The chair of Te Kotahitanga o Ngāpuhi says Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith needs to work with the regional collectives of hapū emerging from within the iwi.
The minister attended a meeting of Te Kotahitanga this week, the first time he has formally engaged with the iwi.
Pita Tipene, who also chairs Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Hine, says people appreciated being able to meet Mr Goldsmith face to face, but did not appreciate his message the Government’s preference is for one commercial settlement with the whole tribe and groups of hapu having cultural settlements.
“I certainly made it clear myself that I’ve spent a good 10 years of my life alongside others opposing various ministers who had tried to corral the hapū of Ngāpuhi into something they didn’t want and certainly we do not want to plunge ourselves into being reactive and wasting more energy and time fighting. We would prefer the minister and government work alongside the collectives that are lining up to create our own future,” he says.
Mr Tipene says the crown set a precedent by making individual taiwhenua settlements with the various parts of Ngāti Kahungunu.
Kaumātua Hone Sadler, who was a leading member of the previous Tūhoronuku settlement effort, says there is no rush to settle because the Ngāpuhi is still healing the connections that were broken during that period.
