Waitangi Tribunal will hear Ngāi Te Rangi grievance

A Ngāi Te Rangi leader addresses government ministers after their hikoi arrived at Parliament on May 15. Photo / Mark Mitchell.

The Waitangi Tribunal has agreed to hear the Ngāi Te Rangi's claims against the Crown over the controversial Pare Hauraki Collective settlement signed in August.

Ngāi Te Rangi Settlement Trust chairman Charlie Tawhiao said the iwi received a letter on Friday confirming the tribunal would hear an urgent claim against the Crown submitted by the iwi in March 2017.

He said it was positive that an independent body would hear the concerns about "offering redress in Tauranga Moana to iwi from outside of Tauranga Moana".

"The Waitangi Tribunal has the necessary expertise to consider matters of tikanga Māori which are at the heart of our claim. We say that the Crown breached tikanga in offering the offending redress."

He hoped the Crown would not progress the settlement any further until the tribunal had heard the iwi's claim.

A series of public protests, including harbour and highway blockades, against the settlement culminated in a hikoī in Wellington in May where protesters marched to the steps of Parliament and addressed Treaty Minister Andrew Little.

A Ngāi Te Rangi leader addresses government ministers after their hikoi arrived at Parliament on May 15. Photo / Mark Mitchell.

Minister Little said the claims made by Tawhiao were contrary to the findings of the Waitangi Tribunal in respect to both parties' respective claims.

Little said the redress offer had been mandated by the Waitangi Tribunal.

"The Crown is satisfied that it has followed through on the Waitangi Tribunal's findings during every step of the process."