The Waitara Lands Act

The New Plymouth District Council (Waitara Lands) Act 2018 established the Te Tai Pari Board (previously the Te Tai Pari Trust). The purpose of the Board is to distribute the annual release from the Waitara Perpetual Community Fund for each financial year.

The background is covered in the preamble to the Act:

1. Rangatira of Otaraua and Manukorihi hapū (the Waitara hapū) signed te Tiriti o Waitangi, with others, in 1840 and in doing so preserved rangatiratanga for their descendants.
2. The rangatira Whiti Te Rangitaake refuted individual title of land and therefore the right of sale of the Waitara land. He claimed in 1859 that “the land belongs to us all; to the orphan and to the widow belongs that piece of land”. Despite that advice, land sales did proceed.
3. The Waitara hapū consider that the lands and waterways of Waitara have not been recognised by the Crown as taonga tuku iho. The retention and use of those lands for the benefit of the original owners, their hapū, and their whānau, have not been promoted, nor their wāhi tapu protected. The protection of rangatiratanga embodied in te Tiriti o Waitangi has not been manifested in Waitara.
4. The Waitara hapū, as tangata whenua, hold mana whenua over the lands and waterways of Waitara, although they have long been unable to exercise their kaitiakitanga over these lands and waterways.
5. The New Zealand land wars began at Waitara in 1860 when disputes regarding the Crown’s purchasing methods escalated. In 1865, all land owned by the Waitara hapū at Waitara was confiscated and today only 3 hectares remain in the ownership of the Otaraua hapū, while Manukorihi hapū owns no land.
6. Since the 1860s, there have been a number of investigations, commissions, and reports that have inquired into the confiscation of the Waitara lands. All recognised that the confiscations at Waitara, the first wide-scale confiscations in Aotearoa New Zealand, were unjust. The Waitangi Tribunal has characterised them as a breach of te Tiriti o Waitangi.
7. The Crown acknowledged the dispossession and the impacts of landlessness to Te Atiawa in 2014, with the settling of Te Atiawa’s historical Treaty claims. In the deed of settlement, the Crown apologised to Te Atiawa tūpuna, hapū, and whānau. That settlement was not supported by the Waitara hapū.
8. Some of the confiscated land is vested in the New Plymouth District Council (the Council), as successor to a number of former local government entities (including the Waitara Harbour Board) on which the land was endowed.
9. There are restrictions on the purposes for which the Council may apply the proceeds from the use of the land (for example, rental income) or the disposal of the land.
10. The Taranaki Regional Council has interests conferred by statute in some of those proceeds and has roles, rights, and responsibilities in respect of the Waitara community generally.
11. Leaseholders of much of the land dealt with by this Act have long desired the right to freehold their land and have engaged in litigation to attempt to obtain that right, but ultimately without success.
12. The Council, as the relevant territorial authority and as lessor, has interests, roles, rights, and responsibilities in respect of the land and the Waitara community generally.
13. Previous attempts (including a local Bill) to reconcile the various interests noted above have not been successful, but despite significant reservations, the Waitara hapū acknowledge that this Act—
    • enables the transfer of land to the Waitara hapū and secures for them and their descendants a foundation for the future, as a rock to endure the relentless tide (kōwhatu e te moana); and
    • allows lessees to freehold their properties; and
    • creates an enduring fund for the benefit of the Waitara community, including the Waitara hapū, as well as a fund for river restoration and a fund for land to be acquired by the Waitara hapū.