Govt unmoved by Maori king’s Ihumatao plea

WELLINGTON: The Government appears to be unmoved by the Maori king’s urging of the Crown to negotiate with Fletcher Building to ‘‘return Ihumatao to its rightful owners’’.

Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters said yesterday it would have to be ‘‘one extraordinarily high benchmark’’ for the Government to get involved.

‘‘And hitherto, we do not see that benchmark.’’

Finance Minister Grant Robertson confirmed in the House yesterday afternoon the Government has ‘‘absolutely no intention of reopening full and final [Treaty of Waitangi] settlements’’.

Senior New Zealand First minister Shane Jones told The New Zealand Herald Ihumatao land should be used for housing development.

‘‘Given the whitewater we’re taking in housing, it would probably be a good idea to proceed with housing.’’

This comes after Tuheitia Paki said he had successfully guided the mana whenua of Ihumatao to a unified position.

‘‘Mana whenua agree they want their land returned, so they can make decisions about its future,’’ he said.

He added that Kingitanga had conveyed the views of mana whenua to the Government and urged it to negotiate with Fletcher for the ‘‘return of Ihumatao to its rightful owners’’.

In a statement, Mr Peters thanked the king for his work.

Speaking to media, he said any questions concerning what the Government’s future role was were ‘‘not relevant’’.

Asked if the Government would ever consider buying the land from Fletcher and return it to manu whenua, Mr Peters said the land was subject to a major Waitangi deal — ‘‘there has been a settlement’’.

‘‘Some of the questions being put up for speculation at the moment are not helpful because they don’t help a resolution on this matter.’’

Mr Jones said NZ First’s position on Ihumatao had not changed, despite the king’s statements yesterday morning.

‘‘We don’t want to reopen the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process and we desperately think that the site is ideal for . . . housing.’’

In fact, he suggested the Tainui iwi, which has historic ties to Ihumatao, could buy the land.

‘‘Let’s face it, Tainui are very affluent and every year they get an additional cheque from the Government as their entitlement to share in the proceeds of all the other settlements.

‘‘So it’s not as if Tainui don’t have any money.’’

National Party leader Simon Bridges said the Government had to immediately reject the call from iwi for it to negotiate with Fletcher over Ihumatao.

‘‘Fletchers legally owns this land.

‘‘If this settlement is brought into question, then so will all other full and final Treaty of Waitangi settlements.’’

A Fletchers Building spokeswoman said yesterday said that six weeks ago, the Prime Minister requested Fletcher Building put a hold on the housing development to allow time for discussions between the Government and iwi to take place.

‘‘We have not been a party to those discussions and we are disappointed to see they have not produced a resolution.

‘‘We will now seek urgent discussions with all parties to inform our position.’’ — The New Zealand Herald