August 17, 2017
Unfinished business in Whangaroa settlement
Parliament has passed the Ngatikahu ki Whangaroa Claims Settlement Bill, which returns a far north farm to the post settlement governance entity but leaves it with the task of removing its occupiers.
The settlement was held up for more than 10 years by the refusal of a whanau within the Ngati Aukiwa hapu to leave the farm so it could be asset for the whole iwi.
The settlement gives the small iwi Stony Creek Station and 14 other sites totaling almost 3500 hectares as cultural redress.
It also includes financial redress of $6 million to restore the farm to the condition it was in before the occupation.
In an extended session yesterday, parliament also passed the first readings of the Ngai Tai ki Tamaki Claims Settlement Bill and Heretaunga Tamatea Claims Settlement Bill, and referred them to the Maori affairs select committee.
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