Door opens for TPPA claimants into trade talks

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In a mediated settlement, Waitangi Tribunal claimants and the crown have agreed a new body will be created to enable effective Māori influence on trade negotiations.

Ngā Toki Whakarururanga will replace a non-claimant body working with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Te Taumata.

Titewhai Harawira, who is part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Claim representing kuia and kaumatua of Ngapuhi Nui Tonu, says Māori have been trying for generations to have a say in the way New Zealand does business with the world.

"All of a sudden a few of us who haven't given up, we haven't been knocking, we have been hammering really hard, and now the door has sprung open, and I'm thinking, now what? she says.

The crown will fund a working party to engage with a diverse range of Māori and prepare an advisory paper setting out various options for the new body, which will take on roles such as developing engagement processes with Maori, conducting or commissioning independent Tiriti impact assessments of proposed trade and investment agreements, and identifying matters that might affect relationships with taonga and treaty rights.

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