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Northland-based New Zealand First list MP Shane Jones says the time is right for Ngapuhi to step up and claim its future.
A group of kuia and kaumatua are in Wellington today to see He Tohu, the long term exhibition at the National Library which includes the 1835 Declaration of Independence, He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
They will go on to a reception in parliament's banquet hall, where Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngapuhi will give a presentation on the tribe's dreams and aspirations.
Mr Jones says the north has been to the margin for far too long in terms of its development, and the answer lies in the decisions that need to be made by tribal leaders and the Minister for Treaty Negotiations, Andrew Little.
"Just look at the basic stats of the young men and women, that age group between 18 and 25, 27, 28, far too many of them are still drifting around up north. The settlement not only should give that group, if it's done right, a bigger sense of purpose, but also tell our people it's one thing to have rights but it's another thing to turn those rights into a sustainable form of economic succour," he says.
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