Media Statement Embargoed until 1000 14 February 2009

Wait makes for momentous day

A long wait to get the former Shelly Bay Air Force Base land back in their possession makes for a momentous day for local iwi, the Chairman of the Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust said today.

After 124 years of NZ Defence Force presence on the site members of Taranaki Whanui ki te Upoko o Te Ika have today gathered at the former RNZAF site on the Miramar Peninsula, Wellington, to witness the NZ Defence Force ceremonially hand the base back to them.

The formal transfer of the site will happen next Thursday (19 February 2009) but both the NZ Defence Force and Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko agreed that today’s celebration of the occasion was appropriate.

RNZAF Shelly Bay is just one of a number of properties that Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika can buy back as part of a settlement reached with the Crown in August 2008 to settle historical Treaty of Waitangi claims.

Port Nicholson Block Settlement Trust Chairman, Professor Ngatata Love, said Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika had waited a long time for this day.

“It is another step in our journey but it is a key one,” he said.

“As we stated last year we will work with all relevant communities and just this week we signed an accord with the Mayor of Wellington and the Chair of the Wellington Regional Council to work together in regard to Shelly Bay.

“This Accord brings together all of the Wellington City and Regions interests with Taranaki Whanui so we can plan in a manner which respects the interests of Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika and the citizens of the region.”

There are no immediate plans to develop Shelly Bay and all options will be considered in due course.

Commenting on the impending handover of the former military base Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae, acknowledged the work of NZDF personnel who’ve proved worthy custodians of the land over the last century.

“This settlement is now an opportunity for the descendants of Te Atiawa, Taranaki Whanui, Ngati Tama, Ngati Ruanui and Ngati Mutunga to develop a prosperous economic base in the Shelly Bay block. It is my hope that it will become a place in which future prosperity can take root.”

“This land has served NZDF well and sets the foundations for a secure and dynamic future for Taranaki Whanui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika.”

ENDS

Background information

Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika is a collective that comprises people from a number of Taranaki iwi whose ancestors migrated to Wellington in the 1820s and 30s and signed the Port Nicholson Block Deed of Purchase in 1839.

The settlement package includes:

an historical account, Crown acknowledgements of historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles, a Crown apology, and an innovation, a Statement of forgiveness from Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika to the Crown;

a cultural redress package featuring the transfer of a number of sites of cultural significance to Taranaki Whānui ki Te Upoko o Te Ika, including the three islands in Wellington Harbour, with public access rights preserved; and

a quantum of $25.025 million, as well as the opportunity to purchase a number of Crown properties in Wellington city and the surrounding region.

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