Ngatiwai Treaty claim put on ice
Another Treaty settlement process has been stalled after the Waitangi Tribunal found the Crown was wrong to recognise the mandate of Ngatiwai Trust Board.
The Tribunal has ruled that the Crown pressured the board on timelines, the board was never ‘‘fit for purpose’’, there was ‘‘unequal treatment’’ of hapu, no ‘‘clear and robust’’ Crown policy and division over the mandate caused ‘‘serious harm’’ to iwi relations.
This comes as the country’s largest iwi, Ngapuhi, continues to battle over who should hold its mandate for negotiations after the Tribunal ruled the Crown undermined the right of hapu to choose who spoke for them when it recognised the entity, Tuhoronuku.
Newly-appointed Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little was yet to read the Tribunal’s full report into Ngatiwai and said he couldn’t say if he stood by the findings until he’d done so.
‘‘As Treaty Negotiations Minister my moral obligation, if nothing else, is these processes have to work and people have to feel they’re part of it and not marginalised as a result of it,’’ he said.
The Ngatiwai Trust Board decided in 2013 to seek the support of iwi to pursue direct negotiations with the Crown. The board developed a mandate strategy and in October 2015 the Crown recognised the mandate.
The Tribunal got involved after some claimants denied hapu gave consent to be included in the mandate.
Concerns were also raised about the ‘‘adequacy of representation and accountability in the mandate and the robustness of the Crown’s decision to recognise it’’, the report said.
Little said he needed to go back and compare the statement in the report that there was no ‘‘clear and robust’’ Crown policy with how the mandate was put in place in the first instance.
He said the Treaty negotiation process was still maturing and even at this stage ‘‘we’re still developing a level of sophistication’’.
‘‘As we become more literate and mature about the Treaty and the Treaty settlement process, it’s not surprising that these sorts of challenges are coming up and it is about getting it right.’’
Little said he had no criticism of those involved with the mandate up until he took over as minister this week - ‘‘people do the best they can with the principles and understandings that apply at the time and sometimes that changes’’. History shows there’s ‘‘creative ways’’ of sorting these problems and Little said his job was to make sure people were heard.
The report doesn’t recommend the mandate be withdrawn, rather, a pause in the negotiation process and mediation so an improved mandate can be reached. Should a new mandate be rejected though, then the Tribunal recommends withdrawing it completely and setting up a new entity.
‘‘If it takes a bit of extra time to get it right then we’re better to take that time - this is a huge opportunity. Let’s not get embarrassed if the Tribunal tells us maybe we didn’t get it right this time,’’ he said.