Post-handover Treelord negotiations begin

The assets have been handed over, now central North Island iwi will work out who gets what.

A ceremony was held near Turangi yesterday in which the Crown to transferred around $450 million in land and cash to a group representing eight iwi.

The deal, dubbed Treelord, involves the Kaingaroa Forest, and is the largest Treaty of Waitangi settlement yet.

Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson says there is still a long way to go with individual settlements, and iwi now have their own work to do.

He says the various iwi who are part of the collective which signed the deal now have to work out what share each of them will have.

Mr Finlayson says Maori and the Crown have to work together if Treaty of Waitangi settlements are to be completed by 2014.

There is hope future Treaty of Waitangi settlements can be conducted in the same way as this one. Mr Finlayson says this settlement shows there is strength in working together.

He says that is the sort of thing he wants to see happen around the country.

- NEWSTALK ZB