20 November 2003 Media Release

CROWN FORESTRY RENTAL TRUST ASSISTS NGATI TUWHARETOA TO RESEARCH ITS CLAIMS.

Crown Forestry Rental Trust will be opening a research office in Wanganui on Monday so that they can assist Ngati Tuwharetoa to research its Treaty of Waitangi Claims.

Ngati Tuwharetoa, along with four other iwi are preparing to negotiate directly with the Crown and hope to begin formal negotiations next year.

The small team of researchers will be based at the Maori Land Court office, which holds many of the official records that are relevant to the Ngati Tuwharetoa claim. This information is collated along with other data and entered into a Land History Alienation Database (LHAD) which is held in Wellington.

LHAD will provide a comprehensive view of the history of events surrounding land, which has been alienated from Maori, as well as that remaining in Maori ownership.  It will show Crown acquisitions, public works takings, private purchases and development schemes. This information is then translated into colour maps to support the data that has been collected.

Karen Waterreus the Chief Executive of Crown Forestry Rental Trust said that the information is essential for claimants to prepare, represent and negotiate claims that involve of could involve Crown Forest licensed lands.

“ For claimants to be successful in their claim they need to demonstrate that there has been a breach of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi by particular actions or omissions of the Crown and that the claimants have suffered as a result of this.”

The LHAD database speeds up the process and provides claimants with a visual means to identify what has happened to their land since 1840.

The data collection for the Taupo District, which primarily includes Ngati Tuwharetoa, is expected to be completed by mid 2004.

End

For further information Contact

Nick Fahey  04 916 7830

Background

The Crown Forestry Rental Trust (CFRT) was set up under the Crown Forest Assets Act 1989 after the New Zealand Maori Council and Federation of Maori Authorities took court action to protect Maori interests in the Crown’s commercial forests.

The Act allowed the Crown to sell licenses for forestry, but prevented it from selling the land itself until the Waitangi Tribunal recommended who owned the land - Maori or Crown. On 30 April 1990 Maori and Crown representatives executed a deed to establish the CFRT.