Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he has confidence in Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith to complete a settlement with Ngāpuhi.
The Waitangi Tribunal has presented Ngāpuhi with its second Te Paparahi o Te Raki report covering 415 claims dating through to 1900.
Efforts to negotiate a collective settlement have been undermined by an earlier tribunal report upholding the status of hapu within Ngāpuhi, and many hapū want individual settlements.
The Prime Minister says Mr Goldsmith is the man for the job, despite his previous assertions colonisation was on balance good for Māori.
“He’s going to be an excellent Minister for Treaty Negotiations. He and I have already spoken about the need to move forward very quickly. We know the outstanding negotiations are going to be hard and tough because they are the difficult ones, but we are determined to work with iwi to get them resolved,” Mr Luxon says.
