Quote:
New Zealand took a momentous step to address the historic grievances of its original Maori inhabitants yesterday, handing back nearly half a million acres of Crown forestry land in a settlement worth NZ$418m (£160m).
In the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, tribal chiefs ceded sovereignty to the British Crown in exchange for retaining control of their land and natural resources. But much of that land was subsequently confiscated or illegally sold after the arrival of successive waves of white settlers.
The latest agreement will see ownership of 435,000 acres of prime forestry land on the central North Island, worth more than NZ$195m, transferred from the government to seven local iwi, or tribes. The tribes, comprising about 100,000 people, will also receive NZ$223m in rents backdated to 1989, as well as annual rental payments of about NZ$13m.
In the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, tribal chiefs ceded sovereignty to the British Crown in exchange for retaining control of their land and natural resources. But much of that land was subsequently confiscated or illegally sold after the arrival of successive waves of white settlers.
The latest agreement will see ownership of 435,000 acres of prime forestry land on the central North Island, worth more than NZ$195m, transferred from the government to seven local iwi, or tribes. The tribes, comprising about 100,000 people, will also receive NZ$223m in rents backdated to 1989, as well as annual rental payments of about NZ$13m.
I think it's really great, finally a decent attempt by a government to revert historic injustices. It's not equal to what was taken from them, but at least it's a start, and a powerful and isnpirational symbolic gesture.
Now we can just sit back and wait for them to sell it all back to the whiteys for a case of whiskey.
