Ng¯ati Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty) Claims Settlement Bill

Preamble
Ngāti Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty)
Claims Settlement
Struck out (unanimous)
Crown troops attacked Te Kupenga. On 20 October 1865 all
those remaining at Te Kupenga surrendered to the Crown
force.
Confiscation under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863
(13) By an Order in Council on 17 January 1866 the Crown confiscated
approximately 448 000 acres of land in the eastern Bay
of Plenty, under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863. The
description of the confiscation boundary was amended by a
subsequent Crown proclamation of 1 September 1866. The
confiscated area included approximately 87 000 acres of the
traditional lands of Ngati Tuwharetoa.
(14) According to the legislation 2 of the purposes of the
New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 were to provide permanent
peace and security, and establish and maintain the
Queen’s authority. The Act described the introduction of a
sufficient number of settlers as ‘‘the best and most effectual
means’’ of achieving those purposes.
(15) The Act did not mention punishment, but was punitive in
nature. It was used to effect the confiscation of Maori land
whenever the Governor in Council was satisfied that ‘‘any
Native Tribe or Section of a Tribe or any considerable number
thereof’’ had been engaged in ‘‘rebellion’’ against the authority
of the Queen since 1 January 1863. The Governor could
proclaim a District, for the purposes of the Act, where there
was any land owned in that district by those deemed to have
been in rebellion.
(16) The Crown considered the Bay of Plenty tribes to have been
in rebellion because of the ‘‘resistance’’ to the forces sent into
the area to arrest those responsible for the deaths of Fulloon
and others.
The compensation process
(17) The Compensation Court was established under the provisions
of the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 to hear claims
for the return of confiscated land. Prior to the sitting of the
Compensation Court, Crown Agent John A Wilson was
appointed as a special commissioner in February 1866 to deal
with the allocation of confiscated land in the Bay of Plenty.
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