October 31, 2012
Te Kotahitanga refuses to unite for claim talks
Another bid to get the country's largest tribe to the negotiating table has faltered, with opponents of the Ngāpuhi Rūnanga refusing to join a new working group.
Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson had asked Te Kotahitanga and the rūnanga-backed Tuhoronuku to nominate representatives to work with crown officials on a process to elect a new body with the mandate to negotiate historic treaty claims.
Co-chair Peter Tipene says members rejected the offer.
He says constitutional changes pushed through at the rūnanga's annual meeting last Saturday showed it was positioning itself to be the post-settlement governing body, despite earlier promising this was not the case.
Te Kotahitanga will instead prepare for stage two of the Waitangi Tribunal hearings early in the New Year.
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