June 05, 2013
Tūhoe reasonable to accept
Greens co-leader Metiria Turei has welcomed the Tūhoe settlement signed yesterday, but says the $170 million package falls well short of what the eastern Bay of Plenty iwi is due.
The settlement includes an apology for what Treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson called a brutal military campaign against the tribe.
It creates a joint management regime for Te Urewera National Park and allows the iwi to develop its own welfare programmes.
Ms Turei says compared with what the Government has been prepared to pay to bail out finance company investors, it’s a small price for 150 years of injustice.
"I don’t think any government has been committed so far to making sure Māori get their fair share, just a share, and Māori have been prepared to tolerate it, in part because they need those resources and also because Māori are prepared to be provocatively reasonable and get on with the business of taking care of our people," she says.
Copyright © 2013, UMA Broadcasting Ltd