POLITICIANS' PROMISES

Chris Finlayson held a meeting in Kaitāia on Saturday to speak with owners of 27b memorialised properties about Ngāti Kahu’s application for resumption of those properties.  There were about fifty 27b owners there, as well as a number of police and several Ngāti Kahu kaumātua who, initially, were told they couldn’t come in.  They went in anyway.

At first Finlayson talked very generally, saying that the Crown would vehemently oppose resumption and that he wanted Ngāti Kahu to settle instead.  He also repeatedly said he wasn’t there to talk about legal matters, but when asked he conceded that 27b memorials on titles clearly warn buyers the land may be resumed to remedy claims and that, if the Tribunal orders it, the Crown has to resume that land under the Public Works Act. 

He also admitted that 27b memorials can only be removed if Ngāti Kahu agrees to settle, which it hasn’t, and that the Waitangi Tribunal would only make resumption orders for a very good reason.  He didn’t explain why settlement hadn’t happened, but he claimed that the 90 day period after any orders were made was when things would be sorted out so that the orders didn’t become final. What he failed to advise was that during that 90 day period there’s no obligation for Ngati Kahu to change any part of those orders if they don’t want to.

He was interrupted very early on by a man who wanted to know why, when the Treaty said the Crown had to look after all people, it was only looking after Māori, and he replied that the Crown’s breaches against Māori had to be addressed.  

Another man, who’d recently been told by the Crown he owned one of three properties that should have had 27b memorials on them, demanded it be removed. Finlayson said it was due to a registering error and promised he’d talk to him after the meeting.  A woman asked if he could remove the 27b off her property and he said yes, after settlement.

A woman asked if he could remove the 27b off her property and he said yes, after settlement. However he made no such promises to a man who said he'd asked former MP John Carter at the time if it was safe to buy 27b land and Carter had assured him it was because resumption would never happen.  He was also silent when another man said market value under the Public Works Act wouldn’t cover what he’d put into his property and he had to be paid out in full.

Ngāti Kahu’s kaumātua reminded everyone that the 27b lands were only a small fraction of more than 230,000 acres stolen from the tribe by the Crown, and had been on-sold to private buyers instead of being returned to Ngāti Kahu.  They also offered to explain the issues further.  There seemed to be genuine interest from a number of the 27b owners in hearing them, but Finlayson said he wasn’t there for that.  

After the 90 minute meeting ended he left them all to ponder his promises.  While they ponder, any 27b owner who wants to know more is welcome to contact me at nkceo@xtra.co.nz  or ring 4083013.