Early in the year, the Dargaville Police informed Don Harrison, that if we occupied Maunganui Bluff, "We would be immediately arrested"

In June 2008, the ONZF wrote to Sergeant Jonathan Tier of the Dargaville Police Station asking him why we would be arrested but received no reply. We sent a similar letter to the Commissioner of Police and the Minister of Police but once again, did not receive a reply. Sergeant Tier said he had passed our letter on the Police Legal Department to respond but we have never received a reply to any of our letters.

On the 20 October, Allan Titford, Don Harrison and I made an appointment with Sergeant Jonathon Tier and left him a paper asking if we occupied Maunganui Bluff would the Police arrest us and obey the Crown or protect us and obey the Law?

During our meeting, Sergeant Tier said, he had been informed by the Police Legal Department, the Crown had told them it owns Mr Titford's properties. I challenge this and ask the Police for proof of this ownership, as the documents supplied to Mr Titford by the Crown to date, are not the documents he had signed in Tasmania on the 12 December 1995. The "versions" of the Sale Agreements supplied by the Crown, while initialled on every page by the Commissioner of Lands, Sam Brown; are not initialled by Mr Titford. Mr Titford states, they are not the documents he amended, signed and had witnessed in Tasmania on the 12 December 1995.

We explained the Ombudsman's investigation found amendments and documents were removed from the Sale Agreement before the Commissioner of Crown Lands received it to execute on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen. We also explained while the Ombudsman has not investigated the Memorandum of Transfer, there are definitely inaccuracies in this document as well that must also be investigated by the Police. We explained this was a legal matter and it was the Police's job to uphold the law, especially when it is brought to their attention.

Sergeant Tier became very interested in how the Crown acquired Mr Titford properties and said he would ask the Police's Legal Department for confirmation that the Crown legally owned this property at Maunganui Bluff. We all agreed the ownership of Mr Titford's properties required a full public inquiry and Sergeant Tier said he would do his best to organise a meeting between the Crown Law Office, the Office of Treaty Settlements and the Minister in Charge of Treaty Negotiations and ourselves. At the end of the meeting, Sergeant Tier said the Police would obey the law and protect us when we went to the Bluff! Hopefully, they will obey the law and look into this alleged claim and the dubious circumstances Mr Titford's and Harrison's properties were acquired.

We now await the "legal" documents showing the Crown legally owns this property at Maunganui Bluff and whether Sergeant Tier can organise a meeting with the Crown's officials, but we don't hold our breath to either request!!!!

After this meeting, we went out to the Bluff to evaluate the properties. We had very little, if any reaction from the locals. From the information we have, it seems some of the claimants realise there is a problem and are sympathetic to the dubious circumstances Mr Titford's and Harrison's farms were acquired by the Crown.

Ross Baker.
Researcher, One New Zealand Foundation Inc.