19.7 CROWN AND CLAIMANT SUBMISSIONS

In a statement in response to factual issues identified by claimants in Wai 100 and Wai 663 concerning the Te Aroha hot springs, Crown counsel acknowledged the following:

►The circumstances of the first transaction by which the Te Aroha block and hot springs was transferred, are not entirely clear.

►The Crown accepts that the weight of evidence supports the claim that 20 acres of the Te Aroha Domain, being the land containing the hot springs, was gifted to the nation by Mokena.

►The available evidence also supports the view that the gift was made on condition that local Maori would have ongoing free access to the hot springs.

►The Crown also accepts that Maori were discriminated against in the administration by the Crown of the hot springs and baths.⁷⁰

Having made these concessions, Crown counsel made no specific comment on Te Aroha township or hot springs in closing submissions, although there was a brief discussion of the Native Land Court investigation of the Te Aroha block.⁷¹

In closing submissions for Wai 100, counsel outlined Crown dealings with Te Aroha hot springs, noting that the closing submissions for Wai 663 would deal with these matters in more detail. Counsel for Wai 100 concluded this section on Te Aroha:

The Crown has rightly accepted the allegations of the claimants that land including the hot springs was gifted to the nation by Te Mokena Hau [sic]. It also accepts that the gift was made on condition that tangata whenua were to continue to have free access to the hot springs, that this was not upheld and that Maori were discriminated against in the administration of the hot springs and domain.

Counsel commented that the perception by Te Mokena Hou of ‘a partnership in the joint-management of the Te Aroha hot springs was ignored by the Crown as it progressively sought to remove Hauraki from management and access to their taonga’. This was, therefore, a breach of the principle of good faith by the Crown.⁷²

Counsel for Wai 663 elaborated the main issues in the Ngati Rahiri Tumutumu claims: the Aroha block purchase, including the loss of Te Aroha mountain and the hot springs, and the loss of lands in Te Aroha township. Counsel noted that the Native Land Court had rejected Ngati Rahiri Tumutumu’s repudiation of the overall transaction and awarded them reserves totalling 7500 acres at the Omahu end of the [Te Aroha] block’.⁷³ Counsel also noted that ‘the actual means by which title to the hot springs was transferred to local authorities is unknown’, whether Te Mokena Hou gave the title to them or whether the

70.Paper 2.550, pp 42-43

71.Document AA1, pp 133-134

72.Document Y1, p 158

73.Document Y5, p 3