September 20, 2017
Ngai Te Rangi snubs Flavell mediation
Waiariki MP Te Ururoa Flavell says he made an effort to resolve a row between Ngai te Rangi and Hauraki but came up short.
Treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson this week informed the iwi a planned signing of the Hauraki Collective deed of settlement would not go ahead because of continued opposition from the Tauranga iwi, which objects to Hauraki's interests in the Te Puna/Katikati area being acknowledged with a property redress.
Mr Flavell says even though it was not in his ministerial portfolio, as the local MP he tried to mediate.
A planned meeting last Wednesday fell through when the Ngai Te Rangi board said it was too busy to meet him, but he did address a hui of the three Taurangamoana iwi on Saturday.
"In the end they came back to me to say they couldn't come to a consensus view. I told them the minimum would be to honour the agreement set between Hauraki and themselves a few years ago but it didn't happen," Mr Flavell says.
He says the police were concerned there could be protests if the signing went ahead.
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