Iwi threatens to renegotiate Treaty settlement over pay plan

New Zealand's biggest Maori tribe says it will look at renegotiating its Treaty of Waitangi settlement if the Government increases the wages of crew on foreign fishing boats.

Ngapuhi, the Kaikohe-based iwi, says it has chartered foreign fishing vessels for more than 10 years.

"Ngapuhi is not in a position to invest in its own deepwater catching capacity and the foreign charter vessels provide Ngapuhi, and other iwi, the opportunity to participate in an industry with the quota it received as part of its Treaty settlement," Ngapuhi chief executive Teresa Tepania-Ashton, said today.

Cabinet has made no decision on a pay scheme but it has been reported recently that there is a plan to raise pay rates for foreign crews to $12.75 an hour from $10.25 an hour over a three-year period, to be imposed through immigration permits.

The Department of Labour was due to impose a pay scheme from December 1 for workers on foreign fishing boats, following a report last year that found some foreign crew were being paid as little as $195 a month.

Napuhi, with about 107,000 members, said the its Treaty settlement was "based on both a sustainable value for the quota we received and on the understanding that we would be able to participate in an industry that is of critical importance to Maori.

"This proposal threatens both of these principles and we will be looking to renegotiate our settlement if the changes are legislated," Ms Tepania-Ashton says.

- NZPA