Last year, led by Rore Stafford, we were in the Wellington High Court in a judicial action against the Attorney-General, where we took action in an attempt to stop the Crown selling any more ex-Tenths’ reserves land in the Nelson rohe.
The case focused on land in Nelson, which is currently held by ACC and includes land that was once part of the Nelson Tenths’ Reserves. This case is part of the broader work happening following the Supreme Court win in 2017, when the Court held that the Crown, as legal trustee, owes a fiduciary duty to the Owners of the Nelson Tenths’ Reserves and Occupation Reserves in the Nelson rohe.
The High Court decision has been released. You can read the full decision of the Court here.
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.
This article by Joel Maxwell was published online in Stuff on 20 February 2021
The last man standing in a case that started decades ago, Stafford says the Crown should just give the land back.
In the latest video in the Making the Tenths’ Whole video series, Kerensa discusses the work that is underway to resolve matters with the Crown since the 2017 Supreme Court decision.
As part of our Making the Tenths’ Whole video series, Kerensa Johnston talks about the work that is underway to resolve matters with the Crown, including a discussion of recent Court action.
We’ve made a series of videos to help whānau understand the journey to make the Nelson Tenths’ Whole.
We’ve already shared Rore Stafford’s kōrero, giving an overview of the history of the Nelson Tenths’ Reserves.
In this video, Kerensa Johnston gives more background, including talking about the Supreme Court case in 2017.
Rore Stafford’s kōrero for Making the Tenths Whole gives an overview of the history behind the Nelson Tenths’ reserves case.
Led by our kaumātua Rore Stafford, our whānau met last week at the High Court in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, to continue on with the work to resolve our case against the Crown, for the return of land in Whakatū, Tasman and Mōhua.
On Monday 10 August, the High Court in Wellington will hear our judicial review case against the Attorney-General, David Parker.
The case is part of our ongoing Making the Tenths’ Whole work.
This work is being led by our kaumātua Rore Stafford, on behalf of the owners of the Nelson Tenths’ Reserves.
An update on resolving our 2017 Supreme Court decision against the Crown.
Tēnā koutou katoa, tēnei te mihi maioha ki te whānau o Wakatū,
Our Chair, Paul Morgan, has been providing regular updates to whānau during this unprecedented time that we have all been facing. We continue to send our thoughts to our whānau.
The purpose of this pānui is to provide you with an update about our case against the Crown with respect to the Nelson Tenths Reserves and the Occupation Reserves in our rohe, following our win in the Supreme Court in 2017.
Read More.
We are continuing to work on the case against the Crown, following the Supreme Court’s decision in 2017.
We’d like to update you on developments since we talked to whānau during our hui ā-motu in May this year.
We have been focussed on three main areas:
- negotiation
- litigation
- tikanga
Last week saw the launch of a special issue of the New Zealand Law Review focussed entirely on the 2017 Supreme Court decision in relation to Wakatū and the Nelson Tenths’ Reserves. The publication follows on from a one-day symposium organised in February 2018 by the Aotearoa New Zealand Centre for Indigenous Peoples and the Law, which also centered on Wakatū and the Supreme Court’s judgement.
The landmark decision set an important precedent in relation to the Crown’s fiduciary obligations to Māori.
The Sunday 26 May episode of TV3’s current affairs show, The Hui, features an in-depth story about our win in the Supreme Court in 2017 and the Nelson Tenths’ Reserves.
The story focuses on the Crown’s flawed approach to settling the case and what this means for the families of Wakatū.
The episode will be available to view on demand on The Hui website.
The outcome of our appeal to the Supreme Court has been successful. We are delighted with the result. We want to acknowledge all of the work and support of our owners and tupuna which has led to the result. We will keep you posted about the next steps. In the meantime, you can read the full decision of the Supreme Court and the summary decision here. Ngā mihi aroha ki a koutou katoa.
Complete Supreme Court Judgement, Proprietors of Wakatū - CLICK HERE
