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Ngai Tahu is seeking compensation for what it says will be a loss in value of forests it received as part of its historic Treaty claim.
The South Island iwi settled its claim over a decade ago, but has lodged a fresh claim to cover the loss of value of some of its assets due to the Government's emissions trading scheme (ETS).
The scheme will make the conversion of forest land to other use such as dairying less economic, potentially lowering the land's value.
Ngai Tahu chairman Mark Solomon today said the scheme would wipe millions of dollars off the value of Ngai Tahu's settlement.
"Ngai Tahu ... put up front to the Crown at the start that we were not interested in the forests and once were the cutting licenses were finished we would convert to farming," he said on Radio New Zealand.
"Under the emissions trading scheme we face literally tens of millions of dollars of penalty if we don't immediately replant the forest."
Part of the claim was that the government at the time intended to sign up to the Kyoto climate treaty but never informed the tribe of the flow-on effects of this.
But Climate Change Minister David Parker said the Government had increased the rate of free carbon units forest owners would receive under the scheme to compensate for the loss.
The Government disagreed with Ngai Tahu that the compensation offered was not enough.
The Government was prepared to look back through crown records to see what exactly was known about the Kyoto treaty at the time and what was or was not passed on, he said on Radio New Zealand.
The Ngai Tahu claim was one of about 2000 filed with the Waitangi Tribunal in the past month to meet last night's deadline for historic Treaty claims.
- NZPA
