Next Saturday the Iwi will gift that land back to the Crown and Defence Force.

It will continue to be used by the Defence Force for the good of all New Zealanders.

This apparently strange exchange of land has a deeper significance.

It marks a unique new relationship of the New Zealand Defence Force and a local Maori group.

Members of the three branches of the Defence Force gathered at Raketapauma Marae and were welcomed on.

Then a Mass was celebrated to deepen the spiritual significance of the day.

All persons, from Defence and the local Iwi, then went to the land in question and a ceremony acknowledging the significance of the day took place.

A plaque on a rock base was unveiled.

The wording reads "This plaque marks the relationship between Ngati Rangi and the New Zealand Defence Force.

It records the vest and gift-back of these lands within Rukutia te Mana, the Ngati Rangi (Treaty) settlement."

Kemp Dryden, Chair of the local Marae, spoke, outlining the background to the day.

He thanked those who have been negotiating since 2015.

He noted that this relationship will expand into commercial opportunities as well.

This will include working together to use the land for housing and employment.

This first in Treaty agreements will mark a new era for Ngati Rangi and the New Zealand Defence Force.

It is the first time such a ‘gifting' or ‘vesting' has taken place involving the Defence Force.

The historical background for this event is that the Crown had gradually subsumed land belonging to Ngati Rangi.

This included a block of land the New Zealand Forces took over as a Communication Base under the banner of the New Zealand Navy.

It was involved for example in communications around the Japanese advances in the Second World War.

Read the whole story and see more pictures

Source

Supplied

Beyond telling relatable stories, it's prescient. Ihumatao is a case of reality mimicking fiction. Aroha Bridge is being mimicked by the events happening at Ihumatau.

In Aroha Bridge's season three finale, Kamo Kamo Corporation constructs a wall separating Aroha Bridge from the rest of world.

"The residents of Aroha Bridge - the angry dads, the people monopolising the cause, those disillusioned and those trying to be wakened - are divided in where they stand politically," writes Lana Lopesi in her review.

"That is until everyone starts to be impacted personally, whether it be through the inability to get burritos or the relentless corporate control of the suburb."

In the same way that Jacinda Ardern has to eventually take a stance on Ihumatao, Tokouso, the overly idealistic mayor of Aroha Bridge, always thought he could please everyone until he finds that he too has to eventually take a stance.

"An uncanny coincidence? Or a premonition manifested by the series' writer?" asks Lopesi.

"Like that friend who asks you if you really want to do that, and then tells you I told you so, Aroha Bridge, acts as a shady pop-up window asking us if we really want to repeat history again."

Aroha Bridge began life as a comic-strip and later developed into a short, online animated series. Now a full-length season made with the support of NZ on Air.

It is a cartoon snapshot of a multicultural melting pot that is New Zealand.

The series focuses on urban Maori characters, delving "into the racial politics and millennial Maori anxieties that manifest in the animated hubbub suburb of 'Aroha Bridge'."

Click here to watch season three of Aroha Bridge

Source

• noted.co.nz
• thespinoff
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: thespinoff

His former school Hato Paora College hosted the event.

Stone says he hopes events like this will help inspire the current students.

"I am now part of a judicial group who have to treat people fairly, administer justice fairly and in particular for our court assist our people to administer their land," he said.

"And the reason I did law was that Moana Jackson spoke at my senior prize giving here at this school.

"So I was kind of hoping [that] bringing it here might influence just one of the boys to want to study law at university."

During the swearing-in ceremony, justice Joseph Williams recalled the childhood of Judge Stone, who was a typical "grassroots" Maori boy raised in Porirua.

Williams said, "He was one of the people who gave me direction when I was a lawyer at Te Ohu Kaimoana. He finished there and moved on to the Bell Gully law firm, and then on to Kahui Legal, a Maori firm based in Wellington.

"He wanted this to be an example ... that aspiring to be in judicial office, with its comfortable salary and impressive superannuation scheme, is something you can aspire to, too," Williams said, poking fun at Stone.

"He believes in what he's trying to do - to power and strengthen the Maori community. It's no easy task."

Maori Land Court chief judge Wilson Isaac congratulated Stone and welcomed him to the court.

"There are a number of people who couldn't make your [ceremony] but, looking around, perhaps they wouldn't have fit."

The court is for Maori landowners to help them retain their land and know how to use and develop it.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• maoritelevision.com
• Image: stuff.co.nz

Against a backdrop of the Whanganui River, kohanga reo children smiled and waved as they marched around the pa, also known as Moutoa Gardens. Continue reading

The apology took place on the former site of the Otamataha Pa in the Bay of plenty on Saturday, December 1.

The church's apology centres on a piece of land known as the Te Papa Block.

The day began at 9am with two powhiri - the first for an ope from the Kingitanga, led by Kingi Tuheitia's sister, Heeni Katipa - the later one for the Anglican party.

Huikakahu Kawe (Ngati Ranginui) then outlined how things would unfold, and he introduced the historian Dr Alistair Reese whose work underpinned the church apology.

Reese spent 10 minutes giving a background to the events that led to the loss of the land.

The 540-hectare piece of land encompasses modern-day Tauranga's CBD and was purchased in 1838 by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) and had to be used for the "benefit of the native race and the church."

Archbishop Emeritus Sir David Moxon offered a formal apology to Ngati Tapu and Ngaitamarawaho of Tauranga Moana.

"It was not sale in which you could do what you liked," Moxon said. "It was more like a gift."

"Built into this was an understanding that if you changed the purpose of what the land was being used for you must give it back."

In 1867, after the New Zealand Wars, four-fifths of the land was passed over to the colonial government following consistent and increasing pressure, and despite the CMS resisting and protesting the transfer.

The land kept by the Church was sold off a few years later.

Tangata Whenua was not consulted and have long since fought to have the land grievance recognised and acknowledged.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• nzherald.co.nz
• anglicantaonga.org.nz
• Image: nzherald.co.nz

The church has also agreed to stand alongside Ngai Tamarawaho and Ngati Tapu hapu in support of their claim for redress before the Waitangi Tribunal. Continue reading

Taurangamoana iwi have been talking to the Anglican Church about the return of land under council buildings in the central city that was supposed to have been part of a Maori reserve.

The former Tauranga MP says the first transfer of church land was the Pehiaweri Marae at Glenbervie northeast of Whangarei Continue reading

They usually take the cross up the hill at 10 am on Good Friday, tie it into place, say prayers and sing hymns, and leave it there until 3 pm when some members return to remove it.

This year when they returned to take the cross down it was not there.

Tupuna Maunga a body created under a 2014 Treaty settlement controls the mountain-top.

It chairman Paul Majurey said it appeared the cross was destroyed by "members of the public" in the early afternoon.

The authority had given consent for the ritual to take place but the church leaders had not said they would leave the cross unattended for several hours, nor that it would be attached to a structure.

Majurey said that a contractor employed by the authority had no way of knowing that the cross was supposed to be there.

"However our contractor did not take it down."

Majurey said their contractor had noticed three young men sitting on the bench beneath the intact cross when he first pulled up.

But he could not confirm that they were responsible for the destruction of the cross.

However, when the contractor later returned he found the cross lying in pieces.

As a health and safety precaution, he removed and disposed of the nails, rope and broken pieces of wood.

Anglican vicar Charmaine Braatvedt, of Holy Trinity Church in Devonport, said the authority had told her the cross had been damaged and was taken to the tip.

The authority offered to replace the cross, but Braatvedt said that would not be necessary.

She said that in the Easter spirit of reconciliation she looked forward to better communications with the authority next year.

She acknowledged that the churches had not made it clear enough to the authority, knew the details of the procession and removal of the cross.

Source

• nzherald.co.nz
• Image: nzherald.co.nz

Family First has taken the occasion as an opportunity to highlight the fact that the unborn child has no legal rights.

They say the new law gives the Whanganui river and all its tributaries more rights than the unborn child.

"Although New Zealand now feels compelled to grant human rights to non-living entities in the nation, the country allows women of any age to have an abortion under a number of circumstances."

"That's right folks. An unborn child has less rights than a river. Only in NZ!"

In 2011 the court of appeal upheld a previous high court judge's ruling that unborn children do not have a right to life.

However, in law, a legal person, is not the same thing as natural person.

Legal, or judicial, person

Refers to a non-human entity that is treated as a person for limited legal purposes. Legal persons can sue and be sued, own property, and enter into contracts.

There are already numerous legal persons in New Zealand. Many corporations, trust boards, and church institutions are legal persons.

Natural person

Refers to an individual human being. No other entity can be deemed to be a natural person.

In many cases, fundamental human rights are implicitly granted only to natural persons.

In most countries for example, legal persons cannot vote, marry, or hold public office.

Most countries also exclude legal persons from holding natural or constitutional rights, such as the freedom of speech.

The Whanganui river is the first river in the world to be made a legal person.

This week India granted Ganges and Yamuna rivers legal person status. In making their decision, the judges cited the ruling in New Zealand as part of their reasoning.

Source

• familyfirst.org.nz
• law.cornell.edu
• wikipedia.org
• dw.com
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: geoffcloake.co.nz

Following a successful application by a group of Mt Roskill church ministers, backed by the Puketapapa Local Board, the cross will make its comeback for Christmas and Easter.

It is lit up in the form of a cross at Christmas time and a star at Easter.

The decision is in alignment with the legacy council agreement where the cross was only a temporary structure to be erected for the two holidays. Read more

The cross has been removed leaving a stark pole.

The cross has traditionally been erected and illuminated on the summit of Puketapapa-Mt Roskill for short periods at Easter and Christmas prior to the Auckland Council amalgamation.

Since the Super City was established in 2010, because of an oversight, it had remained in place without authorisation.

The chair of the Tupuna Maunga o Tamaki Makaurau Authority, Paul Majurey, said discussions between Auckland Council officers, working on behalf of the authority, church leaders and the Puketapapa Local Board have been amicable.

"Staff met with the forum of church ministers and the local board to help facilitate local discussions, update them on the changes in ownership and discuss the future process for the cross."

"Those discussions culminated in the removal of the cross on Tuesday," Majurey said.

Tupuna Maunga o Tamaki Makaurau Authority, which represents Auckland iwi, was set up last year to govern 14 of Auckland's maunga.

Several changes have been implemented since it was formed.

Cars have been banned from driving up Maungawhau-Mt Eden, the mountains have been made alcohol and smoke-free and a bowls club evicted from its patch on Otahuhu-Mt Richmond.

The sites hold significant spiritual and historical value for Maori and they say the changes are designed to encourage Aucklanders to respect them.

Albert-Eden-Roskill councillor Christine Fletcher says this is an important opportunity for all involved to show tolerance.

"We need to be respectful of all the many and varied cultures and practices of the diverse community, including the Christian community which I consider myself a part of."

The cross references the history of the suburb.

While the area is now known for its ethnic diversity, Mt Roskill was once dubbed the "Bible belt".

The Maunga Authority has agreed to receive and consider an application to erect the cross for future events.

Meanwhile the cross has been put in safe storage.

Source

• radio.nz.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz

The property is also home to a freshwater spring that was essential to life at two local pa and their surrounding gardens.

Called Wai Ariki, or chiefly waters, the spring has been listed as a Site of Significance to Mana Whenua under the incoming unitary plan.

Mana whenua scheduling requires property owners to seek iwi approval for work on their land.

In a deal with the Auckland City Council, the diocese of Auckland had received approval to develop land.

In return the diocese was committed to restore Newman Hall, a 150-year-old category A listed historic building in Waterloo Quadrant near the High Court.

The church says it now does not know what it can do with the site.

The Auckland Diocese has opposed the Newman Hall listing in a submission to the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan (PAUP).

It has been heavily critical of the mana whenua process.

Newman Hall was built around 1863 by Jewish businessman David Nathan, the founder of LD Nathan and Company.

The Catholic church has owned Newman Hall since the 1950s and uses it as the chaplaincy for Auckland University.

One of the two iwi which nominated the site for scheduling is Ngati Whatua o Orakei.

Trustee Ngarimu Blair said as far as he was aware the church had never spoken to the iwi about it.

Just because the site was scheduled didn't mean it couldn't be developed, he said.

"I thought sacred water would be something of value and interest to the church.

"The first thing is, they should come and talk to us - let's have a talk about how the significance of the spring can be preserved in any future development."

In the early days of European settlement local Maori used to trade the water with colonial ships, rolling it in barrels down to the waterfront, he said.

Later when iwi lost control of the land a bottling factory was built around the spring and the bottled water sold on Queen St.

Today the spring still bubbles through the ruins of the old factory, and some Ngati Whatua people collect it for use in ceremonies, he said.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: Stuff.co.nz

The amendment will allow the return of land in central Tauranga to the local hapu.

The land is owned by The New Zealand Mission Trust, a remnant of the first Christian missionaries to visit New Zealand.

Local Maori have disputed the Trust's ownership and have for some time been trying to regain possession of it.

The private member's bill, The New Zealand Mission Trust Board (Otamataha) Empowering Bill 2013 sponsored by the Maori Party co leader, Te Ururoa Flavell, transfers the Tauranga land - around 8000 sq m - to a new organisation, the Otamataha Trust, which is run by members of Bay of Plenty hapu Ngati Tapu and Ngaitamarawaho.

The Church Mission Society bought two large blocks of land in Te Papa in 1838, which has now become the heart of Tauranga City.

Around 80 per cent of this land was gifted to the Crown 14 years later.

Near the end of the century, some of it was transferred to the New Zealand Mission Trust.

The trust held the assets "for the spiritual benefit and spiritual instruction of Maori people in the North Island of New Zealand or failing that, the evangelisation of heathen races in any part of the world".

Source

• New Zealand Herald
• Image: Mark Mitchell

Caritas supports the retention of Section 9 of the State Owned Enterprises Act 1986 as it relates to the new legislation being proposed under the Public Finance Act and believes insufficient time has been allowed for meaningful consultation.

The Constitutional Review provides a better opportunity and a more appropriate forum for any reconsideration of the wording of Section 9

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand is the Catholic agency for Justice, Peace and Development, mandated by the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference to work for the elimination of poverty and injustice through development and aid work internationally, and through advocacy and education for social justice in New Zealand. They made their submission in consultation with Te Runanga 0 Te Hahi Katorika ki Aotearoa.

The New Zealand Catholic Bishops said in 1995:

"To the Government: Please, keep trying to address the grievances of the past with integrity and consultation. The indigenous people of our country, the Maori, deserve better than unilateral arrangements and imposed settlements for genuine, acknowledged wrongs. Treaty of Waitangi issues are not about party politics. They are about honouring with goodwill the covenant entered into by the Crown and Maori, on which this nation is founded. They are about the right of the first occupants to land, and a social and political organisation which would allow them to preserve their cultural identity. They are about a people still searching for the sovereignty guaranteed them 150 years ago. We ask then that you look boldly to a new process of consultation on the meaning and application of tino rangatiratanga and kawanatanga as encompassed in Te Tiriti."
New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference: A statement on the Treaty of Waitangi in today's perspective, 1995

The Caritas submission concluded by saying that at the Consultation Hui in Te Whanganui-a-Tara many of the speakers stated that the wrong questions were being asked. This submission supports that viewpoint. This consultation process does not try to resolve any grievances but in fact creates more problems due to the limited scope of engagement

Source

• Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand
• Image: Getty

The "agreement to purchase" follows negotiations between the Society and descendants of the original land owners. Representatives of the descendants included Jacqui Wilson (recently deceased and who was a great grand-daughter of Airini Donnelly) and Eru Smith a descendant of Airini's sibling.

The Society and the Council have agreed that the land will be maintained as a reserve for recreation for the general public. The descendants of the original landowners will be involved in the ongoing management of the land.

Source

• infoNews.co.nz
• Image: Hastings District Council