The Settlement

The area of land involved in the transfer is 176,000 hectares and the iwi making up the collective are: Ngai Tuhoe; Ngati Manawa; Ngati Tuwharetoa; Ngati Whakaue; Ngati Whare; Raukawa; and the affiliate Te Arawa Iwi/Hapu. One iwi, Ngati Rangitihi, although a member of the collective, did agreed to the settlement. The accumulated forest rentals under the Crown Forests Assets Act 1989 are approximately $222 million.

First reading

Hon Dr Michael Cullen (Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations), in moving that the Bill be read a first time, said that the settlement legislated by this Bill " ... addresses only claims as far as licensed Crown forest land is concerned, and leaves until the future negotiations over four redress packages for each of the iwi in the collective". He referred to Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa legislation as settling that iwi’s comprehensive claim and stated that the Government was about to sign terms of negotiation with Raukawa, one of the seven iwi and was soon intending to "pick up" negotiations with Ngati Manawa and continue negotiations with Ngati Tuhoe.

Dr Cullen continued: " The iwi of the collective comprise over 100,000 individuals. They have interests that span a major proportion of the Central North Island, and this settlement relates to 176,000 hectares of central North Island Crown forest land. This settlement, of course, has its roots in that land and in the contention that has surrounded it for the last 20 years. The Crown Forest Assets Act was passed in 1989. It was assumed that it would last about 3 or 4 years until all the Crown forest land claims were settled. We are now in 2008. The Act was passed as a result of hard-fought and successful litigation on the part of Maori. The Act protected Maori interests in the land under the forests while allowing the cutting rights to be licensed out. The rentals from those licences were set aside until the claims over the forest could be resolved, and that has taken much longer than anyone hoped".

Later in his speech, Dr Cullen said: "we are very satisfied that the collective will fairly allocate the shares of the commercial assets, and that sufficient remains to address the historical claims of those who have remained outside the collective. One of these groups is Ngati Rangitihi, who until recently were part of the collective. They have not been able to endorse the settlement, and they are currently considering their options".

"The bill gives effect to the undertakings by the Crown in the deed, and that includes Crown forest land to the value of $196 million". "The collective has agreed to preserve and enhance existing public access to the central North Island forest estate, for the continued enjoyment of all New Zealand. That is not what is provided for in the Crown Forest Assets Act of 1989, so the collective has made a big concession in that regard to the general public. In addition, there are substantial and widespread economic benefits".

"This settlement will make the collective the largest single landowner in the forestry sector in this country, and one of the largest investors. The plan is to increase that investment and generate greater value and higher returns." " ... The rights of the current licence holders remain unchanged under this settlement" [1]   .

Select Committee [2]  

The Maori Affairs Committee examined the Central North Island Forests Land Collective Settlement Bill and recommended that it be passed without amendment.

CNI forests land

CNI forests land means the fee simple estate in the Crown forest land described in Schedule 1 of the bill but, to avoid doubt, does not include any trees on that land and any improvements made by the purchaser of the trees on that land or that have been made by that purchaser or the licensee. The forest land concerned includes the Kaingaroa forest (Part 1, Clause 4, definition of "CNI forest land"; Schedule 1 of the Bill).

Vesting in CNI Iwi Holdings Limited

The Bill provides that, on and from the settlement date, the CNI forests land ceases to be Crown forest land and vests in CNI Iwi Holdings Limited (the company). The settlement date is 1 July 2009. The vesting is subject to: the terms of the deed of trust; and Clause 16 (which relates to the transfer of the CNI forests land to the CNI Iwi Collective); and the Crown agreed proportion (13.6% of the value [3]   of the CNI forests land and accumulated rentals retained for the Crown as a holding in CNI Iwi Holdings Limited); and the rights of the licensees under the Crown forestry licences (Part 2, Subpart 1, Clause 6; Clause 4, definition of "settlement date"; Schedule 1 of the Bill ).

Settlement of claims

The Bill provides that no Court, Tribunal, or other judicial body may inquire into any of the historical CNI forests land claims, the deed of settlement or the Bill itself. The Bill also excludes the jurisdiction of the Waitangi Tribunal to consider claims in respect of "any or all of the historical CNI forest land claims" and the deed of settlement or the Bill. However, Courts, Tribunals (including the Waitangi Tribunal), and other judicial bodies retain jurisdiction in respect of the interpretation or implementation of the deed or the Bill. The jurisdiction of the Waitangi Tribunal is preserved as provided in Clauses 22 and 23 of the Bill and also in so far as its jurisdiction relates to the steps that are necessary for it to complete the publication of its report in relation to the He Maunga Rongo: Report on Central North Island Claims (Stage I) and its inquiries into certain specified matters (Part 2, Subpart 1, Clause 7; cf. Clauses 22 and 23).

Consequential matters

The Bill makes detailed provision for a variety of consequential matters including:

• the application of other Acts and providing that certain enactments do not apply to the vesting of the CNI forests land and that the Crown, subject to certain exceptions, is not required to comply with any other enactment that would otherwise regulate or apply to the vesting of the CNI forests land in the company (Part 2, Subpart 1, Clause 8);
• the granting by the Minister of Conservation of a right of way easement over conservation land comprised in CNI forests land, as required by the deed of settlement and the granting by responsible Ministers (as defined in section 2(1) of the Crown Forests Assets Act 1989) of right of way easements over land adjoining the CNI forests land that is owned or administered by the Crown (Part 2, Subpart 1, Clause 9);
• the continuing application of clause 6.2 of each Crown forestry licence (which relates to public entry for recreational purposes); other provision is made for particular public easements (Part 2, Subpart 1, Clauses 10 and 11);
• the transfer of the accumulated rentals to CNI Iwi Holdings Limited on the settlement date subject to Clause 18 of the Bill (which relates to the transfer of the accumulated rentals to the CNI Iwi Collective) and the Crown agreed proportion (Part 2, Subpart 1, Clause 13; Clause 18);
• the principles for allocation of the CNI forests land amongst the iwi of the CNI iwi Collective in accordance with the resolution process set out in Schedule 2 (Part 2, Subpart 2, Clause 14);
• the principles for allocation of the rental proceeds. It provides that 86.4% of the accumulated rentals must be allocated to the CNI Iwi Collective in accordance with the allocation percentage set out in Schedule 3 for each iwi of the Collective and that, subject to the Crown agreed proportion, the ongoing rentals must be allocated to the CNI Iwi Collective in accordance with the deed of trust (Part 2, Subpart 2, Clause 15);
• the transfer by the company of the accumulated rentals to each iwi of the CNI iwi Collective, subject to the retention of the Crown agreed proportion of the accumulated rentals (Part 2, Subpart 3, Clause 18);
• the purpose of the Crown agreed proportion which is to allow for settlement of the historical claim of any other CNI claimant and to provide for the retention of the powers of the Waitangi Tribunal in relation to the Crown agreed proportion which remains in effect only for six years from the settlement date (the Crown initial period) (Part 2, Subpart 4, Clauses 19 - 23);
• consequential modifications to sections 8HA to 8HD of the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 (i.e. the provisions relating to land transferred to State Owned Enterprises and over which the Waitangi Tribunal has compulsory land resumption powers for the return of that land to successful claimants) such as that the jurisdiction of the Waitangi Tribunal is limited to the extent of the Crown agreed proportion that the Crown holds at any given time during the Crown initial period and the settlement of the historical claims of any other CNI claimant as it occurs from time to time will result in a corresponding change to that jurisdiction and that any recommendation under section 8HB(1)(a) of that Act for the return of land to the ownership of the claimant must be taken to apply only to CNI forests land comprised in part or all of the Crown agreed proportion (Part 2, Subpart 4, Clause 24).