Sunday, January 16, 2011

our feet are bound

I'm not really interested in smashing Ngai Tahu Property - I think they have a role to play in the success of the iwi but sometimes I do wonder. The 1348 hectare Rakanui station, 10 kilometres south of Kaikoura has just been sold by NT Property to a Californian couple who plan to 'keep Rakanui private for the family'. NT property have taken a half million loss to flick the property on, their plans for a 'residential farm park containing 64 sections of 0.5ha each' was approved but Tony Sewell says they are moving out of 'large scale lifestyle developments'.

From The Malborough Express- Stuff
A sales history of the property shows the then 1348 hectare Rakanui station, 10 kilometres south of Kaikoura, was sold in 2005 for a gross price of $8 million. Last year, the reported 1345 hectares was sold to the American couple for $7.5 million by Ngai Tahu Property Ltd. The property had changed hands in 2004 for $2.3 million, and in 1983 for just $117,500.
So we have sold 1348 hectares of our land and we did it because it was considered another transactional item in the market place. The justifications are/will be many and varied but the facts remain.

There is something wrong with the model if that can happen - there is something in the tension between maintaining the putea and our kaitiakitanga role that needs to be really looked at and considered IMO. This is precious life giving land and i mean life giving in the spiritual as well as the practical sense. If this sale is okay - what next?

Perhaps mana whenua approved this sale, maybe they consider it a good thing - I hope not.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ngai Tahu bought a property with the intention of developing it and then re-selling it. I think the loss of 1/2 million dollars is the concern not the fact that instead of 20-30 new owners there is to be one new owner. And, by the sounds of it, their aspirations for the property are quite honorable and if they carry out the plans they have for the land it will be in better condition than if it had been converted into lifestyle blocks.

Marty Mars said...

The 500k is not my main issue - I just wonder about this selling of chunks of land by us which reduces the land to a commodity. If our land can be classified like that then everything can be, everything will have a price and i don't believe in that way of thinking. Some may say it isn't Ngai Tahu land just a 'property' or 'asset' but I disagree and oppose that view even if I am in the minority.

robertguyton said...

I'm in that same minority with you Marty.
Mind you 'Ngai Tahu' are a minority.

Anonymous said...

I am always somewhat bemused by the "ownership" thing. Pre-european times Maori did not "own" land and apart from the lands papatuanuku has taken and given Ngai Tahu still have the same amount of land in their takiwa that they did hundreds of years ago.

The tribe will never "own" all the land in its area in the more modern construct of ownership and to attempt to do so will lead to economic failure. The tribe can no more afford to buy and own large tracts of land that are not economically sustainable than you or Robert or in fact the Crown can do. The Crown is the biggest land owner in the South Island and with the advantages of being able to tax us can not afford to manage its land holdings.

The best we can do is to influence how the land is used. Which is the link to the dairy farm conversion. Time will tell whether the cash will win over best practice - but if they can raise the standard for all dairy farming then that will be a step forward from where we are today.

This piece of land had no special significance over any other piece - it was bought with the idea of making a profit and was sold at a loss. It will still be there and if we want to "own" it we can buy it again some day.

robertguyton said...

"Ngai Tahu still have the same amount of land in their takiwa that they did hundreds of years ago"
What does 'have' mean to you anon?
The takiwa may look the same on a map but Ngai Tahu sphere of influence has shrunk dramatically.
As to the Great Dairy Experiment - if it is to go ahead then my fingers are crossed that it will be a complete success, from the point of view of the environment - " if they can raise the standard for all dairy farming then that will be a step forward from where we are today" - I hope that doesn't mean 'a step forward in the wrong direction'

Anonymous said...

monkeys
in kaikoura,monkeys playing at the land bank and one dumb ape in a suit being kaitiaki to this stupidity.

Go Mark"words fall out my mouth"solomon...look at me,i have an opinion.

stuff the cows and californians
this isnt beverly hills
every inch of land should be kept,slowly accrued back after the rape of old england...

it got sold for someones mate,or someones back pocket,same cowshit,different ngai tahu story...