Deed of Settlement signed with Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki

  • Christopher Finlayson
Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations

The Crown has signed a deed of settlement with Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki at Umupuia Marae, Maraetai in Auckland, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson announced today.

“The deed settles the historical grievances of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and includes an acknowledgement and apology for the acts, omissions and historical breaches of the Treaty committed by the Crown,” Mr Finlayson said.

Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki is a member of the Tāmaki Collective and one of the twelve iwi of the Hauraki Collective. Their area of interest is centred in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland extending to Hauraki/Coromandel and, in particular, the coastline, harbours and islands of the Tīkapa Moana/Hauraki Gulf and Waitematā Harbour.

Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki suffered severe Treaty breaches that rendered them virtually landless by the late nineteenth century. In the decades following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the Crown acquired large tracts of land in the iwi’s rohe and confiscated 51,000 acres of land from the East Wairoa area.

“We can never fully compensate the people of Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki for the wrongs they have endured,” Mr Finlayson said. “This settlement, however, provides a basis for Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki to develop a much stronger future and an opportunity for a genuine partnership with the Crown.”

Cultural redress is focused on sites of immense cultural and historical significance to Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and includes the vesting of 16 properties. Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki will also receive a $50,000 cultural redress payment.

Financial redress for Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki includes $12.7 million, two commercial redress properties and one joint commercial property with the Marutūāhu Collective as well as the opportunity to purchase four deferred selection properties.

“Signing this deed of settlement is an important step towards settling historical grievances in the Tāmaki Makaurau region and New Zealand as a whole,” Mr Finlayson said.

A copy of the deed of settlement is available at www.govt.nz/treaty-settlement-documents/ngai-tai-ki-tamaki/.