Ahurea

Cultural

The aim of this part of the process was for Te Rarawa to provide a Deed of Mandate to the Crown. The Deed of Mandate:
- Stated who had the authority to represent Te Rarawa in negotiations with the Crown.
- Described how this mandate was obtained and how the negotiators would be accountable to the Te Rarawa members.
- Defined Te Rarawa's interests, the claim area and the claims that were settled.

As an important part of the negotiations phase, the Crown and the mandated representatives discussed the various interests they each wished to protect and promote in a settlement package.
The parties then reached agreement on specific proposals for settling within the claim.
The Crown and the mandated representatives then exchanged letters outlining an Agreement in Principle (Heads of Agreement), which signalled their agreement on the monetary value of the settlement (known as the “settlement quantum”), and the scope and nature of other forms of redress to be included.
The parties then worked through the detail on such matters as:
- An account of the historical basis of the claims; those matters the Crown acknowledged as breaches of the Treaty and its principles; and the wording of the Crown’s apology.
- What commercial settlement assets might be transferred, and on what terms.
- The various items of cultural redress that were offered.
When all details of the redress were agreed, these were set out in the draft Deed of Settlement that was then approved by Cabinet. The draft Deed of Settlement was then initialled by both the Crown and the mandated representatives and was put forward to iwi members to consider for ratification.

The Deed of Settlement initialled between the Crown and the mandated representatives required approval by Te Rarawa before it became binding. The key part of the ratification process was a postal ballot in which all members over the age of 18 were eligible to vote.
Te Rarawa members also had a chance to review and ratify the proposed governance entity for the settlement. The term “governance entity” simply referred to the legal entity that was to be used to hold and manage settlement assets and exercise the forms of cultural redress provided in the settlement package.
Ratification of the governance entity had to occur before the Crown could introduce settlement legislation and transfer the settlement redress to Te Rarawa. The ratification process for a governance entity is similar to that used to ratify a Deed of Settlement.

The term “governance entity” simply refers to the legal entity that will be used to hold and manage settlement assets and exercise the forms of cultural redress provided for in the settlement package. The constitution of the governance entity was a matter for Te Rarawa to decide.

Settlement legislation is needed to ensure the finality of the settlement by removing the ability of the courts and the Waitangi Tribunal to re-open the historical claims or the Deed of Settlement. It can also be used to vest land in the governance entity on behalf of the claimant group if normal administrative land transfer processes are not appropriate.