Land claim report leaked

Press, 14 September 1988, Page 1

Land claim report leaked

By

BRENDON BURNS,

political reporter The Ngai Tahu and some small Maori tribes may be disappointed, a leaked Treasury report predicts, if its recommendations on how to treat land claims are accepted by the Government. Tax increases or spending cuts are proposed to fund the land claims.

The 12-page report was distributed last evening by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger. It suggests a needs-based approach to settling land claims. This would depend more on tribal numbers and what was necessary to retain an identity rather than the amount of land actually lost to pakehas. “The Ngai Tahu and any other small tribes with very large claims might be relatively disappointed if the needs-based approach were strictly applied,” said the Treasury report, written by Mr Mark Prebble. However, he said compensation to take account of "exceptional losses” could also be provided.

The report proposes that Maori land claims be met either through raising taxes or cutting spending. No range of figures for the possible cost of land claims is suggested, but Mr Bolger said it was clear that the Treasury believed compensation could run into tens, even hundreds, of millions of dollars. “The Government must come clean over the likely sums of money involved.” The report, dated May 13, 1988, had been in the Government’s hands for four months and the public had a right to know the probable consequences of Maori land claims.

The Treasury adopted the same view of how to deal with land grievances as the Waitangi Tribunal when it had dealt with the Orakei-Bastion Point claim in Auckland. It had rejected both return of the lands claimed and quantification of the losses in monetary terms. The Treasury paper noted that the Waitangi Tribunal had settled on the duty of the Crown to ensure the retention of a proper tribal endowment. It said the main need seemed to be for a tribal turangawaewae (“a place to stand”) which might sometimes be used for housing, job : training schemes or to provide a source of income. The funds to provide such compensatory pieces of land could not simply be added to Government expenditure. The Maori Affairs Department should not be used as a source of funds, but payments made for compensation should fit within the medium-term fiscal strategy: that was either savings must be •made elsewhere or taxes raised,, the Treasury report said.