“regional agreement means an agreement of a kind described in section 29A (whether entered into before, on, or after the date of commencement of the Maori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement (Regional Agreements) Amendment Act 2009)”.

• “(ab) includes payments of money and the transfer of any other benefit to the trustee or an iwi aquaculture organisation under a regional agreement; and”.

• “(ba) by entering into a regional agreement:”.

• “(3A) If a regional agreement includes a provision of a kind referred to in section 29A(3)(b) or is otherwise conditional, the Crown is taken to have complied with subsection (1) in the way specified in subsection (3)(ba) only if the agreement becomes unconditional.”

“29A Regional agreements

• “(1) The Crown may enter into an agreement (including by deed) in respect of 1 or more regions of regional councils, or of 1 or more harbours listed in Schedule 2, with the parties specified in subsection (2) if the Crown and those parties all agree that the Crown's obligation under section 22(1) will be satisfied in respect of those regions and harbours on the terms set out in the agreement.

  “(2) The parties referred to in subsection (1) are—

  • “(a) the iwi aquaculture organisations of all iwi whose area of interest includes a region or harbour covered by the agreement; or

  • “(b) for any iwi referred to in paragraph (a) that do not have iwi aquaculture organisations, the recognised iwi organisations of those iwi.

  “(3) A regional agreement must include—

  • “(a) the trustee as a party to the agreement in order to confirm that the agreement has been entered into by all iwi aquaculture organisations for each region and harbour covered by the agreement the parties specified in subsection (2); or

  • “(b) a provision that the agreement is conditional on the trustee confirming that the agreement has been entered into by all iwi aquaculture organisations for each region and harbour covered by the agreement those parties.

  “(4) To avoid doubt, a regional agreement is enforceable as a contract in accordance with its terms.

  “(5) Section 22(3)(c) does not prevent the Crown from making a payment to the trustee under a regional agreement before 1 January 2013.

  “(6) No court or tribunal has jurisdiction to inquire into the quantification or the adequacy of the benefits to be provided by or under a regional agreement.

  “(7) However, subsection (6) does not exclude the jurisdiction of a court or tribunal in respect of the interpretation or enforcement of a regional agreement.”

• “(4) A registered settlement assets allocation entitlement binds the iwi concerned in relation to the allocation of settlement assets within the regional coastline or harbour concerned as determined by the trustee in accordance with section 45(4) or Schedule 1.”

• “(ba) enter into regional agreements:”.

• “(2A) The trustee may also enter into a regional agreement or otherwise agree to be bound by a regional agreement, and perform obligations and exercise rights under or in relation to the agreement.”

“44 Determinations and allocations generally

• “(1) The trustee must make its determinations as to settlement assets allocation entitlements and its allocation of settlement assets separately on the basis of the region of each regional council and each harbour listed in Schedule 2.

  “(2) However, if a written agreement referred to in section 45(4) covers more than 1 region or harbour, the trustee may make its determinations as to settlement assets allocation entitlements and its allocation of settlement assets collectively on the basis of the regions and harbours covered by the agreement.

  “(3) For a region or harbour, the trustee must make either—

  • “(a) a single determination for all of the settlements assets of the region or harbour; or

  • “(b) 1 or more determinations for the settlement assets of the region or harbour covered by a regional agreement and a single determination for all the other settlement assets of the region or harbour.

  “(4) The trustee may amend a determination to give effect to a written agreement referred to in section 45(4) to the extent that the agreement relates to settlement assets under a regional agreement that was entered into after the written agreement and, if it does so, the amendment becomes a determination of settlement assets allocations entitlements.”

• “(1) If by the end of the 12-month period specified in section 45(4) the iwi aquaculture organisations for a region have not made a written agreement for all of the settlement assets of the region, the trustee must determine, in accordance with this section and Schedule 1, settlement assets allocation entitlements for any settlement assets for which no written agreement has been made.”