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The co-chair of Northland treaty claim group Te Kotahitanga is accusing Treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson of being too hasty in trying to settle Ngapuhi’s historic treaty claims.
The minister has set a timetable for testing the mandate of Te Rōpū Tuhoronuku, the claim negotiation body set up by Te Rūnanga ō Ngapuhi.
The process includes fresh elections before the end of the year so the negotiators can be considered independent of the rūnanga.
But Pita Tipene says Te Kotahitanga wants the Waitangi Tribunal hearings to run their course first.
“Literally thousands of people turn up to these hearings and they want their claims heard so we don’t want Tuhoronuku pulling the rope from under our feet by stitching up a deal with Minister Finlayson, who is very keen to get political points on the board and get Ngapuhi settled as soon as possible. As far as the Minister and Sonny Tau are concerned, expediency is what they’re going for and not particularly interested in listening to the people of Ngapuhi,” he says.
PitaTipene says Te Kotahitanga and Tuhoronuku aren't that far apart, but they need to be given more time to talk through their differences.
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