Source: Radio New Zealand
An agreement has been reached on the long-standing Nelson Tenths case. 123RF
Māori landowners at the top of the South Island will have more than 3000 hectares returned to them in a landmark agreement with the Crown.
In the 1830s the Crown promised Māori in Te Tauihu that if they sold 151,100 acres of land to the New Zealand Company they would be able to keep one tenth. They instead received fewer than 3000 acres.
The agreement to reserve the land was in part-payment for the company’s purchase of the land.
In 2017 the Supreme Court ruled that the government must honour the deal struck in 1839 but efforts to resolve the case outside court since had been unsuccessful.
In Wellington on Wednesday, Attorney-General Judith Collins and Conservation Minister Tama Potaka announced that an agreement had been reached.
Under the agreement, 3068 hectares will be returned to descendants of the original owners, including the Kaiteriteri Recreation Reserve and the Abel Tasman Great Walk.
The agreement also includes a $420 million compensation payment to recognise land that has been sold by the Crown since 1839 and in recognition of the lost earnings and land use.
Collins said the agreement differed from Treaty settlements, which settled historical claims concerning breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.
“In this case, we are simply returning land to its rightful and legal owners,” she said.
“The Crown failed to keep its side of the deal but in 2017 the Supreme Court ruled it had a legal duty to the original owners. In 2024 the High Court confirmed that the land, in parts of Nelson, Tasman and Golden Bay, had been held on trust by the Crown and that it had always belonged to descendants of its original owners.”
The case was first brought against the Crown by Kaumātua Rore Stafford in 2010.
He took legal action on behalf of ngā uri, the descendants of the tūpuna named in the 1893 Native Land Court list and the descendants of specific Kurahaupō tūpuna.
The Crown and the owners, descendants of Te Tauihu Māori, have agreed to allow continued public access to land currently used by the government agencies.
Potaka said the Department of Conservation had worked with the owners to ensure ongoing public access.
“The Abel Tasman Great Walk, the Kaiteriteri Recreation Reserve and wider conservation areas will remain open, with all bookings and access continuing as normal,” he said.
“Visitors, tourism operators, and local communities can be assured there will be no immediate changes to access or day-to-day use.”
Potaka said both parties were mindful of the need to balance legal ownership with how the land is currently being used and the desire for certainty.
“Everyone acknowledges that the Great Walk and reserve are important sites, much loved by locals and visitors and that they are of deep significance to the original owners, local business operators and future generations,” he said.
Private property is not affected by the agreement. The Crown had been using some of the affected land for roads, schools and conservation purposes and the agreement transfers the land back to its rightful owners but allows the Crown to lease some of the land currently being used for important public purposes.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he acknowledged the impact on the customary landowners, who had not had the use of their land for many generations.
The thanked those representing the customary landowners for their patience, for their pragmatism, and working towards this resolution.
“I want to thank our Attorney General Judith Collins, for her leadership, our coalition partners who recognised, alongside National, the need to resolve this and I also say thank you to our team and our negotiators who worked incredibly hard on both sides to bring us to this day.”
Luxon said some of the land being returned included places cherished by New Zealanders.
“Visitors have long been driven to the tracks, the huts, the beaches and the bays in the area and by maintaining public access, it will remain a taonga up in which to build a base so that the trust and associated businesses, the environment and the region will flourish.”
Te Here-ā-Nuku (Making the Tenths Whole) project lead Kerensa Johnston said the agreement marks the end of more than 15 years ligitation.
“It resolves longstanding uncertainty for our people and region, upholds the rule of law and property rights relevant to all New Zealanders, and heals rifts that are generations deep. It allows us to turn our focus to the future and how we might achieve wellbeing and prosperity for our whānau and region – the original purpose of the Nelson Tenths agreement,” she said.
She acknowledged the courage and perseverance of kaumātua and plaintiff Rore Stafford, who first raised the issue with the Crown almost 40 years ago.
“For many years we have hoped for a principled and pragmatic resolution to this case. The Crown has worked with us in good faith and by focusing on positive solutions we have achieved this historic milestone,” she said.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand