Te Kawerau ā Maki iwi buys Campbells Bay, Henderson Primary, Matipo and Waterview schools

An iwi has bought four Auckland schools in a more than $ 50 million deal funded by Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).

Te Kawerau ā Maki, a small iwi based in Ihumātao, where protesters have occupied land planned for housing, bought the land from Campbells Bay School in North Shore and Waterview School, Matipo School and Henderson Primary School in West Auckland .

Te Kawerau Iwi Investment Trust Chairman Edward Ashby said the deal was worth between $ 50 million and $ 60 million and had been funded by ACC.

The Ministry of Education will lease the four sites in perpetuity, paying the rent to Te Kawerau ā Maki, who will use half to pay off his loan to ACC.

“ACC is repaid over a 30-year period, and that means the loan is canceled and both parties are at 50/50,” Ashby said.

He said nothing would change for the schools except that iwi hoped to develop relationships with all of them.

“The response from our conversations with directors and boards has been very positive,” he said.

“They have been very interested in learning about iwi and how we can help them understand the history that they sit on. We want to be able to help with part of the curriculum.”

Only 150 people declared to be affiliated with Te Kawerau ā Maki in the 2013 census, which remains the latest figure available due to insufficient Maori counting in the 2018 census.

However, it is one of several iwi that have lived in the Auckland area since the 17th century, and its rohe or tribal area extends from Mangawhai to Papakura.

A Waitangi Treaty agreement signed in 2014 at the Makaurau Marae in Ihumātao returned several sites to the iwi in West Auckland and stipulated that the land below the four schools would be available for the iwi to purchase for two years after the date of settlement.

Ashby said that in practice it took more than two years to reach an agreement.

“The Crown has several schools in Auckland, but some schools did not put them on the table, so it became a negotiation between the iwi and the Crown about which schools are potentially in the buy,” he said.

But the chairwoman of the Waterview School board of trustees, Margi Watson, said the four schools were identified in the Deed of Agreement and she learned about it several years ago.

The Waterview board recently held a hui with Te Kawerau ā Maki and welcomed the new relationship.

“It is an important milestone for our community and for Te Kawerau ā Maki,” Watson said.

“It is very clear in the Education and Training Law, which was approved this year, that it is a requirement [for school boards] commit to Te Tiriti. It’s written on the spot, and this is an opportunity for us to allow some of those partnership requirements to be met.

“It is the beginning of a relationship and we are looking forward to it.”

Henderson Elementary School principal Tony Biddick said his school already had “a bit of a relationship” with Te Kawerau ā Maki, but that the land deal would strengthen it.

“Te Kawerau ā Maki are the first inhabitants of this land. They are the mana whenua here,” he said.

“This will be a fantastic opportunity for us to learn more about our place.”

Te Kawerau ā Maki President Te Warena Taua said that investment in the education sector “fits perfectly with our cultural aspirations and values.”

“This historic agreement will help re-establish Te Kawerau’s footprint in our traditional rohe. It represents the ongoing regeneration and rebirth of our tribe.”