Iwi ‘pride’ stalling settlement: Labour
There’s ‘‘not a hope’’ of the country’s largest iwi getting treaty settlement negotiations underway by the election and one Northland MP is blaming ‘‘stubborn Ngapuhi pride’’.
Treaty negotiations originally started back in 2009 but it was 2014 before the Crown recognised a mandate for Tuhoronuku – the board set up to settle claims.
Eight years and upward of $60 million in lost interest later, Ngapuhi – an iwi making up more than 19 per cent of the country’s total Maori population – continues to flounder over who should be in charge of negotiations.
‘‘It’s not so much disappointed for me as I’m disappointed for Ngapuhi,’’ Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson said.
‘‘It’s been a drawn-out process for years so nothing disappoints or excites me anymore.
‘‘There are deep-seated divisions up there and I always knew it was going to be difficult but where there’s a will, there’s a way, and I’ve seen it time and time again with different iwi.’’
Finlayson said there was ‘‘not a hope’’ a new board would be set up and ready to negotiate by the Government’s 2017 target, with Labour’s Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis saying it might be time for the Crown to intervene.
‘‘It’s really coming down to personalities just clashing – stubborn Ngapuhi pride,’’ Davis said.
‘‘I’ve always said we should have faith in our leaders to make the right decisions and politicians should back out but, that said, it’s getting to the stage now where it’s just ridiculous and maybe there does need to be some direct intervention.’’
Finlayson said there was a few people in leadership positions who could ‘‘step up a bit more’’ but there were no plans for the Government to appoint people to the board.
In September 2015, the Waitangi Tribunal upheld an appeal that Tuhoronuku’s mandate undermined the right of hapu to choose who spoke for them.
The Maranga Mai report was born out of that tribunal decision, which proposed a new entity to settle claims.
While Tuhoronuku agreed to hand over the mandate to a new board at the beginning of this year, it has since backpedaled and started demanding changes to the new structure.
While Finlayson would consider their concerns, he wasn’t interested in ‘‘reinventing’’ Maranga Mai and said Tuhoronuku needed to ‘‘sign up to it or it’s arrivederci’’.
Finlayson has kept MPs with Ngapuhi links involved throughout, saying they were aware of what needed to happen but any deal must ‘‘be consensual’’.
‘‘I can’t force an agreement down Ngapuhi’s throat.’’
Davis has also questioned whether the iwi has the right ‘‘calibre of people’’ to run a potential $300 million business once settlement is reached.