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

Preamble
Ngāti Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty)
Claims Settlement
New (unanimous)
over some of their urupā and significant sites. Ngāti
Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty) state that this has had an ongoing
impact on the spiritual and physical relationship of the iwi
with the land:
20th century developments
(34) From the early 1890s onwards attempts were made by
settlers, with the sanction of the Government, to drain the
Rangitaiki swamp area to make it more suitable for farming.
The Government took over the local land drainage scheme in
1910 and in 1914 a channel was cut to provide the Rangitaiki
River with a direct route to the sea. The physical characteristics
of these wetlands were significantly altered by the drainage
and river diversion scheme and this affected Ngāti
Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty) wāhi tapu and traditional gathering
areas for food and other resources:
(35) In the 1950s the Kawerau township and pulp and paper mill
were established above the settlement of Ngāti Tuwharetoa
(Bay of Plenty). These developments resulted in the pollution
and degradation of the Tarawera River (which was a valuable
food and water resource for Ngāti Tuwharetoa (Bay of
Plenty)) and the Ōkākāru area (which Ngāti Tuwharetoa (Bay
of Plenty) hold to be a historically significant area for healing
and recuperation), by urban and industrial waste. The Tasman
Pulp and Paper Company Enabling Act 1954 authorised the
discharge of waste from the mill into the Tarawera River in
accordance with Pollution Advisory Council guidelines:
(36) With the passing of the Geothermal Energy Act 1953, the
Crown established for itself, without the consent of Ngāti
Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty), the sole right to the geothermal
energy resource. In relation to the Kawerau geothermal field,
this has resulted in Ngāti Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty) losing
control of and access to geothermal resources in the area:
The claims of Ngāti Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty) and settlement
negotiations
(37) Ngāti Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty) considers that the Crown
has breached the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi)
and caused significant prejudice to the iwi. Ngāti Tuwharetoa
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