Otamarakau School is to come under new ownership - but it will be business as usual at the rural primary school, says NZ Frist MP Brendan Horan.

The opportunity to enter a sale and lease-back agreement over Otamarakau School on is part of the Ngati Makino Settlement Bill signed late last week.

Ngati Makino lands lie between lakes Rotoma and Rotoiti and the coast, including the Otamarakau School.

In speaking in support of the bill, Brendan says Ngati Makino have made assurances that it will be business as usual at the school.

'The parents, teachers and locals all guard it zealously. They were most concerned when they thought Ngati Makino was going to take that school, and it is my pleasure to put their minds at ease,” says Brendan.

'It will be business as usual at Otamarakau School, and the do the business of learning and caring for our most precious taonga, our children very well.
'You will never find a better fishing competition that the Otamarakau School Fishing Competition at Matata,” says Brendan.

The Ngati Makino treaty settlement was boosted by $3.6million in Crown compensation for delaying settlement with the Bay of Plenty iwi.

The recognition of the delay in the process is an important feature of the settlement for the Otamaraku iwi, says Crown minister Turiana Turia. The year 2012 marks two decades since the first claim was filed by the iwi.

Terms of negotiation were signed between the National-led Government and the Ngāti Mākino Heritage Trust in 1998, but with a change of Government, the Crown withdrew from negotiations, and Ngāti Mākino were once again forced back to the Waitangi Tribunal, the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court to protect their position.

The Waitangi Tribunal found in 2004, and again in 2005, that Ngāti Mākino suffered prejudice as a result of the Crown delays in negotiating with them.

'We acknowledge today the frustrations and the despair that accumulated over the drawn out negotiations, and we hope that this settlement will alleviate that sense of injury,” says Turiana speaking on the bill's third reading.

Alongside of the historical account and the Crown acknowledgment, statutory acknowledgements, and the deed of recognition, there is also an investment made in ongoing dialogue.

Protocols are to be established with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and with the Ministry of Economic Development in respect of Crown minerals, and there will be letters of introduction with local government agencies and the Minister of Housing.

A pathway to the future is charted with a payment of $500,000 to identify social service needs, and $1million for the restoration of six marae in the Ngāti Mākino rohe.

In her speech in support of the settlement bill, Turiana Turia says Ngāti Mākino suffered loss of life, land, and authority as a result of Crown action. War and raupatu were inflicted upon Ngāti Mākino, destroying their political cohesion, splitting the iwi and pitting individuals and hapū against one another.

These impacts were compounded by court structures and land laws, which were utilised in a way that eroded the mana, rangatiratanga, and traditional Ngāti Mākino tribal structures.

Ngāti Mākino were rendered virtually landless, stripped of possessions and deprived of benefits that were used to contribute to the wealth of New Zealand.

By 1992 only 0.6per cent of the combined area of the three major blocks in which Ngāti Mākino had interests remained in the hands of the iwi.

Turiana Turia says one of the most significant aspects of the Ngati Makino Settlement Bill is that the Crown acknowledges that certain actions or omissions of the Crown arising from the interaction with Ngāti Mākino breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles.

The final acknowledgment states: 'Through these acts, the Crown, its Ministers, and government departments have dishonoured the Treaty of Waitangi, its principles, and its spirit, denigrating te mana motuhake o Ngāti Mākino. In so doing, the Crown acknowledges that it has brought dishonour upon itself.”

'These are very strong words,” says Turiana.

'And they represent how seriously the Crown understands its obligations to restore peace and justice to the people of Ngāti Mākino. It now falls time for these grievances to be lifted.”

Eight sites of special significance will be transferred to Ngāti Mākino, totalling 720 hectares; three sites will be vested with Rotoehu Conservation Forest, Te Kōhanga, and Ngā Pōrōtai-o-Waitaha-a-Hei; and a 3 hectare site for a wānanga at whenua rāhui over 256 hectares of Lake Rotoma Scenic Reserve.

The financial compensation includes $6.7million quantum plus $3.6million for the delay in settlement, 3450 hectares of Rotoehu West Crown Forest licensed land, right of first refusal over five sites of public conservation land.