(1) Prior to 1840, ngā hapū o Ngāti Porou were the iwi kaenga and, therefore, the owners of all of the coastal lands within their rohe (territory):
(2) Since 1840, ngā hapū o Ngāti Porou have retained ownership of a significant proportion of these coastal lands which are contiguous to the foreshore and seabed:
(3) In 2003, the Court of Appeal in Ngāti Apa v Attorney-General decided certain jurisdictional matters in relation to customary territorial rights to the foreshore and seabed. As a result of this decision, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou, as well as particular whānau and hapū of Ngāti Porou, made applications to the Māori Land Court for orders declaring the foreshore and seabed in the Ngāti Porou rohe to be Māori customary land:
(4) In addition, at a series of hui-a-iwi (tribal meetings) and hui (meetings) with various of the Ngāti Porou marae, hapū, and taura here support was given for Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou to enter into discussions with the Crown to ensure that the foreshore and seabed territorial customary rights of ngā hapū o Ngāti Porou would continue to be recognised and protected were any legislation enacted in response to the Ngāti Apa decision:
(5) On 1 November 2004, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou, on behalf of ngā hapū o Ngāti Porou from Pōtikirua to Te Toka a Taiau, and the Crown entered into terms of negotiation. This agreement set out the scope, objectives, and procedures for negotiations between Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou and the Crown in order to reach an agreement on the foreshore and seabed rights of ngā hapū o Ngāti Porou:
(6) On 24 November 2004, the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 was passed into law. This Act vested the full legal and beneficial ownership of the public foreshore and seabed in the Crown as its absolute property for the stated objective of preserving the public foreshore and seabed in perpetuity as the common heritage of all New Zealanders. Despite Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou publicly expressing opposition to the Act, the negotiations between Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou and the Crown continued:
(7) On 30 September 2005, a statement of position and intent was signed by Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou and the Crown. This document recorded the progress that had been made in the negotiations up to that date, the proposed content of a final deed of agreement between the parties, and the further steps required before a deed of agreement could be concluded:
(8) In December 2005 and January 2006, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou, through a series of 17 hui, conducted a further mandating process to ascertain which hapū continued to support the negotiations with the Crown and which hapū did not. A large majority of hapū expressed clear and continued support for the negotiations, however, a number of hapū did not support the negotiations, were unclear in their position, or deferred making a decision. As a consequence, the negotiations continued, but only in respect of those hapū that had expressed clear support for the negotiations:
(9) On 5 February 2008, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou and the Crown, on behalf of those hapū of Ngāti Porou who continued to support the negotiations, signed a heads of agreement. The heads of agreement further documented the progress that had been made between Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou and the Crown in reaching agreement on how to express, protect, and recognise the special relationship of ngā hapū o Ngāti Porou with the foreshore and seabed:
(10) On 7 August 2008, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou and the Crown initialled a draft deed of agreement which is given effect to in this Act: