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Download AudioTreaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little says a public apology is an important step towards atoning for the Crown’s wrongs.
Mr Little at the weekend delivered the Crown apology to Ngāti Kahungunu Ki Wairarapa Tāmaki Nui a Rua for the processes which stripped most of their land from 1845 to the end of the century.
Alongside financial and commercial redress worth $115 million, it’s critical to start the healing.
“None of that counts if the Crown doesn’t front up and admit the things it’s done wrong that have breached the treaty and not just wrong but things that have caused serious harm and in some cases death. The Crown has to front up and say that and express its sorrow and its apology and its regret as a way of then clearing the way to say now we want a new relationship,” Minister Little says.
Usually, the crown apology is made before the signing of a deed of settlement, but because of Covid-19 the processes have been split in some claims.
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