown.
Two urgent inquiries are currently before the Tribunal. These include the National Fresh Water and Geothermal Resources Inquiry which has commenced Stage 2 of the process and is awaiting a Crown update on the reform of freshwater management and governance, and also the New Zealand Māori Council Māori Community Development Act Claim which concerns the Crown's reform of the Māori Community Development Act, in particular the consultation process and the effects of the reform on the New Zealand Māori Council and the Māori Wardens.