The Crown has signed a deed of settlement with Ngai Tai ki Tamaki at Umupuia Marae, Maraetai in Auckland, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson announced today.

'The deed settles the historical grievances of Ngai Tai ki Tamaki and includes an acknowledgement and apology for the acts, omissions and historical breaches of the Treaty committed by the Crown,” says the Minister.

Ngai Tai ki Tamaki is a member of the Tamaki Collective and one of the 12 iwi of the Hauraki Collective. Their area of interest is centred in Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland extending to Hauraki/Coromandel and, in particular, the coastline, harbours and islands of the Tīkapa Moana/Hauraki Gulf and Waitemata Harbour.

"Ngai Tai ki Tamaki suffered severe Treaty breaches that rendered them virtually landless by the late 19th Century. In the decades following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the Crown acquired large tracts of land in the iwi's rohe and confiscated 51,000 acres of land from the East Wairoa area.

'We can never fully compensate the people of Ngai Tai ki Tamaki for the wrongs they have endured. This settlement, however, provides a basis for Ngai Tai ki Tamaki to develop a much stronger future and an opportunity for a genuine partnership with the Crown.”

Cultural redress is focused on sites of immense cultural and historical significance to Ngai Tai ki Tamaki and includes the vesting of 16 properties. Ngai Tai ki Tamaki will also receive a $50,000 cultural redress payment.

Financial redress for Ngai Tai ki Tamaki includes $12.7 million, two commercial redress properties and one joint commercial property with the Marutuahu Collective as well as the opportunity to purchase four deferred selection properties.

'Signing this deed of settlement is an important step towards settling historical grievances in the Tāmaki Makaurau region and New Zealand as a whole."

A copy of the deed of settlement is available here.