KEY POINTS:
Lawyers will today converge on Te Arawa's most important marae, Te Papa-i-ouru, to continue litigating one of the most contentious Treaty of Waitangi settlements in history.
Rawiri Te Whare was one of the architects of the $36 million deal, working under Nga Kaihautu o Te Arawa, which had a mandate to represent 24,000 iwi members - more than half of the 40,000-strong confederation. He believes today's Waitangi Tribunal urgent hearing, which will look into the financial redress package that includes 50,000ha of forestry land, is a "free-for-all" for individuals who haven't got their own way and an "attack" by the tribunal on the 14 iwi under the umbrella organisation.
Last year, Nga Kaihautu signed a deed of settlement with the Crown but the deal has been subject to intense criticism by those iwi who were not included in the settlement.
Litigation has taken the group to the High Court, Appeal Court, through three Waitangi Tribunal urgent hearings and now another iwi, Ngati Raukawa, have signalled their intent to contest the settlement. Adding to their woes, the tribunal released a disapproving report last week which said the Office of Treaty Settlements - which conducted direct negotiations with Nga Kaihautu - did not act honourably, leaving cross-claimants facing "serious prejudice" for future settlement.
For the next three days, nine iwi outside of Nga Kaihautu will voice their concerns and complaints about the forestry issue, which commentators say is a slick deal for Nga Kaihautu.
Not only did the organisation get forestry land back in the settlement, but it used accumulated Crown rental money to buy more land back, taking the total forestry land to 50,000ha, including interest in the Kaingaroa Forest.
But Mr Te Whare's voice will not be heard at the hearing today. The cost is too prohibitive for Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa trust, which has taken over from Nga Kaihautu, as legal bills to defend the settlement are set to reach $3 million.
Instead, the trust members will watch proceedings. They are apprehensive, not least because he expects the tribunal to openly dissect the forestry deal. Mr Te Whare said that would disadvantage the trust's future business deals with companies that had commercial cutting rights.
While he believed the tribunal should keep the Crown honest, he thinks it has "extended" its role in this case. "The attack is not on the Crown as much as the tribunal may think it is. To dissect and examine it [the forestry deal] and put it under the microscope is to be attacking Te Pumautanga o Te Arawa, because we're the ones that negotiated it.
"You can't expect us to believe that it is not an attack on us."
