July 17, 2014
Rangitaane resist Crown agent
Members of Manawatu iwi Rangitaane are meeting with local MP Tariana Turia tonight to express continuing concerns about the way the Government is handling treaty settlement claims in the area.
Spokesperson Bridget Te Aweawe-Bevan says she is disappointed Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson and Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples would not take up the invitation to meet, as they are responsible for mandating.
It is now four months since a vote was held on whether Tanenuiarangi Manawatu Inc should be the post-settlement governance entity, but no result has been released.
Ms Te Aweawe-Bevan says the Crown has given extraordinary support to Tanenuiarangi Manawatu over the years, despite protests from iwi members that it does not represent them.
"They’re a social services organisaiton and they do a good job with the doctors and so on they have down there, but they don't represent our iwi. They are a Maori social services organisation who are pan-Maori and they have their own radio station, they have social workers all in one organisation, that’s who they are," she says.
A spokesperson for the Minister for Treaty Negotiations says the Rangitaane mandate is still under consideration.
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