frequencies in November 2013. Telecom, Vodafone and 2degrees were among those who secured slices of the spectrum. 4G was not the only spectrum issue faced by Mäori in 2013. With television moving from analogue to digital broadcasting, a new law was passed giving Mäori Television the right to switch to the digital spectrum and transferred spectrum management rights from the Government to the Mäori TV Service Electoral College, Te Pütahi Paoho. Waitangi Tribunal The Waitangi Tribunal is an independent commission of inquiry which has statutory responsibility for investigating claims brought by Mäori into alleged breaches by the Crown of its obligations to hapü and iwi under the Treaty. The Tribunal currently has three district inquiries and one regional inquiry underway. These are the Te Rohe Pötae (King Country) district inquiry; the Porirua ki Manawatü district inquiry, the Taihape (inland Pätea or Mäkai Päea) district inquiry, and Te Paparahi o te Raki (Northland) − a regional inquiry which covers seven Taiwhenua or districts. These district inquiries comprise the largest part of the Tribunal’s current work, collectively covering around 800 individual historical claims. In 2013 the Tribunal released the following reports: 1. The Ngäti Kahu Remedies Report responded to an application from Ngäti Kahu asking the Tribunal to make a binding recommendation for the return of land. Such binding recommendations apply to land previously transferred to a State owned enterprise and to Crown forest licensed land. The Tribunal concluded that it could not make binding recommendations but went on to set out a series of recommended remedies for providing redress to Ngäti Kahu for the Crown’s historical breaches of the Treaty. 2. Matua Rautia: The Report on the Köhanga Reo Claim responded to the concerns of the köhanga reo movement regarding risks to the future of te reo Mäori following the release of a report to the Government from the Early Childhood Education Taskforce. The Tribunal recommended that urgent steps be taken by both Mäori and the Crown to assure the long-term health of te reo as a taonga of Mäori. 3. Te Kähui Maunga: The National Park District Inquiry Report which found that the Crown had not honoured an intended partnership with Ngäti Tüwharetoa and had established the Tongariro National Park without proper consultation. The Tribunal recommended that 38 the Crown honour its Treaty obligations by making a new partnership arrangement for the national park. The Tribunal also found that Tüwharetoa, Ngäti Rangi and Whanganui iwi are entitled to compensation for use of their taonga to generate electricity, particularly in the case of Lake Rotoaira. The Mangatü Remedies Report responded to four Mäori groups that had asked the Tribunal to make a binding recommendation for the return of the Mangatü Crown forest licensed land. The Tribunal concluded that such a recommendation may not provide proportionate redress and would not be fair and equitable between the four groups. The Tribunal urged all the applicants to return to settlement negotiations with the Crown. Two urgent inquiries are currently before the Tribunal. These include the National Fresh Water and Geothermal Resources Inquiry which has commenced Stage Two of the process and is awaiting a Crown update on the reform of freshwater management and governance, and also the New Zealand Mäori Council Mäori Community Development Act Claim which concerns the Crown’s reform of the Mäori Community Development Act, in particular the consultation process and the effects of the reform on the New Zealand Mäori Council and the Mäori Wardens.