March 12, 2024
PM Luxon denies delays to treaty settlements
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon denies there will be delays to treaty settlement because of public sector cost cutting.
Māori Crown Relations-Te Arawhiti chief executive Lil Anderson told the Māori Affairs select committee last week she didn’t expect huge impacts to the agency’s work programme, but it would affect the number of negotiations it can do at any one time.
The priorities are set by Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith, with Ngā hapū o Ngāpuhi at the top of the list.
That advice seems to have been missed by the Prime Minister.
“I’m not aware there will be delays in treaty settlements. We want to progress treaty settlements. We want treaty settlements to progress and conclude as quickly as we possibly can. I’m thinking of a number where we actually came out of Ngāpuhi with renewed focus on how we can start to move that forward. It’s a big intention for us to close out as many treaty settlements as we possibly can so I’m not sure where that came from,” Mr Luxon says.