A declaratory judgment from the High Court has finally settled years of contention about the right of iwi to require licences and charge commercial operators on Lake Taupō.

Ngāti Tūwharetoa, declared Justice Gwyn’s decision, had the right to do both.

This month’s judgment has been a long time coming, with challenges by businesses to the Tūwharetoa Maori Trust Board causing the board under then chairman Topia Rameka to seek legal clarification in 2017.

Arguments were heard in September 2020, after delays in August 2019 and early 2020.

The central North Island iwi had been confirmed as owner of the lake bed, the space occupied by the water and the airspace above the lake, via the Taupō Deed, by the Government in 1992 and in modifications to the deed in 2007.

Board chairman John Bishara welcomed the ruling.

“The trust board is pleased that the High Court has upheld the property rights of Ngāti Tūwharetoa in our taonga, Taupō moana,” he said.

When the judgment was sought, about 40 businesses had individual agreements and were paying a licence fee, but the board estimated another 50 were operating without them.

The 2007 changes to the Taupō Deed, said then Māori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia, clarified that Tūwharetoa had the right to charge fees.

“Similar to those charged by DOC on Crown land,” he said.

However, a group of operators disputed that and banded together in March 2017 as Taupō Waters Collective – represented as the respondent in the board’s action .

As well as affirming the board’s right to license commercial operators and charge fees, the judgment also noted it was illegal to operate commercially on the lake without one and that business operators holding berthing or launching permits issued by the harbour master were not exempt from needing a licence.

No specific term had to be granted by the board, said the judgment, nor did having a resource consent in relation to a commercial activity override a licence.

The public’s freedom of entry and access of Taupō Waters for recreational use, was not in dispute under the action.

Board chief executive officer Shane Heremaia said the board’s success on all grounds would “clarify the situation for all parties concerned”.

“That said, the judgment only applies to commercial users of the lake … I wish to reassure our local community and the general public of New Zealand that recreational users of our beautiful lake and rivers are not affected in any way by the High Court judgment.

“As kaitiaki of Lake Taupō, Ngāti Tūwharetoa have always welcomed the general public to enjoy our beautiful lake and rivers – that will continue to be the case.”

Heremaia said the Trust Board had been mindful of the impact of Covid-19 on businesses and forgone any commercial fees when the pandemic broke out in 2020.

The judgment did not indicate costs were to be awarded, though left the door open for the board to file a memorandum within 14 working days if it wished to seek them.

When the judgment was sought, the board reiterated on its website that the licences were effectively commercial leases and terms were confidential to the parties.

Noted in the judgment was that after the 2007 deed changes, the board took a staged approach to the introduction of a licensing regime, focusing initially on major commercial entities and annual events operators. It then moved to engage those who operated vessels, or occupied structures, on the lake, which included some members of the collective, engaging them in discussions between 2013 and 2017.

At the date of the hearing in 2020, these were not settled nor had it commenced substantive engagement with the likes of rafting companies or fly-fishing guides.

The judgment noted that the board expected the decision would assist in its engagement with the collective, and other commercial users, but that any declarations would not conclude the terms of any licences or the commercial terms of the proposed licensing regime more generally.

Taupō Waters, the area of ownership, covers the area of the lake, tributaries flowing into it and the Waikato River from the lake outlet to the Rock of Tia (including Huka Falls).

Credit: Stuff.co.nz