Crowns apology is callous and unjust
Media Statement `
The Crown took whanau land from Wairarapa Māori twice.
24 March 2023
The Crown prevented the Waitangi Tribunal from completing a process to determine whether the land that was taken should be returned to Wairarapa Moana, which the Supreme Court had directed was open for the Tribunal to consider.
Instead the Crown went ahead and passed legislation to quash the Wairarapa Moana claim denying their right to justice and fair hearing in the Court.
“The Crown breached the fundamental human rights of one group, Wairarapa Moana, to have their legal proceedings heard, and decided. This is a blatant breach of the New Zealand Bills of Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It is therefore hard to take the apology by the Crown seriously when all they do is actively and deliberately perpetuate the cycle of Māori grievance to suit their own agenda. Their apology is callous and unjust” said Kingi Smiler.
Wairarapa Moana represents the owners of Māori land in the central North Island (Pouākani) given in place of reserves the Crown failed to set aside after it took their land in South Wairarapa. The Crown then took some of the most valuable parts of the Pouākani land to build the Maraetai hydropower station, belatedly paying compensation that the Waitangi Tribunal described as “niggardly in the extreme”.
Wairarapa Moana had been seeking the direct return of the Pouākani land through what is known as a resumption order (a binding recommendation power the Waitangi Tribunal can exercise over former State-Owned Enterprise lands).
The Supreme Court judgement in Wairarapa Moana ki Pouākani Incorporation v Mercury & Ors [2022] NZSC 142 in December 2022 cleared the way for the Waitangi Tribunal to make a final determination on whether some of that land should be returned.
The Crown then moved quickly to extinguish the ability of Wairarapa Moana to have a final determination of their application by the Waitangi Tribunal through the final passage of the Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua Claims Settlement Act. They did this with the full knowledge that Wairarapa Moana had resumed their legal proceedings with the Waitangi Tribunal.
Wairarapa Moana is seeking a declaratory judgement from the High Court, that the Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua Claims Settlement 2022 is inconsistent with section 27(3) of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Section 27(3) of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 affirms and protects the right of every person to bring civil proceedings against the Crown and to have those proceedings heard, according to law.
Ends
For further information contact Kingi Smiler 021412657