February 20, 2014
Jones counts cost of mana munching
Northland-based list MP Shane Jones has warned that mana munching by Ngapuhi leaders is costing the iwi tens of millions of dollars.
The Government has accepted the mandate of the Ngapuhi Runanga-backed body Tuhoronuku to negotiate a settlement of historic treaty claims in the north, there are some hapu leaders are continuing to resist.
Mr Jones says Labour supports the efforts of Treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson to move the settlement forward.
He says senior ministers have indicated they expect the settlement to be between $200 million and $250 million.
"If you put that into an account you get about 5 percent, so that’s say $13 million that you’d get a year. If you’ve spent five to six years mucking around with it and arguing amongst themselves, let’s say it’s six, so 6×13 gets you somewhere near $70 million. That is the amount of income that the Ngapuhi people have lost as a consequence of this internal fighting. None of the mana-munching personalities are worth $70 million, because that’s what the loss has been while they have been fighting," Mr Jones says.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH SHANE JONES CLICK ON THE LINK
http://www.waateanews.com/play_podcast?podlink=MTU1NTE=
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