The South Island’s Ngai Tahu iwi has filed a new claim with the Waitangi Tribunal designed to protect the value of its 1998 settlement from the effects of the ETS. The tribe says the ETS will cut tens of millions of dollars off the value of its forestry assets because of penalties under the ETS for converting land from forestry to dairying or other uses. Ngai Tahu Chairman Mark Solomon says while the tribe signed the 1998 settlement as being full and final, the Crown has now breached the terms of the settlement by introducing new rules under the ETS. Solomon adds when Ngai Tahu bought its forest lands in 2001, it made it clear to the Govt it intended to convert them to farmland in future, and it paid a price reflecting this.

The Govt has appointed an independent reviewer to investigate what was known about the impact of a future emissions trading scheme at the time of the Ngai Tahu land sale. But Solomon says this still fails to address the issue of the Crown being willing to undermine a Treaty settlement by changing the rules. Climate Change Minister David Parker acknowledges the ETS will affect the value of Ngai Tahu’s forests, due to restrictions on their ability to convert to dairy land. But Parker points out when the Bill was reported back from the Select Committee, the Govt increased the amount of free allocation units to compensate for this loss. Ngai Tahu says this compensation is not enough. Former Treaty Negotiations Minister Sir Douglas Graham has backed Ngai Tahu’s new claim, saying it has merit.

Federation of Maori Authorities CEO Paul Morgan says the ETS will hit Maori forest owners harder than most. Morgan notes Maori own 45% of the forestry estate, most of which was planted before 1990, and will incur a tax if the land use is changed. Forest Owners Association CEO David Rhodes says if Ngai Tahu’s claim is recognised, other pre-1990 forest owners will expect similar treatment. Meanwhile, the Flexible Land Use Alliance has proposed a “forestry offset” scheme, which would allow pre-1990 forest owners who harvest their trees to meet their ETS liabilities by replanting an equivalent area of land in forestry.

The Govt is open to this idea but it is not allowed under Kyoto rules. A spokesman for the Alliance, Ross Green, says owners of land planted with pre-1990 forests face retrospective costs up to $65,000/ha if the land is harvested and if the exact same land is not replanted. National is promising to introduce a Supplementary Order Paper to permit such a forestry offset scheme, and the concept also has support in principle from the Maori Party, Greens, United Future, NZ First and ACT.

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