Wakatū Incorporation

Recently, the Crown lodged an appeal against the High Court’s decision in Stafford v Attorney-General. While this is deeply disappointing for us, it’s not a huge surprise. The Crown has fought us at every turn. Now, the Crown has appealed the High Court’s decision on almost every point, even arguments that we believe have no factual or legal defence, that have already been determined by the Supreme Court. Here’s an example. In the High Court the Crown argued that its fiduciary duties to reserve the Tenths and exclude the Occupation Lands did not require it to actually achieve those outcomes, just to act with loyalty and good faith even if they didn’t reserve what they were legally required to. This is despite the Supreme Court in 2017 finding that the Crown had a duty to “reserve 15,100 acres for the benefit of the customary owners and, in addition, to exclude their pā, urupā and cultivations from the land obtained by the Crown following the 1845 Spain award.” The High Court dismissed this argument, but the Crown has resurrected it on appeal. #tehereānuku #makingthetenthswhole

Thank you to all those who attended AGM 2024 on Saturday, in person or online. Electionz.com has now issued the declaration of results in the election of directors to the Wakatū Committee of Management. We are pleased to announce the following candidates have been elected. Please read the full pānui for the breakdown of votes and further information. https://lnkd.in/g6msRmNd

After eight years of service as our Tumu Whakarae (Chief Executive Officer), Kerensa Johnston will be stepping down from the role in February 2025. It is impossible to overstate the impact Kerensa has had on our organisation and the legacy she leaves. Joe Hanita FCA, CPFA, CMInstD, Wakatū Chief Financial Officer and General Manager Corporate Services, has been appointed Tumu Whakarae from 21 February 2025. We are fortunate to have succession planning at the heart of our organisation, and there is a full and carefully planned transition programme in place to support the change. Read the full announcement here: https://lnkd.in/g6FhMwKK

The High Court has today released a significant decision in our favour regarding Stafford v Attorney General. While there are still outstanding matters to decide, including the specific details of the award to be made, today’s judgment is a significant victory for the plaintiff kaumātua Rore Stafford, the customary land owners of the Nelson Tenths Reserves that he represents, and all who have a connection to the whenua at the heart of this issue. The decision upholds our fundamental property rights and ensures justice for our whānau and hapū after many years of seeking to recover our trust property from the Crown. In the words of Justice Rebecca Edwards: “The Customary Owners are like any other private litigant and their right to relief should not be curtailed simply because the defendant is the Crown. The plaintiff’s claim is determined according to the law, unaffected by the political objectives of the other branches of government which sit outside the courtroom doors.” Read the summary decision here: https://lnkd.in/g9WePkXB Ngā mihi nui to all who follow and support this kaupapa. It has been a long road to get to this point. We will keep you updated on next steps. #tehereānuku #makingthetenthswhole

As we await the High Court's decision on the Nelson Tenths litigation, we encourage you to jump across and follow the Facebook page for Te Here-ā-Nuku | Making the Tenths Whole Facebook: https://lnkd.in/gMUh2SHw   You can also follow on Instagram @makingthetenthswhole or LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/gzwuwgXU   These dedicated channels are the home of regular updates about the litigation, the work underway to resolve our case, and our mahi to reconnect whānau with their whakapapa.   If you would like to learn more about the Nelson Tenths and Te Here-ā-Nuku – our commitment to hold the Crown to account, we encourage you to check out www.tehereanuku.nz. This website contains background information, videos, legal documents, photo galleries, kōrero from our whānau, timelines and more.

Kia ora e te whānau o Wakatū, There is an opportunity for whānau to complete a PhD as part of a five-year MBIE Endeavour project Kai anamata mō Aotearoa co-led by Wakatū Incorporation. Click the link below for more information. 👇

The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner has written to the New Zealand Government seeking a response regarding its alleged breaches of human rights in relation to the Nelson Tenths. This follows a visit to Nelson in 2023 by the United Nations’ highest ranked indigenous rights official, José Francisco Calí Tzay, to learn about our case. 💡 The letter highlights the significant and ongoing delay in resolving the case: “This delay prevents Nelson Tenths from exercising their right to the lands, territories, and resources in the Nelson region, and from accessing their traditional territories, therefore affecting the continued exercise of their traditional activities and spiritual ceremonies. Hence, the intergenerational passing of scientific knowledge about this area is also detrimentally impacted.” 💡 It asks the Government for urgent information on the steps it’s planning to take: “to reach a principled, fair, and effective solution that honors the Government's legal duties and recognizes the rights of Māori Indigenous Peoples as customary landowners.” 💡 It also asks about the Government’s intentions: “to return the lands of Māori or, if this is not possible, to provide fair and adequate compensation for the loss of land in line with international law.” The letter is signed by: 🖊 Alexandra Xanthaki, UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights 🖊 Margaret Satterthwaite, UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers 🖊 José Francisco Calí Tzay, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples We await a substantive response from Justice Minister Hon Paul Goldsmith and Minister of Māori Crown Relations Hon Tama Potaka to these issues. 📸 UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples alongside whānau at Te Āwhina Marae, Motueka, in 2023 #tehereānuku #makingthetenthswhole #indigenousrights #humanrights

Journalist Mike McRoberts and cameraman Joseph Hisayasu joined us in Nelson to share the important story of the Nelson Tenths in Mike's debut feature as Te Ao Māori Editor at NBR - National Business Review. Thank you to spokespeople kaumātua Rore Stafford, Kerensa Johnston and Jeremy Banks. And to Xanthe Banks, 17, the next generation hoping for justice in our case. "It's sad that we have to be a part of this. Our tūpuna have been fighting this for so long. It feels like it should be over and we shouldn't have to keep going through it." Ngā mihi NBR - National Business Review for telling this story. #tehereanuku #makingthetenthswhole

It recently became easier for our shareholders and whānau to engage in decision making at Wakatū, with the introduction of online and postal voting to decide the election of Wakatū Committee of Management (Board) members.   To deliver these new voting processes we’ve partnered with electionz.com. Electionz.com will manage the end-to-end delivery of our elections, ensuring our voting processes are fair, transparent and secure.   This step forward ensures our voting practice aligns with other modern incorporations and entities, and makes it easier for our Owners to have their say into how our organisation is governed. https://lnkd.in/gBqh8csR

Following the news last week that the Government has allocated $3.6m to continue fighting us in court Kerensa Johnston, Te Here-ā-Nuku Project Lead, told Te Ao Māori News why we remain optimistic that the Crown will do the right thing - and that we're not going anywhere. #tehereānuku #makingthetenthswhole