PULLING OUR PUNCHES

Our 11 year old mokopuna has an axeman’s eye and and has recently taken upon himself the job of splitting our firewood.  Listening this morning I heard the repeated sound of whack-ching! whack-ching! Puzzled, I went out to watch him for the first time.  He  has an awesome swing, starting from above the head and ending on the concrete floor.  After checking the cutting edge and finding no major damage, nor a suitable chopping block, I showed him how to pull his stroke sufficient to split the wood but not hit the concrete below it.  In boxing it’s called pulling your punches.

I have this metaphor in mind as Ngāti Kahu prepares to face off next week in the fight for resumption of all 27b properties stolen by the Crown in the reduced Ngāti Kahu claim area set by the Waitangi Tribunal.

Last week all the interested parties filed most of their evidence with the Tribunal.  Essentially, they come from four quarters; the Crown, hapū within Ngāti Kahu, other iwi, and hapū from outside Ngāti Kahu. 

For the Crown, opposing evidence has been filed from Pat Snedden (Chief Crown Negotiator), Maureen Hickey (Senior Policy Analyst with the Office of Treaty Settlements), Russell Garton (a valuer), Adam Levy, (also from OTS) and Jacqueline Hori- Hoult (from NZTA).  Their common point is to show that Ngāti Kahu are unreasonable and wrong for seeking resumption instead of settling.

From inside Ngāti Kahu opposing evidence has been filed from certain whānau within three of Ngāti Kahu’s fifteen hapū.  For Ngāti Tara there are Raniera Bassett, Chappy Harrison, Robert Gabel and Atihana Johns.  For Te Paatu we have Graham and Tina Latimer.  And from Pēria there is Pereniki Tauhara.  They all have two common points.  First they claim all the other hapū have excluded them from participating and benefitting as part of Ngāti Kahu.  Second, they’re all former or current personnel from Ngāti Kahu Trust Board, the body which lost the fight with Te Runanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu for Ngāti Kahu’s mandate back in the late 1990s, early 2000s.

For other iwi comes opposing evidence from Haami Piripi, Paul White, Malcolm Peri, Hector Busby, Joe Cooper and Manuka Henare for Te Rarawa, Waitai Petera and Hugh Karena for Te Aupōuri, and Rangitane Marsden for Ngāitakoto.  Their main common point is that they do not want the 27b properties they either occupy or own to be resumed for Ngāti Kahu.

Evidence has also been filed by neighbouring hapū from Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu ki Whaingaroa who largely support Ngāti Kahu’s claim for resumption, but record that they also have interests in the Kohumaru station and Ōtangaroa forest.

There is still more evidence to be filed by the Crown and others, so Ngāti Kahu are well and truly up against it.  It will be interesting next week to see if the gloves finally come off, or if they continue to pull their punches.