Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara/Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill
This bill transfers ownership of the Ō-Rākau battle site — about 40km south of Hamilton near Kihikihi — to the named ancestors (tūpuna) who fought at or had connections to the battle in 1864. Three iwi groups (Maniapoto, Raukawa, and Waikato, together called Ngā Ahi e Toru) will manage the land on behalf of those ancestors. The land will not have to pay local council rates. This follows an agreement signed between those three iwi and the Crown in 2023.
What this affects
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The bill transfers ownership of a significant battle site to the Māori ancestors and iwi connected to it, giving effect to a formal agreement between the Crown and three iwi.
The bill seeks to vest the Ō-Rākau site in ngā tūpuna o Ō-Rākau (the ancestors of Ō-Rākau).
The Crown has acknowledged... that raupatu—including its invasion of the Waikato, which led to war, loss of life, and confiscation of land—was unjust and a grievous breach of te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles.
Ngā Ahi e Toru have agreed to act as kaitiaki on behalf of ngā tūpuna in relation to the Ō-Rākau site.
Progress through Parliament
Have your say
This bill is open for public submissions to the Maori Affairs Committee. Anyone can tell the committee what they think, and you don’t need to be an expert. Submissions close 13 June 2024.
Bill text sourced from legislation.govt.nz (Parliamentary Counsel Office). Arapono’s summary and breakdown are drafted with AI grounded in that official text and reviewed by an Arapono editor for accuracy and neutrality before publishing. Arapono is non-partisan and takes no position on this bill.