August 08, 2014
Room for protest at Te Atiawa signing
A Te Atiawa treaty negotiator believes time will heal rifts over an $87 million settlement due to be signed in New Plymouth tomorrow morning.
Opponents of the deal are upset that the whole of the Pekapeka block in Waitara isn’t included in the settlement, and they say they are being excluded from the post settlement governance entity.
But Peter Moeahu says there will be fresh elections for the PGSE in the new year, and the critics can put their views to the iwi then.
He says people have a right to object.
"I'm pretty relaxed about things and if there are people of ours who wish to protest we've made provision for them to do that at the signing ceremony tomorrow. We have a particular place where we will encourage them to gather and they can gather as loudly and as strongly as they wish. They are part of us. We would expect though that come kai time they will be invioted to join us for kai after the official ceremony." Mr Moeahu says.
He says any bid to injunct the signing is unlikely to succeed, because the courts have consistently ruled that treaty settlements are political arrangements.
Tomorrow’s signing ceremony will be at Te Wananga o Aotearoa’s New Plymouth campus, because the various marae in the rohe refused to host it.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH PETER MOEAHU CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MjA5MDI=
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