BURTON THROWS IN THE TOWEL SO CULLEN AND JONES CAN, HOPEFULLY, SORT OUT THE MESS

So the Hon Mark Burton has thrown in the towel – what else could he do after making such a complete mess of the Te Roroa Settlement Bill, but no more so than his predecessors?

When Mr Allan Titford was forced to sell his land “under duress” at Maunganui Bluff to Her Majesty the Queen for a “false” Maori land claim in 1995, he was never allowed a copy of the Sale Documents. The Crown’s lawyer sending a letter to Mr Titford’s lawyer, Clive Jackson on the 9 February 1996 stating, “As the terms of the documentation are confidential, we are not in a position to forward you a copy of same”. But Mr Titford was the seller; surely he was entitled to a copy unless the Crown had something to hide!!!

Early in 2006, we obtained a restricted file of Sir Douglas Graham, past Minister in Charge of Treaty Negotiations at the time this land was taken, which showed in a memo between the Crown Law Office and the Office of Treaty Settlements, there was a concern with amendments Mr Titford had made to the Sale documents when he signed them and the Crown’s appointed, instructed and paid lawyer had witnessed them in Tasmania on the 12/12/95. Namely, Manuwhetai was only “alleged” to be wahi tapu and amendments showing Mr Titford sold his farm “under duress” and for far less than the Crown was telling the people of New Zealand. The Ombudsman stating, “From my Office’s perusal of a substantial number of files held by the Office of Treaty Settlements and by the Crown Law Office, there is no doubt that Mr Titford had, rightly or wrongly, a sense of grievance about the sale of his farm. He held the view that he was pushed into it without any real justification”. Correct, he was forced to sell his freehold titled property “under duress” for a false claim for only a fraction of its worth!!

In October 2006, the One New Zealand Foundation Inc requested from Mr Burton’s Office of Treaty Settlements through the Official Information Act, a copy of the Deed of Sale. The Deed the Director of the Office of Treaty Settlements Mr Paul James sent was not the document Mr Titford had signed or had the Crown’s lawyer witness. It was missing the amendment “alleged” referring to Manuwhetai being wahi tapu as the Crown constantly lied to the public to acquire this freehold titled property

We sent a copy of the Crown Law Office’s memo to Mr Burton as well as asking for a copy of the Sale Agreement. On the 1 February 2007 Mr Burton sent a copy of the Deed with the amendment “alleged” stating the Office of Treaty Settlements had sent the wrong “version”. Wrong what, I thought there was only one “copy” of any legal document, but it seems, not if you are the Crown!!! Burton also enclosed a copy of a Sale Agreement without the amendment to page 11 or the extra page amendment Mr Titford had made, which had both been acknowledged and witnessed by the Crown’s lawyer.

Again we sent a copy of the memo and presto – another “version” of the Sale Agreement turned up from Mr Burton with the extra page amendment but with page 11 substituted to remove Mr Titford’s other amendments. Now we see why the Crown would not supply a copy to Mr Titford, the pages Mr Titford had amended and signed and the Crown’s lawyer had witnessed, had been substituted for clean pages or removed completely. The documents had been tampered with!!!

Mr Titford signed the Deed and Agreement on the side of the road outside the Crown lawyer’s home but as there was no copier, he could not get a copy of the documents he had just signed, which is normal practice, so he photographed them. These photos show the first and second “versions” of the Sale Agreement Mr Burton supplied are not the Sale Agreement Mr Titford signed and the Crown’s lawyer witnessed in Tasmania on the 12/12/95. This was confirmed by the Ombudsman when she stated, “I can only conclude, therefore, that for whatever reason, Mr Samec did not transmit the memorandum to the Crown Law Office, or make any reference to it. It is not appropriate for me to speculate upon why that may have been so, and I do not propose to do so”. We believe Mr Samec, who was appointed, instructed and paid by the Crown “to assist in this matter”, deliberately omitted page 11 of the Sale Agreement that Mr Titford had amended with a clean page before faxing it to the Crown Law Office!! We also believe, Mr Samec’s sole purpose was to get Mr Titford’s signature on the final signing page so the Crown could swap his signed page from one “version” of the Agreement or Deed to another to suit their agenda. This was not the Agreement Mr Titford had agreed to sign one week earlier or the Sale Agreement he had signed and the Crown’s lawyer had witnessed on the 12/12/95 in Tasmania, pages had been removed or substituted with clean pages!!!

When Mark Burton introduced the Te Roroa Settlement Bill, he misled Parliament on a number of occasions as we pointed out in our submission to the Maori Affairs Select Committee into the Te Roroa Settlement Bill. Tau Henare, then deliberately misled Parlaiment that the Select Committee did not hear our submission, due to bad language. This was a lie, the Select Committee heard our submission on the 2 May 2007 at Parliament and it contained no bad language. This lie was to suppress the truth of this false claim, including Mr Burton’s misleading of Parliament with the facts of the claim, the tampering of documents to acquire this property and the claimants. While we have complained to the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the House, the Minister of Maori Affairs and Henare’s boss, John Key, all of them are quite happy for Parliament and the public to be told this lie to allow this false Te Roroa Settlement Bill to proceed. We also believe the sale breaches the “1948 Land Act” and the “1993 Treaty Waiting Amendment Act” as stated on our website previously.

We believe Mr Burton resigned as Minister in Charge of Treaty Negotiation because he had painted himself into a corner with the Te Roroa Settlement Bill and there was no retreat, similar to the previous Ministers, Doug Graham and Margaret Wilson who also, just ran out of lies!!!!

It is interesting that the Prime Minister has appointed the Hon Dr Michael Cullen as the new Minister in Charge of Treaty Negotiations. He can either carry on like Graham, Wilson and Burton with the corruption and lies and make a complete fool of himself or hold a Public Inquiry where all the documents can be opened for public scrutiny. With the documented corruption and the finding of the Ombudsman that has been unearthed into this whole claim, he really has no option than to hold an inquiry. I am sure when Mr Cullen, our finance Minister sees where the millions and millions of dollars of taxpayers money he is accountable for, is being spent without any accountability or documented proof, HE WILL BE SHOCKED AND SO HE SHOULD BE!!

The Hon Shane Jones has been made the Associate Minister of Treaty Settlements and part of his maiden Speech to Parliament is very interesting. "The key point for me as a new parliamentarian is that we have a system worth celebrating. It prizes openness, it relentlessly tests the legitimacy of authority, and it is a bulwark against corruption". If he is to honour his commitment to Parliament and the people of New Zealand in his maiden speech, a man of his word, then he has no other option than to call for a full public inquiry. An inquiry with “openness, relentless test of legitimacy of authority and a bulwark against corruption”. We believe Shane “visited” Maunganui Bluff during one of the many protest, so he should know how corrupt this claim was from the start.

The Hon Dr Michael Cullen and the Hon Shane Jones, this corruption will never go away, the evidence is now on thousands of websites on the Internet for the whole world to see. There must be a full public inquiry, where all the documents are opened for public scrutiny before the Te Roroa Settlement Bill can proceed, if ever.

Yours sincerely,

Ross Baker.

Chairman, One New Zealand Foundation Inc. 5/11/2007.

Cc Prime Minister, The Rt Hon Helen Clark.
To all Political leaders and others.

This article will appear on our website; www.onenzfoundation.co.nz