February 12, 2019
Samuels not waiting 100 years for settlement
Former Labour cabinet minister Dover Samuels doesn’t want to see Ngati Hine’s bid to get its own deal slow the Ngapuhi settlement.
The Ngapuhi kaumatua is upset Tamaki Makaurau MP and minister outside cabinet Peeni Henare is backing the hapu breakaway.
He lodged his own claim 30 years ago, and says he is now looking at lost opportunities for generations to come as ongoing discord hampers progress.
He says if Ngati Hine can secure a mandate from its own people it could be cast adrift.
"If that is the mandate that's given, and I remember (Peen Henare's father, the late) Erima Henare addressing the (Waitangi) Tribunal and I was there with Shane Jones when he said 'We've waited 100 years, we're prepared to wait another 100." That may be fine for Ngati Hine but it's certainly not fine for me as a claimant, my whanau, and those people who want to see Ngapuhi move ahead," Mr Samuels says.
He says Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little should start negotiating with the 30 or so hapu who want to move forward, and then many other undecided hapu will jump on the waka once they see momentum.
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