Maori claim part of cape

Local Maori are claiming a big section of Cape Kidnappers land owned by American billionaire Julian Robertson.

Known as Rangaika, the 130-hectare block has spiritual significance for Maori and was set aside as "native reserve" in the initial land purchase in the area in 1855. It will be transferred to Maori ownership if an application to the Maori Land Court succeeds.

Hastings man John Moananui, the oldest direct male descendant of 19th-century chief Whakato, and his legal researcher, Peter Nee Harland, believe the reserve status has never been changed.

Mr Moananui, who is at present in hospital in Christchurch, is in the process of asking the court to rule on the status of the land.

"That area has great significance for our people, Ngati Hawea," he said. "Our people were actually camped up that way for all those years before Captain Cook came along.

"From that area you could see them coming from both the north and the south, and because of the rugged terrain it was easier to defend."

The area was also an important burial ground for his people.

Rangaika is pastoral land on the southern side of the cape and the northern end of Ocean Beach. It does not include any of Mr Robertson's celebrated golf course or luxury accommodation.

In 1866 Rangaika was granted by the Crown to Karauria Pupu, who later sold it to James Gordon, owner of much of the surrounding land. However, Mr Moananui and Mr Nee Harland argue this sale was invalid.

"Because it's a native reserve he [Karauria Pupu] had trusteeship of it but he didn't own it," Mr Nee Harland said. "It's like a tenant cannot sell a building.

"Among the Maori community they think they have been ripped off by one of their own."

Mr Nee Harland has studied a handwritten official account of what happened in court the day Karauria Pupu was granted the Rangaika land and has a copy of a 1933 deed with the reserve still marked.

If the court rules in Mr Moananui's favour, it would set a precedent that could apply to other reserve lands around New Zealand, Mr Nee Harland believes.

He says he told Mr Robertson about the Rangaika reserve before the American bought the land in 2002. He added that he had a lot of respect for Mr Robertson and his environmental awareness.

To buy the land, Mr Robertson needed Overseas Investment Commission approval. Overseas Investment Office team leader administration Peter Hill said the documents at the time of the sale contained no reference to Rangaika, Maori land or native reserve.

Mr Robertson declined to comment.

Waikato University senior law lecturer Linda Te Aho said Mr Moananui's move was unusual because such claims normally went to the Waitangi Tribunal. "It was very common for individuals who did not have the authority to sell land, to sell."

When claims on such land were upheld and that land was now in private ownership, the Crown would offer claimants other compensation, such as a different piece of land.

If Mr Moananui could show that Rangaika had not been legally sold then the court could find that it was Maori customary land or Maori freehold land, Ms Te Aho said. "It depends on the facts of the case."

The land is within the Hastings District Council area. Mayoral candidate Simon Nixon said that, in general, a lot of Maori land had been grabbed illegally but it was difficult to find satisfactory solutions when the land had been in private ownership for a long time.

- © Fairfax NZ News