WAIRARAPA MOANA
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Supreme Court hears Wai 85 Claim On 9-10 February 2022 Wairarapa Moana Incorporation’s appeal to the Supreme Court was heard by Chief Justice, Helen Winkelmann, and Justices Williams, Young, O’Regan and Glazebrook in Wellington. Wairarapa Moana Incorporation Committee of Management was joined at the Supreme Court by Tà Kim Workman (former member of the Pouàkani No 2 committee in the 1980s) and John Stevens (former Legal Counsel for Wairarapa Moana Incorporation). Both Tà Kim and John have been with us on the very long journey to have Wai 85 settled in a way which is fair to Wairarapa Moana owners and the wider whànau.
Pathway to the Supreme Court In 2017 Wairarapa Moana Incorporation applied to the Waitangi Tribunal to have lands previously in its ownership at the Maraetai Dam on the Waikato River returned. This application was based on findings of the Waitangi Tribunal in its 2010 Wairarapa ki Tararua report of Treaty breaches in respect of our lands at Pouàkani, including the compulsory taking of land for the Waikato hydro scheme. In 2020 the Waitangi Tribunal in a preliminary determination indicated that it was likely to recommend return of the lands at Pouàkani to a body representative of all descendants of the original Ngàti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa owners. This preliminary determination of the Waitangi Tribunal was appealed by the Crown, Mercury and Raukawa to the High Court. The High Court’s decision in March 2021 was that the land has to be restored to mana whenua and found that the Tribunal’s approach in its 2020 preliminary
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John Stevens, Kingi Smiler and Sonya Rimene outside the Supreme Court
determination was inconsistent with tikanga. Wairarapa Moana Incorporation appealed that decision to the Court of Appeal. In October 2021 Wairarapa Moana Incorporation was successful in getting the Supreme Court to hear its appeal direct (effectively “leapfrogging” over the Court of Appeal). It is unusual for the Supreme Court to agree to such an application. They do so only if they consider it to be in the interests of justice and there are exceptional circumstances. On the eve of our hearing by the Supreme Court, the Crown introduced Te Rohe o Rongokako Joint Redress Bill and the Ngàti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tàmaki Nui-à-Rua Claim Settlement Bills to Parliament.
