Auckland City Council and Tangata Whenua

Pae Herenga Tangata

Purpose

Pae Herenga Tangata (bridge between people) is a unit within the Auckland City Council set up in 2000. It is a specialist team, responsible for directing the organisation’s approach and perspective on all things Māori. They help Auckland City Council build its capacity to work with Māori by developing processes, advising on strategic policy and implementing bicultural training and development for staff.

Background

The idea behind Pae Herenga Tangata is consultation and engagement with tāngata whenua. Auckland City Council wants to foster positive relationships with Māori communities and to provide bicultural education, advice and support to Auckland City staff. Pae Herenga Tangata takes a lead role in engaging with Māori for proposed council projects.

The council acknowledges that there are three main groups of Māori in the area. Some iwi have ahikaa (long unbroken occupation and authority) and exercise mana whenua (maintenance and sustainable management of land) over lands within council boundaries. Iwi who are considered to be tāngata whenua exercise tino rangatiratanga (self determination) in the region and there are also taurahere (people who live outside their tribal territories or who are urban-based).

Pae Herenga Tangata engages or consults with all three groups on issues of governance, policy development and the RMA and also provides valuable advice to Council staff on how to engage appropriately with tāngata whenua.

Roles

The role of the council is to take the initiative in engaging with Māori and consulting with them on proposed projects.

The role of iwi ahikaa is to consider the issues of governance, policy development and the requirements of the RMA, while the role of tāngata whenua is to exercise tino rangatiratanga by promoting and protecting the interests of the local community, heritage and the environment. They are engaged or consulted on issues surrounding the RMA. Taurahere are engaged or consulted on policy issues and relevant projects.

What happens

Iwi with ahikaa are Ngāti Whātua o Ōrākei, Ngāti Paoa and Ngāti Rehua. Tāngata whenua in the region include ahikaa and Ngāti Maru, Ngāi Tai, Te Kawerau a Maki, Ngaati Te Ata and Tainui. Pae Herenga Tangata provides a platform for these iwi to exercise their rangatiratanga.

They meet annually or as required for consultation on strategic community development. In consultation with ahikaa and taurahere, Pae Herenga Tangata has developed various polices to guide staff in engaging appropriately with tāngata whenua. These include:

  • Ngāti Whātua o Ōrākei communications protocols
  • Tangata whenua consultation
  • Taurahere consultation policy
  • Treaty-based framework
  • The Marae Development policy.

Pae Herenga Tangata has also established the Tangata Whenua Consultative Committee, made up of representatives from six of the eight local iwi groups, to consider council projects that require resource consent and consultation with tāngata whenua.

What is working well

The council helps marae with finding for buildings, car parks and acquiring land, convening meetings of all marae in the city to discuss issues that affect them. One of these is the rating of Māori land which is approximately four percent of the total city area. As a result of consultation with iwi groups and landowners during 2006 and 2007, the council decided on a policy of rates remission for freehold Māori land to recognise the special status of the land and protect land ownership.

The relationship between the council and mana whenua also influences other related activities, such as the Safety in Auckland City programme and the Auckland Zoo.

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Article 18 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is relevant to the Pae Herenga Tangata relationship, because it affirms the right of indigenous peoples “to participate in decision-making in matters which would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures, as well as to maintain and develop their own indigenous decision-making institutions.”

Looking ahead

The intention of Pae Herenga Tangata is to have wider representation of Māori able to contribute to the decision-making of their city and they are looking at formalising the ongoing relationships by way of a Memorandum of Understanding and/or Service Level Agreement with each entity.

It is expected that things will change significantly with the planned Auckland Super City and that arrangements for relationships between the council and mana whenua will also change.

Documentation

You can read more information about Pae Herenga Tangata in Keeping Auckland’s Future Bright: Annual Report 2006/2007 (pages 31and 32) and in the Auckland City Council Annual Plan 2008/2009 (p 50).

Last updated 15 July 2009

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