Media Coverage
News and articles from media and external outlets
UN Human Rights Office sends please-explain to NZ Government over alleged Māori human rights breaches
The letter, signed by three UN independent human rights experts, asks about the alleged violation of the rights to land, territories, and resources of the Māori indigenous communities in Whakatū/Nelson and Wairarapa Moana in Waikato.
NZ Herald, 30 September 2024
UN Human Rights Office sends please-explain to NZ government
The United Nations Human Rights Office has sent a please-explain to the New Zealand government over the alleged breach of human rights of Māori in Nelson and Waikato.
RNZ, 30 September 2024
UN human rights review a red flag for Government
Kerensa Johnston is a lawyer and the chief executive of Wakatū Incorporation, chairperson of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, the Māori Centre of Research Excellence and the Chair of Ngāti Tama ki te Tau Ihu Charitable Trust.
The Post, Upoko o te Ika, 21 May 2024
UN expert visit shines spotlight on Nelson Tenths
A United Nations indigenous rights expert has visited the Top of the South to learn about the Nelson Tenths case and the Crown’s breach of its legal obligations to Māori.
NelsonApp, 16 April 2024
Nelson Tenths case spotlighted by UN human rights expert
With people in Nelson waiting on the High Court decision in Aotearoa’s longest-running land dispute, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples dropped in earlier this week and learned about the Nelson Tenths and the ongoing litigation against the Crown.
Te Ao Māori News, 11 April 2024
UN expert visits Motueka to learn about Nelson Tenths case
A United Nations indigenous rights expert has made a special visit to the top of the South Island to learn about the Nelson Tenths case and the Crown’s breach of its legal obligations to Māori.
RNZ, 11 April 2024
Search for Wakatū descendants amid New Zealand’s longest-running Māori land case
As Māori in Nelson await a decision in the country’s longest-running property dispute, the Wakatū Incorporation is working to reconnect with thousands of descendants of the original 300 customary landowners.
What the new Government means for the Nelson Tenths
The change of guard brings with it hope and expectation, writes Kerensa Johnston.
Fresh FM
Fresh FM interview with Pania Walton
Community Conversations – Oct 04 2023 – Kerensa Johnston and Nelson Tenths (accessmedia.nz)
NZ Herald
Nelson Tenths trial: Long-running property claim against Crown drawing to a close after 14 years of litigation.
One News
More than $1 billion is how much the descendants of Māori landowners in Nelson said has been lost as a result of a broken promise by the Crown.
A 10-week hearing started in the High Court in Wellington this week about the Nelson Tenths, which is the country’s oldest property claim.
It’s about an agreement in 1845 between the Crown and Māori customary landowners when Nelson was established.
Stuff
Reckoning with our history – An opportunity to do right by our region
When the Crown chooses litigation over dialogue, we squander potential, says Johny O’Donnell.
OPINION: A resolution to the Nelson Tenths Agreement is long overdue and can’t come soon enough, writes Johny O’Donnell.
NZ Herald
Nelson Tenths Reserves: Crown indicates it will baulk at handing out remedies for breaches over land deals
The Crown has apologised to Māori in the top of the south but is unlikely to budge on the extent of remedies sought over land deals during the settlement of Nelson.
The 1014
The Nelson Tenths Property Claim Heads to High Court
The longest-running property claim in New Zealand, known as the Nelson Tenths, has returned to the High Court for examination. In the 1840s, Māori landowners in Nelson sold 151,000 acres of land to the New Zealand Company under the condition that 10 percent of the land would be reserved for Māori in perpetuity. However, the Crown failed to uphold this agreement and reserved less than 3000 acres instead of the required 15,100 acres.
By David Faiumu, 14 August 2023
Te Ao Māori News
Landmark showdown: Nelson tenths battle returns to court
One of New Zealand’s oldest property law claims goes back to court on Monday. Customary Māori landowners in the top of the South Island have been fighting for justice since the 1840s over promises made but never fulfilled when the New Zealand Company bought land for the Nelson settlement. In 2017 the Supreme Court ruled the Crown had a legal duty to right the wrongs. Now, the High Court will decide what needs to be done to resolve the long-running saga of the Nelson tenths reserves, which stands as one of the largest pieces of litigation against the Crown this country has seen.
RNZ
Long-running Nelson Tenths Māori land case back in High Court in Wellington
The High Court hearing which begins today will examine the extent of the Crown’s breaches and the remedies by way of land, and compensation.
NZ Herald
Nelson Tenths Reserves: Losses to Māori from broken promises over land purchases estimated at more than a billion dollars
The losses for Nelson Māori over unresolved land deals might have amounted to more than a billion dollars but it pales in comparison to the pain and suffering from the cultural loss of customary land, the High Court has heard.
1 News
Historic Nelson Tenths property claim heads back to court
New Zealand’s oldest property claim, known as the Nelson Tenths, will go back to the High Court tomorrow after nearly 180 years.
E-TANGATA
The Nelson Tenths : A story of unmet obligations
In 2017, in a groundbreaking case, the Supreme Court decided that the Crown owes legal obligations to the whānau and hapū of the Nelson region for what is known as the Nelson Tenths Reserves and Occupation Lands.
E-TANGATA
We are not going away
‘Had the land been returned when my grandfather was alive, he and my grandmother would’ve enjoyed a much better quality of life,” says Professor Sandy Morrison about The Nelson Tenths.
NZ Herald
Guardians of promised land in Nelson edge closer to final resolution after 180 years
One of New Zealand’s oldest property law claims goes back to court on Monday. Customary Māori landowners in the top of the South Island have been fighting for justice since the 1840s over promises made but never fulfilled.
10.00am, 12 August 2023
Stuff
Crown tactics in historic Nelson Tenths case called out
Commercial advisor Michael O’Connor says the Crown is trying to minimise its payments in the Nelson Tenths Reserve case.
RNZ
Nelson land case an example for other indigenous peoples
RNZ’s Julian Wilcox interviewed Professor Claire Charters from Auckland University law school for his Saturday Māpuna programme.
RNZ
NZ’s oldest property claim goes back to the High Court
The Listener
How 180-year land case has impacted NZ and others globally
