Ng¯apuhi settlement talks progress
Nga¯ puhi negotiations continue to progress after meetings with Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little.
Little met with Nga¯puhi leaders at Parliament recently to discuss ways to progress redress negotiations for the iwi.
The talks included Tu¯ horonuku representatives Hone Sadler and Sonny Tau, and Te Kotahitanga leaders Pita Tipene and Rudy Taylor. Tuhoronuku is the entity that holds the mandate for negotiating with the Crown on behalf of Nga¯ puhi, New Zealand’s largest iwi. Te Kotahitanga is a breakaway group fighting Tuhoronuku’s mandate.
Little said he was pleased with the tone of the discussions and considered the talks ‘‘helpful and constructive’’.
The Nga¯ puhi representatives would report back to the ha¯ pu and iwi on the issues discussed. Nga¯puhi settlement negotiations had a ‘‘somewhat chequered past’’, so it was good to get everyone in the same room for a day and a half, for some ‘‘good exchanges’’, Little said.
‘‘There’s never any harm in talking and continuing to talk while we have the opportunity and the goodwill.’’
Little said he did not have a fixed timeline for when he wanted a settlement to be reached. It was important to get the starting position right, so by the time everyone got around the table, there was a good foundation for discussions, he said. The iwi’s Treaty negotiations began in 2009 but Tuhoronuku’s mandate wasn’t recognised until 2014.
The next year, the Waitangi Tribunal ruled the Crown undermined the right of hapu to choose who spoke for them when it recognised Tuhoronuku. The group agreed to hand over the mandate to a new board at the beginning of 2017, but later backpedalled.
In November, Little said he had a ‘‘very strong desire’’ to see the claim settled. ‘‘I’m not making decisions at the moment but I’ll listen to anybody to get a feel for the dimensions of the problems and issues,’’ he said. ‘‘But at some point we need to get to having negotiations instead of arguing about who is at the table.’’
Hone Sadler said he expected a settlement to be ‘‘done and dusted by 2020’’. Little said the parties involved agreed to meet for further discussions shortly after Easter.