Ngāti Toa Rangatira have gathered near the peak of their sacred maunga, Whitireia, to celebrate its historic return to iwi ownership.

Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira has purchased 53 ha of land at Whitireia — just north of Tītahi Bay — from Radio New Zealand (RNZ) for just under $5 million — adjoining an earlier settlement acquisition on the peninsula.

Ngāti Toa have waited 177 years to get the whenua back. In 1848, the iwi gifted around 202 ha to the Anglican Church in exchange for the promise of a school to be built for Ngāti Toa tamariki.

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The school was never built, but the land remained in church ownership.

That prompted Wiremu Te Kakakura Parata, a Ngāti Toa rangatira and MP, to take court action against the Bishop of Wellington who argued the whenua “ought to be given back to the donors” because the promise of a school was never fulfilled.

In his 1877 judgement, Chief Justice James Prendergast ruled that the Treaty of Waitangi was a “simple nullity” signed by “primitive barbarians”. It denied Ngāti Toa ownership of their maunga for decades and set a damaging precedent for other Māori seeking the return of their land.

Ngāti Toa kuia Karanga Wineera, 96, remembers listening to her elders discuss how her people had fought to reclaim Whitireia over the decades.

She told RNZ seeing the maunga finally returned was “wonderful”.

‘Wonderful gift’
“It’s a most wonderful, wonderful gift to Ngati Toa to have Whitireia come home after so many years of fighting for Whitireia and not getting anywhere, but today, oh, it’s wonderful,” she said.

In the early 1900s, Whitireia was vested in the Porirua College Trust Board, allowing the whenua to be sold. In 1935, the New Zealand Broadcasting Service purchased 40 ha for what would become Radio 2YA, now RNZ.

Iwi members, rūnanga chiefs and representatives from police, the Anglican Church and RNZ attended a formal ceremony to commemorate the sale.

In his speech, Ngāti Toa chair Callum Katene said the deal showed what a “Te Tiriti-centric” New Zealand could look like.

“The birds still sing here at dawn, the same winds sweep the hills and carry the scent of the sea. Beneath us, the earth remembers every footprint, every prayer — Whitireia holds these memories… in this morning, as the first light spills across the harbour, we are reminded that history is not carved in stone, it is living breath,” he said.

“As we look ahead, Whitireia can shine as a beacon of hope, a reminder that reconciliation is not about reclaiming the past so much, but about realising the future envisaged in 1848 — education, faith, unity, and enduring partnership.”

The rūnanga say all existing leases, easements, and public access agreements have been transferred to them as part of the acquisition and day-to-day operations for tenants, recreational users, and visitors will not change.

Lease back for AM
They will lease back 12 ha to RNZ to continue AM transmission operations.

Ngāti Toa Rangatira had a first right of refusal on the property under the Ngāti Toa Rangatira Claims Settlement Act 2014 and Public Works Act.

Speaking to media after the ceremony, Katene said he could not speak highly enough of how “accommodating” RNZ had been during the negotiation process, but admitted there were a few “hiccups”.

“There were a few hiccups when it came to the technical details of the exchanges, there always are in these sorts of things.

“The important distinction for us is this isn’t a financial transaction, it’s not economic for us — it’s returning the land,” he said.

Asked why the land could not be gifted back free of charge, RNZ chair Jim Mather said the possibility of gifting the land back was raised during negotiations.

“The return of the land recognised that Ngāti Toa Rangatira had been compensated previously as part of the settlement and were now in a position to actually effect that transaction,” he said.

“If it was up to us as a board we would have handed it over, but we have responsibilities as governors of assets held in the interest of the public of Aotearoa.”

Breach of the Treaty
Rūnanga chief executive Helmut Modlik said while the negotiations were “principled”, there was still a “conversation” worth “revisiting” at some time.

“As everybody has admitted, the loss of this land was as a result of a breach of the Treaty, and as everybody knows, Treaty settlement processes are a take it or leave it exercise, and we weren’t able to have this whenua returned at that point,” he said.

“To me, that’s a matter of principle that’s worth a future conversation.”

Ngā uri o Wi Parata spokesperson Kahu Ropata said because Wiremu Te Kakakura Parata had had the audacity to take the case up he was discriminated against by the “Pākehā propaganda machine”.

The whānau have had to grow up with that hara (offence) against their tūpuna, he said.

“We grew up with the kōrero that it cost him his health and his wealth fighting this case.

“And so for many years, we grew up in that, I suppose, for some of my uncles and aunties, in that trauma of a loss of mana, I suppose you could say, and for a rangatira of his ilk, it would have been quite damaging knowing that he was to go to the grave and the case actually not settled in his name.”

Ropata said RNZ returning the whenua was a “great step” towards reconciliation.

“We’re still in discussions with the Anglican Church in terms of the whānau and the iwi about reconciliation and moving forward.

“Fifty-three-odd hectares, there’s still another . . .  450-odd acres that we still need to reconcile [and we’re] looking at discussions around how we can accomplish that.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Vanuatu has never seen an outpouring of sorrow and admiration such as it witnessed yesterday.

Many alive today may not see another in their lifetime.

Heads of state from Fiji, New Zealand and Australia all attended the state funeral, which was held in the Parliamentary rotunda, commonly known as the “pig’s tusk” because of its spiral architecture.

They were joined by dignitaries from China, the United States of America, Tonga and elsewhere.

The service for President Baldwin Lonsdale, who died early last Saturday morning, was offered by the Bishop of Melanesia — out of deference to Rev Lonsdale’s status as a clergyman in the Anglican church.

In front of a solemn gathering that included Vanuatu’s living former Presidents, Prime Minister Charlot Salwai, his ministers and MPs.

Opposition Leader Ishmael Kalsakau and hundreds of people from all walks of life, the choir opened the service with a moving musical rendition of the 23rd Psalm.

Outside Parliament, thousands of school children and members of the public lined the road, waiting for the cortege that would escort the body of the late President to the airport, where it would be flown to the Banks islands, his home.

Festooned with flowers
Following the service, Rev Lonsdale’s casket was loaded onto the back of a flatbed truck festooned with flowers and the Vanuatu flag. It led a kilometre-long procession of hundreds of vehicles through the main streets of Port Vila.

The road was carpeted with flowers all along the procession route. In the Manples area, the road was lined with brightly coloured calicos. As the procession passed, the market vendors sang a song in the Tongoan language, a moving tribute to one of the most widely respected figures in Vanuatu since Father Walter Lini, the country’s first Prime Minister.

It is difficult to accurately estimate the number of people who lined the roughly six-kilometre long route, but there has been no similar public gathering in living memory.

This unprecedented display of grief and admiration was not limited to Vanuatu alone. In solidarity with this nation, flags flew at half mast yesterday in Australia, New Zealand and in other locations throughout the Pacific Islands.

The body was flown to the Banks islands yesterday, and the President will be mourned by the people of Torba province today. His body will be laid to rest in Sola, Vanua Lava tomorrow.

Dan McGarry is media director for the Vanuatu Daily Post group.

Vanuatu’s President Baldwin Jacobson Lonsdale has died at Vila Central Hospital early today after being rushed to hospital last night, reports Vanuatu Digest.

President Lonsdale, 67, had been Head of State since September 2014.

From Mota Lava island, Lonsdale was previously an Anglican priest, secretary-general of Torba Province.

He did his tertiary studies in Auckland, New Zealand, at St John’s Theological College.

President Lonsdale played a critical role in recent events in Vanuatu. While category 5 Cyclone Pam was battering Vanuatu in March 2015, President Lonsdale was attending a world conference on disaster risk reduction in Japan, and his emotional appeals for international assistance helped galvanise the international humanitarian response to Cyclone Pam, reports Vanuatu Digest.

But arguably his greatest contribution came just seven months later in October 2015 when the then Speaker of Parliament, Marcellino Pipite, abused his position as Acting President to issue a “presidential pardon” to himself and 13 other MPs who had just been convicted of bribery.

The President, en route from Samoa during Pipite’s attempt to undermine the rule of law, returned to Vanuatu and immediately revoked the pardon.

Misuse of powers
During a televised address to the nation, President Lonsdale was visibly upset, expressing his “shame and sorrow” at Pipite’s misuse of his powers.

He vowed to “clean the dirt from my backyard”, telling Vanuatu’s people that “we as a nation have to stop these crooked ways”.

Following a failed appeal against his revocation of Pipite’s pardon, Lonsdale then dissolved Parliament and called a snap election.

President Lonsdale’s actions were widely seen as a decisive blow against Vanuatu’s culture of impunity for corrupt politicians, reports Vanuatu Digest.

Addressing the newly-elected MPs at the opening session of Parliament following the election, he described the new legislature as a “new chart for Vanuatu’s destiny”.

He will also be remembered for his leadership of Vanuatu’s Anglican church, and his strong support for kastom and for women’s rights.

The Vanuatu government is currently making arrangements with his family and Motalava chiefs for a state funeral.

Under the constitution, a new president will need to be elected by MPs and local government chairs within three weeks.

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The Archbishop of the Province of Melanesia, George Teteli, with other Anglican Archbishops and Bishops of Hawaii, and in the Pacific region are in Port Vila for a one-week conference hosted by the Diocese of Vanuatu and New Caledonia.

A Communion Service held at the Anglican Church Parish in Port Vila yesterday morning saw the presence of the Head of State, the Rev. Baldwin Lonsdale, President of the Republic of Vanuatu; and the Chief Justice of Vanuatu, Vincent Lunabek; and other leaders.

West Papua is expected to be among the many topics discussed.