The Government will tomorrow block an attempt by Wairarapa Māori to have a multimillion-dollar power station returned, despite a landmark Supreme Court decision supporting their claim, 1News understands.
Wairarapa Moana, a group affiliated to Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, have been fighting for the land at Mangakino for years.
In 2020, the Waitangi Tribunal said the land should be returned and is currently exploring the possibility of allowing this to happen under a special power known as resumption.
If triggered, the Government would be compelled to return the $600 million site, worth more than any treaty settlement to date.
Last week, the Supreme Court agreed with the tribunal’s initial finding that the land could be returned to Wairarapa Māori in accordance with tikanga, even though the power station is situated outside of their traditional iwi boundary.
The finding will help inform the Waitangi Tribunal’s final decision about what should happen with the land. It’s not known when the tribunal will make this decision.
But an iwi-wide treaty settlement, set to be finalised tomorrow, threatens to derail Wairarapa Moana’s claim entirely.
That’s because the Government has so far refused to make any changes to the deal.
If it passes its third reading at Parliament tomorrow in its current form, the settlement becomes full and final, extinguishing the last opportunity Wairarapa Moana have to get the land back.
A memorandum written by the Waitangi Tribunal today confirms the Government’s intention to press ahead with the settlement.
"At a judicial conference convened this morning, Crown counsel said that the third reading of the Ngāti Kahungungu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui a Rua Claims Settlement Bill will occur tomorrow as planned," wrote Judge C M Wainwright.
"In other words, the Government is not prepared to allow the Tribunal to give effect to the Supreme Court’s judgment."
Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little has not responded to requests by 1News to confirm this or comment on the matter.
"At the judicial conference, counsel for the various claimant groups expressed their extreme disappointment at this turn of events," wrote Judge Wainwright.
She said reference was made to past instances where the Crown has allowed claimants to pursue their legal rights, even where that conflicted with a government’s desire to reach a treaty settlement.
"That was the case earlier in this inquiry, in fact. Now, though, the government takes a different view," she wrote.
The dispute is complex because there are multiple interested parties in the land dispute, including central North Island iwi Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Tūwharetoa.
Both iwi are mana whenua to the land Wairarapa Moana are fighting for.
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