January 25, 2018
Tuhoronuku positions for Ngapuhi talks restart
The chair of Ngapuhi claim negotiations body Tuhoronuku believes the northern tribe’s settlement can be settled within the term of the current Government.
Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little is expected to hold further talks with claimant factions when he is in the north next week for Treaty of Waitangi commemorations.
There’s pressure coming from Te Kotahitanga o Nga Hapu, Ngapuhi for him to stop dealing with Tuhoronuku and shift to a new hapu-driven negotiating structure as sketched out in the Maranga Mai report.
Hone Sadler says Tuhoronuku is still the best option for negotiating a redress package that will put Ngapuhi on a sound footing for the future.
"For the crown to work with an entity it has to have a mandate from its iwi and Te Kotahitanga doesn't have that. The Waitangi Tribual made its ruling (on the Ngapuhi mandate process), it didn't say get rid of the mandate, it didn't say change the whole structure, but what it did say was to strengthen hapu participation. So the Maranga Mai report goes well beyond what the tribunal had asked," he says.
Mr Sadler says the previous Government should have started working with Tuhoronuku a lot earlier.
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