Our Treaty Settlement

In June 1840, three Ngai Tai rangatira, Pūtiki, Rangihuatake and Taku, signed te Tiriti o Waitangi at Tōrere. In the years that followed, the Crown confiscated land, individualised our title through the Native Land Court, bought more than 70,000 acres in our rohe, and promoted laws and schooling that punished our reo and tikanga.

The Deed records this history. The Crown acknowledges and apologises for well-founded breaches of te Tiriti, including environmental degradation, assimilation policies, the confiscation of Ngai Tai land, discrimination against Ngai Tai veterans and kaumātua, the Tōrere Development Scheme, and the failure to protect te reo Māori.

Cultural redress recognises the traditional, historical, cultural and spiritual associations Ngai Tai has with places in our settlement redress area.

Three reserves are created for cultural association and ecological restoration: He Pito Whanake (about 9,000 hectares, vested in Ngai Tai), Ngai Tai Raukūmara Reserve (about 2,400 hectares, which Ngai Tai will manage and has the right to purchase), and a shared reserve of about 5,800 hectares managed jointly with Te Whānau a Apanui. Ngai Tai also receives three sites in fee simple: Te Kura o Tōrere (land only, leased back to the Crown), Te Atuahauta and Whitikau.

Two place names are restored, with Tōrere River becoming Wainui te Awa and Waiiti Stream becoming Wai Tii te Awa. There are statutory acknowledgements over Wainui te Awa, Wai Tii te Awa and ōnewa, and relationship agreements with Crown agencies.

Financial redress is $12 million plus interest, which includes $1 million towards the costs of a resource consent for aquaculture.

Commercial redress includes the right to purchase Ngai Tai Raukūmara Reserve within five years of settlement, and a right of first refusal over that land for 186 years. About 5,000 hectares of marine space is reserved for 35 years, during which Ngai Tai has the exclusive right to apply for aquaculture permits. Subject to confirmation of Crown ownership, there is also a right of first refusal over Part Tōrere Reserve 2 for 186 years.

The aim is to give Ngai Tai resources to develop our economic and social wellbeing.

The settlement is a final and comprehensive settlement of all historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Ngai Tai, meaning claims about what the Crown did or failed to do before 21 September 1992. Once the settlement legislation is passed, those claims cannot be taken back to the Waitangi Tribunal or the courts.

It takes effect once the settlement legislation has been passed, and its benefits are available to all members of Ngai Tai, wherever they live.

It does not stop Ngai Tai pursuing claims about Crown actions after 21 September 1992, and the Wai 1750 North Eastern Bay of Plenty inquiry can continue.