Ngāti Rangi iwi descended on Parliament today to witness the third and final reading of their Claims Settlement Bill – Rukutia Te Mana.

Chairman Che Wilson said today was a momentous occasion for Ngāti Rangi iwi.

“He rā whakahirahira tēnei mō mātou o Ngāti Rangi nui tonu, hei tūranga hoki mō te iwi i Aotearoa nei.”

Rukutia Te Mana is framed around six poupou (pillars) of Ngāti Rangi’s settlement framework, Ngā Poupou o te Whare Toka o Paerangi (The Pinnacles of the House of Stone of Paerangi) and includes the Crown’s acknowledgement of numerous breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, an agreed historical account and an apology from the Crown for those breaches.

“The settlement will never compensate for the deliberate degredation of our whakapapa and cultural identity. But it will allow us to focus on the future and move forward by utilising the settlement pack-age to develop and restore our Ngāti Rangitanga” said Soraya Peke-Mason, Chair of the Ngāti Rangi post-settlement entity, Te Tōtarahoe o Paerangi.

The settlement includes a ground-breaking and integrated new framework for the Whangaehu River catchment called Te Waiū-o-Te-Ika, which recognises the intrinsic connection between the iwi and hapū of Whangaehu with the awa. It also includes the return of the lake beds at Rotokura, a compre-hensive Conservation Partnership Framework and special arrangements in relation to pākohe, pākere, onewa and matā.

The settlement includes financial and commercial redress of approximately $17m. This is made up of a combination of cash, commercial redress properties to transfer through the settlement, as well as a range of rights of first refusal and deferred selection over specified Crown property.

“I am reminded of the sacrifice of those that have gone before us, 178 years since the settlement journey begun. And while they are not here to witness the fruits of their own labour, I hope they are proud. Reaching the third reading though important, is not the final step in our journey. There is much more work to be done,” said Che Wilson.

“We look forward to the Crown, private and community sectors to see Ngāti Rangi as partners of choice. Where Ngāti Rangi goes, so go our partners.”

The Bill does not contain redress in relation to the area within the Tongariro National Park. The Crown has committed to collective negotiations with all iwi with an interest in the area of the Park, which will occur at a later date.

Copies of the Ngāti Rangi Deed of Settlement can be found at
https://www.govt.nz/treaty-settlement-documents/ngati-rangi/.

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