Yesterday the Prime Minister opened Pandora’s box by caving in to stroppy Maori trespassers and handed over $30 million of your hard earned cash to pay off Fletchers for the inconvenience of 18 months of squatters on their land.
The Government will purchase the land at Ihumatao for $29.9 million, Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson has confirmed, in a deal signed off by the Kingitanga, the Crown and Auckland Council.
“I want to thank all the parties involved for working together to come to this agreement,” Robertson said on Friday, following more than a year of negotiations over how to settle the land dispute.
“I particularly want to thank Kingi Tuheitia and his officials for their leadership of this process. He Pumautanga represents the starting point for the future of Ihumatao.”
A Memorandum of Understanding, or He Pumautanga, has been signed by the Kingitanga, the Crown and Auckland Council which sets out how parties will work together to decide the future of the land.
Newshub
Coming together? They were ratbag squatters making unreasonable demands against land for which a Treaty Settlement had already occurred.
“It is important that those who have an interest in the future of Ihumatao have a seat at the decision making table,” said Maori Development Minister Willie Jackson.
“To that end, a steering committee will be formed working on a consensus basis to make those decisions and guide the process from here.”
The south Auckland land is being purchased from Fletcher’s under the Land for Housing Programme, which converts existing Crown land and purchases additional land from the private market to provide residential land supply for development.
Newshub
So, Fletchers was going to build 500 houses, now the Government has bought the land and are going to build houses…wasting 18 months in the meantime…and $30 million for the land and God knows how much more to build houses, which Fletchers were going to build anyway at no cost to the taxpayer. This Government is stuffed in the head.
Housing Minister Megan Woods confirmed parties have committed that there will be housing on the site. The land could be used to include Papakainga housing, housing for mana whenua and some public housing.
“It will be a sensitive development that recognises the special characteristics of the land,” Dr Woods said. “There is a need for housing to support kaumatua and kuia of this place and this agreement recognises that.”
Newshub
Fancy words to describe a slum.
But will Maori actually pay for these houses or will they be handed over as part of the deal?
I think we all know the answer to that question.
Alongside housing, the parties want to use some of the land to provide better recognition of the cultural and heritage values associated with Ihumatao, Robertson said.
Auckland Council will play a role in the care and maintenance of the land.
Newshub
And the impost is also piled onto the long-suffering ratepayers of Auckland.
Treaty of Waitangi settlements are now not worth the paper they are written on. Private property rights have been trampled over by squatters and a stupid Government.
The protesters wanted to stop building on the land. The government buys the land and will build houses on it. How screwed up is this? What’s the betting Fletchers will build the houses on behalf of the government?
They formed the protest group called SOUL — Save Our Unique Landscape — to stop the nearly 500 homes being built near their village, their ancient burial caves, the Otuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve, and their ancestral maunga, Puketapapatanga-a-Hape and Otuataua.
NZ Herald
Of course, the ‘Covid Queen’ leaves it to Grant Robertson to front up, while she hides. Jacinda Ardern hasn’t got the guts to front an issue that she created. Absolutely disgraceful.
You can bet your last Fletchers share that the winner was Fletchers (and Maori). Ardern put the government in a no-win situation by stepping in. Fletchers would have known that and tightened the thumbscrews until they squealed.
It does not matter how they spin it, Ihumatao sets a really dangerous precedent for all property owners including Maori. I bet this lot did not think what it could mean for Maori owned land as there is a lot of that about that could be open to dispute by other Maori. Jacinda Ardern and Labour are out of their depth on this one they haven’t got a clue.
Are you missing the handbrake yet?
