KEY POINTS:
Iwi leaders want future Ministers of Finance to hold the Treaty Negotiations portfolio too after massive deals brokered under Michael Cullen, the first politician to hold both jobs.
The calls come after a $100 million deal which will help settle claims to the 170,000ha Kaingaroa Forest - one of the most contentious and expensive to date.
There has been real momentum in settlements this year with two foreshore and seabed agreements, and this deal which paves the way for the Central North Island Iwi Collective to sign off on their $500 million Kaingaroa settlement.
Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa, representing 24,000 people, signed a revised deed at Te Pakira Marae at Whakarewarewa yesterday.
The original deal in 2006 caused disharmony as multiple iwi, and another Te Arawa faction, said it disadvantaged them.
Last year the Government, pushed by the Waitangi Tribunal, sought a delay in finalising matters so seven other iwi in the Central North Island Iwi Collective with cross claims could hammer out a deal.
In return the Government said Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa iwi would come out with an equal or better settlement.
It believes it has achieved that. The revised settlement no longer includes redress for 50,000ha of forestry assets but that is academic because the iwi will be a major shareholder in CNI's holding company.
Where it once had to pay for geothermal wells and five school properties, it will receive those free, as well as carbon credits, $38.6 million in cash and $42 million in accumulated Crown Forestry rentals, taking the value to $100 million.
Tribal leader Te Rangipuawhe Maika said that this year there was a feeling things were getting done. He said future governments should pair finance and Treaty negotiations - it also wasn't bad that Dr Cullen was Deputy Prime Minister.
"We know it's election year. We know there's a political motive [for Labour] but we use it to our advantage."
Te Pumautanga chairman Eru George said the real benefit of the deal was that Te Arawa were now talking to each other.
However, there could still be legal challenges from tribes outside the collective such as Ngati Pikiao and Ngati Makino.
