MEDIA RELEASE

Ngāti Rangi and Defence agreement turns settlement commitments into action

9 September 2026

Today Ngāti Rangi has welcomed a significant new agreement with the New Zealand Defence Force at Waiōuru as an important step in an evolving partnership shaped by whenua, history and shared opportunity.

The agreement will see Ngāti Rangi participate in a commercial arrangement connected to the development and provision of 50 new homes for Defence personnel and their whānau at Waiōuru.

Te Tōtarahoe o Paerangi Chair Tomairangi Mareikura says the agreement represents much more than a property transaction or the construction of new housing.

“This is about whenua, whakapapa and recognising our history, while deciding what we do with that history to create a better future,” Mareikura says.

“The Defence lands at Waiōuru sit within the rohe of Ngāti Rangi. Our relationship with this whenua is enduring, carried through generations of whakapapa and central to who we are. Our presence here is not incidental, we are tangata whenua.”

The relationship between Ngāti Rangi and the New Zealand Defence Force stretches back generations. Ngāti Rangi rangatira served alongside the Crown, generations of uri have served through the armed forces, and the iwi recognises the important role Waiōuru continues to play in New Zealand’s defence.

That relationship also carries a complex history.

As part of the Ngāti Rangi Treaty settlement, the Crown acknowledged that sites sacred to Ngāti Rangi were damaged or destroyed on Defence lands around Waiōuru, particularly within Te Onetapu, impacting the iwi’s physical and spiritual relationship with the whenua.

Te Onetapu is an ancestral landscape of immense significance to Ngāti Rangi, carrying the histories of tūpuna, significant wāhi tapu and taonga.

“Whenua is never simply a parcel of land. It carries whakapapa, memory and mouri, and it carries obligations across generations,” Mareikura says.

The Ngāti Rangi - New Zealand Defence Force Relationship Agreement records that Ngāti Rangi regards the continued use of the Waiōuru Training Area as its sacrifice for and on behalf of the nation.

“Sacrifice must also be met with respect, reciprocity and responsibility. That is the context in which we see this agreement.”

The commercial relationship announced today was contemplated through the Ngāti Rangi Treaty settlement and subsequent Relationship Agreement with Defence, including opportunities for commercial arrangements involving Defence housing, land and assets at Waiōuru.

“This did not begin yesterday. The seeds for this transaction were planted through our settlement, and today we are giving practical effect to those commitments. A Treaty settlement was never intended to be the end of our relationship with the Crown. It was intended to reset it. Settlements have real meaning when acknowledgement is followed by action.”

The agreement provides an opportunity to advance Ngāti Rangi aspirations while supporting the Defence community through quality housing for military personnel and their whānau.

“We want to strengthen our relationship with our whenua, create meaningful opportunities for our people and build a relationship with the Defence Force increasingly based on partnership and practical action, not simply consultation.”

Ngāti Rangi acknowledged the New Zealand Defence Force and those who have worked on the arrangement over several years, alongside ACC for its role in enabling the transaction and Koau Capital for its commercial advice and support.

“We see today not as a single transaction, but as part of a much longer partnership, moving from acknowledgement to action, from grievance to opportunity, and towards a relationship increasingly shaped by what we choose to build together.”

From left to right: Kemp Dryden, Bronson Marshall, Troy Brown (back), Hinurewa Poutu (front), Ngapera Akapita, Olive Hawira, Tomairangi Mareikura, Elijah Pue, Helen Leahy, Hon. Paul Goldsmith

ENDS

Media contact: helen@ngatirangi.com