Hauraki and Marutūāhu lead negotiator Paul Majurey says he expects Ngāti Paoa to come back into the fold once it has resolved some internal power struggles.
Ngati Paoa is refusing to initial the Marutūāhu Deed of Settlement because it says it wants the other four iwi to acknowledge it is has greater rights to commercial redress properties in Tāmaki Mākaurau.
Mr Majurey says there have been changes in leadership within the iwi, and some of the new advisers are questioning agreements made over the past 10 years.
"I have simple view on that which is when you sign an agreement and you reach it with a handshake, face to face, after lots of agreements, you honour those agreements, you don’t welch on them. So I think we are going to find like, Tauranga Moana who went through that game, sense will come back, Ngāti Paoa will join the fold as they have previously, and we will move on into a post-settlement space where hard-fought gains we all achieved through collective negotiations will be realised," he says.
Mr Majurey says the hot air seems to be going out of the Ngai Te Rangi balloon, and he hopes Tauranga Moana tribes will take up the invitation to go through a tikanga process on remaining issues.
!["p_facebook"]("/site/uma/images/story_img/facebook.jpg")
& !["p_twitter"]("/site/uma/images/story_img/twitter.jpg")
Copyright © 2018, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
