Ihumātao: Māori King says mana whenua want land back

Wednesday, 18 September 2019

Ihumātao 'protector' Matira Madden-Hulena says the occupation has changed her as a person.

The Māori King says mana whenua have reached a unified position on the future of Ihumātao and want the land back.

In a statement on Wednesday, Kiingi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII said mana whenua had engaged in 'good faith discussions' to reach the consensus.

Save Our Unique Landscape (SOUL) members at Ihumātao welcomed the statement and said the consensus was the 'best outcome'.

Protesters have been trying to stop a Fletcher Building housing development at the disputed site near Auckland Airport.

**READ MORE:

The hikoi, and invitation, arrives at the office of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

* Ihumātao protest: meet the 'protectors' still occupying the site

* Ihumātao: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she will visit protest site

SOUL leader Pania Newton says Ihumātao is a Crown issue that it needs to take responsibility for.

* Ihumātao: Reports Tainui set to buy land 'pure speculation'

* Ihumātao: Protesters march through thunderstorm to deliver petition to Jacinda Ardern's office

Protesters have occupied the land since it was sold to Fletcher Building in 2016.

* Ihumātao protest: Former landowner the Wallace family speaks out against stand-off**

The king said: 'Mana whenua agree they want their land returned, so they can make decisions about its future.

People have been protesting on Ihumatāo since July following an eviction notice.

'Mana whenua agreed the return of the land is outside of the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process and therefore requires an innovative and modern solution that does not financially disadvantage iwi.'

Auckland visual journalist Chris McKeen walked with the hikoi from Ihumātao to the prime minister's electorate office in Mt Albert. This is what he captured along the way.

Kiingitanga had conveyed the views of mana whenua to the Government and urged it to negotiate with Fletchers for the return of Ihumātao to its 'rightful owners', he said.

SOUL's Qiane Matata-Sipu said the announcement from the Māori King was the 'best outcome'.

'Now the Government needs to work with Fletchers to have the land returned,' she said.

Matata-Sipu said the backing of the King and Kiingitanga had allowed protesters to 'thrive' and 'not just be in constant survival mode'.

Although a consensus had been reached, she said what happened to the whenua (land) was for mana whenua to determine.

It was another step in the process and a 'long, way away'.

'What happens from here is now up to the Government and Fletchers to play their part in securing this whenua. We will still be here until the whenua is safe,' Matata-Sipu said.

'The reclamation will continue until the land is safe.'

Matata-Sipu said she was 'disappointed' the prime minister had still not visited the site.

'Were two minutes from the airport, she could stop by here.'

At this point they did not know what would happen to the land if it was returned, she said.

Protest leader Pania Newton was not present at Ihumātao on Wednesday as she was taking a 'well deserved' break overseas.

A Stuff reporter at Ihumātao said the mood was relaxed.

A cluster of tents and structures made from wood remain on the site, with around 40 people remaining on the site.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said the Government welcomed the King's statement on the future of Ihumātao.

'We thank Kingi Tūheitia for his work on this. The intention of the Prime Minister in seeking for the work on the land to stop was for the Kiingitanga to play a facilitative role,' Peters said.

'We are pleased that mana whenua are working constructively together towards a solution.

'We have always said that we are happy to join the discussions on the future of the land at Ihumātao.

'As we go through the process we are mindful of heritage claims, precedent issues and the commercial interests in the site.

'We look forward to discussions that involve all parties to find a resolution to these matters,' he said.

Earlier, reports Tainui was set to buy the land at Ihumātao and stop protests was labelled 'pure speculation' by the groups involved.

Last month, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promised to visit Ihumātao after more than 300 protesters took part in a hikoi from the land in south Auckland to her electorate office in Mt Albert.

The group delivered an invitation to Ardern with more than 26,000 signatures for her to visit them at the site.

Ardern first spoke out about the protests three days after they began, saying no work would take place at the site until a solution was found.

Protesters had called on Ardern to resolve the situation but she had earlier said it would be inappropriate for the Government to intervene as the local iwi, Te Kawerau ā Maki, supported the development.

Protests have taken place at the site after those occupying the land for the past three years were handed an eviction notice in July.

Fletcher bought the land off private owners the Wallace family in 2016.

Local iwi Te Kawerau a Maki reached an agreement with Fletcher that would see houses given to local Māori in a shared equity scheme, but protesters say that iwi has no mandate over the land.

Colonial troops forced Māori from the land during the 19th century Waikato Invasion: a campaign to stamp out the Māori King movement and clear lands for European settlement.