Mineral interests claimed from Govt

Press, 2 December 1987, Page 8

Mineral interests claimed from Govt

Minerals under Maori reserve land, freehold land, and coastal waters on the West Coast are being claimed from the Government through the Ngai Tahu Maori land claim. In a three-hour submission before the Waitangi Tribunal yesterday a trustee of the Ngai Tahu Maori Trust Board and a member of the Muriwhenua Incorporation, Mr James Russell, produced evidence of “land swindles” by the Government, pollution of waterways by local authorities, and the local Maori right to pounamu (greenstone), and all minerals in areas they owned. Mr Russell said European explorers had been quick to recognise the value of pounamu, gold, and coal resources in the West Coast region. The sales they conducted in a bid to control the valuable land amounted to a “finely executed swindle,”

he said. The Crown had failed in its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi to protect Maori ownership interests of minerals, fisheries and land, he said. It had also failed to recognise the right of the Kati waewae (sub-tribe of Ngai Tahu), to the Arahura River which had never been sold. The hapu (sub-tribe), fought an 18month battle for their right to the river from 1976 and eventually won their right to part of it. The battle for the rest is now continuing before the Waitangi Tribunal. The mouth of the river had already been polluted through a sewerage plant established by the Hokitika Borough Council. Mussel beds had been destroyed while further raw sewage was being expelled into the sea from the Westport Hospital, he said. Other instances of pollution were cited in the

Milford Sound and Moana areas, and along the tributaries of the Arahura River. Pollution had also been caused by mining activities.

Mr Russell also presented a submission on the leasehold contracts and supported Ngai Tahu Maori Trust Board proposals to restructure them.

The sanctity of the contract was broken when legislation containing provisions protecting the owner’s right to review the lease regularly were replaced by perpetuity, he said.

Greymouth’s “dramatic rejuvenation” during the last 10 years had been due to the incorporation’s entrepreneurial skills and vesting their rental moneys back into the town when it could have been vested elsewhere. Now it was time for the town to play fair, he said.