On 17 July 2009, the Crown recognised the mandate of Ngāti Rangiteaorere Claims Committee to represent Ngāti Rangiteaorere in negotiating a comprehensive historical treaty settlement.

On 25 July 2009, the Ngāti Rangiteaorere Claims Committee, Te Maru o Ngāti Rangiwewehi and Tapuika Iwi Authority signed amended terms of negotiation – the three together form the collective Ngā Punawai o Te Tokotoru.

On 6 October 2011, the Crown and Ngāti Rangiteaorere signed an agreement in principle which formed the basis for this settlement.

On 11 October 2012, Ngāti Rangiteaorere and the Crown initialled a deed of settlement. The deed was then ratified by the people of Ngāti Rangiteaorere and signed on 15 June 2013. The settlement will be implemented following the passage of settlement legislation.

The Office of Treaty Settlements, with the support of the Department of Conservation, Land Information New Zealand, and other government agencies, represented the Crown in day-to-day negotiations.

The Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Hon Christopher Finlayson, represented the Crown in high-level negotiations with Ngāti Rangiteaorere.

The historical account describes how Ngāti Rangiteaorere were drawn into the New Zealand wars from the mid-1860s. Those Ngāti Rangiteaorere who supported the Crown during the wars did so at considerable cost to themselves.

Ngāti Rangiteaorere held all their lands under customary tenure when the native laws of the 1860s came into force. However the Native Land Court was not designed to accommodate the complex and fluid customary land usages of Māori as it assigned permanent ownership to a clearly defined area of land. The title determination process also carried significant costs for Ngāti Rangiteaorere.

In 1882 the Native Land Court investigated the ownership of the Whakapoungakau block and awarded much of it to members of Ngāti Rangiteaorere and neighbouring iwi. In 1900 the Native Land Court awarded the Crown 348 acres from the Ngāti Rangiteaorere subdivisions of Whakapoungakau in lieu of survey costs. The individualised interests acquired by the Crown were spread across the Whakapoungakau subdivisions, but the Crown persuaded Ngāti Rangiteaorere to allow the Crown’s awards to form one contiguous parcel of land. The land awarded to the Crown was flat, fertile and easily accessible by road. The land that remained with Ngāti Rangiteaorere was fragmented, and much of it was steep and inaccessible.

Ngāti Rangiteaorere have always valued the Tikitere geothermal field highly for medicinal, spiritual and economic purposes. In 1953, without the consent of Ngāti Rangiteaorere, the Crown acquired the sole right to regulate the use of geothermal energy resources when the Geothermal Energy Act 1953 was enacted. Ngāti Rangiteaorere considers that the Crown had no authority to overrule the mana of Ngāti Rangiteaorere in the Tikitere geothermal field.

In the early 1970s, the Crown proposed a land swap to extend the Lake Okataina Scenic Reserve. This involved the exchange of land in Whakapoungakau that Ngāti Rangiteaorere had significant ancestral connections with, for land that they had no such connections with. As a result of this exchange Ngāti Rangiteaorere were alienated from Whakapoungakau maunga, one of their most sacred sites.

Recognition of the traditional, historical, cultural and spiritual associations of Ngāti Rangiteaorere has with places and sites owned by the Crown within their area of interest. This allows Ngāti Rangiteaorere and the Crown to protect and enhance the conservation values associated with these sites.

Sites transferred to Ngāti Rangiteaorere

• Waiohewa 
  The Crown vests the fee simple of the Te Ngāe/Rangiteaorere site (0.4210 ha) to be known as Waiohewa.

• Rangiteaorere 
  The Crown vests the Te Ngāe Junction Recreation Reserve (2.3922 ha), to be known as Rangiteaorere, subject to recreation reserve status.
• Whakapoungakau 
  The Crown vests the fee simple of the Lake Okataina Scenic Reserve (321 ha), to be known as Whakapoungakau, subject to scenic reserve status.

Statutory acknowledgements and Deeds of recognition

A statutory acknowledgement recognises the association between Ngāti Rangiteaorere and a particular site or area and enhances the iwi’s ability to participate in specified resource management processes. Deeds of recognition oblige the Crown to consult with Ngāti Rangiteaorere on specified matters and have regard to their views regarding their special associations with certain areas.

The Crown offers a statutory acknowledgement over the following areas:

• Waiohewa Stream
• Lake Rotorua marginal strip
• Waiohewa Stream marginal strip
• Tikitere geothermal field within the Rotorua geothermal system.

Protocols

The deed of settlement will provide for protocols to facilitate good working relationships between Ngāti Rangiteaorere and the Department of Conservation, Ministry of Culture and Heritage and Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Letters of introduction

The Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations will write to: Transpower New Zealand Limited; the New Zealand Transport Authority; the New Zealand Railways Corporation; the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand; and Fish and Game New Zealand.

This redress recognises the losses suffered by Ngāti Rangiteaorere arising from breaches by the Crown of its Treaty obligations. The financial and commercial redress is aimed at providing Ngāti Rangiteaorere with resources to assist them to develop their economic and social well being.

The financial redress amount to be paid under this settlement is $750,000. An on-account amount $500,000 was provided to Ngāti Rangiteaorere in 2008. The amount to paid on settlement date is $250,000 plus interest accrued on that amount between the signing of the AIP and deed of settlement.

Ngāti Rangiteaorere will also have a right of first refusal over an area of land held by the New Zealand Transport Agency between State Highway 33 and State Highway 30.