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June 06, 2017
Te Kotahitanga disappointed at latest stall in treaty talks
Waatea Team
Posted On June 6, 2017
Ngapuhi faction leader Pita Tipene sees a deeper political agenda in the crown putting the tribe's treaty settlement negotiations on ice until after the election.
On Saturday Prime Minister Bill English told Mr Tipene, his Te Kotahitanga co-chair Rudy Taylor, and Tuhoronuku's Hone Sadler and Sonny Tau he wanted them to work together on a structure the can resume negotiations with the next Government.
Mr Tipene sees it as a vote of no confidence in Treaty Negotiations Minister Christopher Finlayson and the Office of Treaty Settlements, who were pushing for Tuhoronuku to accept the proposals in the Maranga Mai report that it turn its mandate over to a new collective structure that gave hapu a greater say.
He says Mr Finlayson's last letter to Tuhoronuku compared it with the politiburo, the small committee that ran the old Soviet Union without consulting anyone.
"So if Chris Finlayson is saying 'I do not want a politburo in Ngapuhi,' I think we all know Tuhoronuku has been that politburo, so there are some political levers being pulled in the background to overshadow the treaty Minister Chris Finlayson, and in our view that is why the Prime Minister has stepped in," Mr Tipene says.
He can see the hand of the Maori Party in the decision, with Sonny Tau being a prominent member.
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