December 14, 2020
Whakatohea settlement package close
A Whakatōhea treaty claims negotiator says they should soon be ready to take a settlement offer out to the people.
Maui Hudson says the Whakatōhea Pre-Settlement Trust held a round of hui last month to present what is likely to be in the final package and how the post-settlement governance entity will be structured.
People will have a chance to discuss that over summer before moving into the initialling and ratification stage, probably in March.
He says the ratification vote will give a true measure of support, rather than the often angry denunciations and legal challenges that have marked the process in recent years.
"It's probably a once in a lifetime opportunity to say this is what we want to do with the settlement. It's not like a vote for trust board members, an AGM that comes around every year or few years. This is the one chance to say let's deal with the raupatu, let's think about our future and be proactive about the way we move into it," Mr Hudson says.
Even though the settlement has not been signed the process has created opportunities such as new health initiatives and the transfer of documents and data relating to the iwi into a new digital library.
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