This article by Joel Maxwell was published online in Stuff on 20 February 2021

The Crown and a single kaumātua, Rore Stafford, are the final players in a long-running legal fight that decides the future of thousands of hectares of Nelson land. He wants to sit down with the Crown – but the High Court beckons.

Negotiations over the return of thousands of hectares of Nelson land have hit a wall with local Māori asking for a little understanding from a Labour government they thought was dedicated to “kindness”.

Leading them, with a Supreme Court decision in his back pocket, kaumātua Rore Stafford could still make things messy for the Crown in the High Court.

The last man standing in a case that started decades ago, Stafford says the Crown should just give the land back.

Backed by fellow descendants of local Māori, he offered a plan to settle the case over the Nelson Tenths reserves – but it was rejected by the Crown, and he was asked to try again with another offer.

In the 1840s, Māori owners of land used to settle Nelson, Tasman and Golden Bay sold it to be developed on the agreement 10 per cent was reserved for their benefit. They would also keep customary areas, like urupā (grave sites) and gardens.

Kaumātua Rore Stafford, who won the right to seek a decision from the High Court on liability and breaches by the Crown over land in and around Nelson. (File photo)

In 2017, after long-running litigation, the Supreme Court ruled the Crown had a duty to reserve 6111 hectares (15,100 acres) of land for the benefit of these owners. Additionally, it should have excluded customary land from development.

With Crown duty established, the case was sent to the High Court to work out matters of “liability, loss and remedy”.

Attorney General David Parker won't comment directly on the case – but at a “general level” believes it isn’t unfair to seek compromise from all parties to settle an ongoing case.

Stafford said despite the 2017 decision, the issue was still unresolved in 2021.

“I mean, it’s quite easy. The land that we didn’t get ... just give it back, and we’ll go away. Ānei taku kōrero (that’s all I can say).”

Attorney General David Parker won't comment directly on the case. (File photo)

He said his message to Parker was simple: “Just deal with our issue, and we can get on with life, and so can the Crown.”

Any return of land would have to be managed and administered through a new structure for descendants of the original owners, he said.

In 1977, descendants of the Māori owners incorporated into ‘Wakatū’ - an entity to manage the remnant, about-1400 hectares owned under the agreement.

Stafford is a kaumātua for Wakatū, which is supporting him in his ongoing case.

Wakatū chief executive Kerensa Johnston said families wanted the return of land that should have been in the estate “since day one”.

“The legal contract at the time, which continues through to now, is that the 10 per cent of the Nelson settlement should have been set aside, plus our customary land, our wāhi tapu, cultivations, etc.”

The Supreme Court findings said the Crown acknowledged it never reserved 4047 hectares (10,000 acres) of rural land - but it was not clear how much more urban and customary land was included as well.

Johnston said families thought the case covered about 20,000 acres - or 8100 hectares.

She said they did not want to be drawn into “yet another round of litigation on issues that we think are unnecessary”.

Wakatū was still researching the size of a potential agreement, but the 8100 hectares was a hint to its scale, Johnston said.

Johnston said there were “huge risks” for the Crown in returning to the High Court.

“But as to what the Attorney General’s view is about his preference, I can’t answer that … we’ve got no insight into what he might be thinking.”

Stafford would consider returning to court next year if there was no agreement reached with Parker.

Johnston said the families were initially optimistic when Labour was elected in 2017 – apparently approaching Māori/Crown relations with “goodwill and kindness”.

The Supreme Court ruled the proprietors of Wakatū, and Te Kahui Ngahuru Trust (another group representing some descendants) were unable to represent customary interests in the case.

That left Stafford alone, allowed to proceed in the High Court “for determination of matters of breach and remedy”.

Kaumātua Rore Stafford is the last man standing in a case involving vast swathes of Nelson land meant to be held for local Māori. He wants to sit down with the Crown.

Parker would not comment on his discussions with Stafford.

A spokesman for Parker said Crown Law officials advised discussions were ongoing and were “without prejudice and confidential”.

“The Supreme Court decision did not ultimately decide the case. The Supreme Court referred the matters identified above back to the High Court.”

The question of remedies for Stafford was “only one of the matters the Supreme Court sent back to the High Court”.