Hapu hope new Treaty Minister will halt Ngatiwai settlement

Dr Hauata Palmer and John Clark from the Waitangi Tribunal welcomed to Toll Stadium during a three-day urgency hearing into the Ngatiwai mandate. Photo/Tania Whyte

Some Ngatiwai claimants hope the new Minister of Treaty Negotiations will listen to the Waitangi Tribunal's recommendations to halt negotiations with the iwi so it can work on a new pathway to settlement.

The Waitangi Tribunal yesterdayreleased the findings of its inquiry into the Crown's recognition of Ngatiwai Trust Board's mandate to negotiate Treaty claims on behalf of iwi in October 2015.

The report comes after 10 claimant groups applied for an urgent inquiry into the Crown's recognition of the mandate. Urgency hearings were held at Whangarei's Toll Stadium in October last year and in Wellington in December.

It found the Crown breached the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi when it recognised that mandate and recommended negotiations be paused so mediation between all groups involved can take place.

If an agreement is reached, it said the Crown's support will be required so the Deed of Mandate can be amended and re-submitted to all parties, including hapu listed in the deed, for approval.

Mylie George, Ngatiwai ki Whangaruru claimant, said some of the issues she had with the Deed of Mandate, and the reasons hapu filed for urgency was the claimant definition (who the Crown would be dealing with) which she said did not provide a hapu voice, and marae representation.

She hoped the new Minister of Treaty Negotiations Andrew Little would take the tribunal's recommendation on board.

"We know what it's like to rush it through so we want to be meticulous and methodical and go through the process. And if that's sitting down with the trust board in terms of mediation we're more than happy to do that, but if it comes to the point where the Crown isn't supporting the new waka we want to drive the process then we will withdraw."

Ms George said withdrawing would be the last resort but was in line with tribunal recommendations to withdraw the mandate and establish a new entity, such as a runanga or taumata, if an amended Deed of Mandate is rejected.

Ngatiwai Trust Board chairman Haydn Edmonds said it will be having hui with whanau, hapu and iwi to work out the best way to move forward.

"We will also be in discussions with the new Government to understand from its perspective how it sees Ngatiwai moving forward to fulfil our Treaty settlement for all of Ngatiwai."

Some of the Waitangi Tribunal's findings were:

- The process of determining the claimant definition was unsatisfactory and incomplete at the time the Deed of Mandate was recognised by the Crown.

- The Crown pressured the trust board into responding to the Government's timetable and settlement policies - including the Government's goal to achieve all Treaty settlements by 2014.

- The Deed of Mandate does not include mechanisms for individual hapu to consent to the mandate, nor to withdraw from it; empowers an entity, the Ngatiwai Trust Board, that as presently structured is not "fit for purpose" to represent hapu.

- And the Deed of Mandate proposes supporting structures and advisory bodies that do not provide meaningful representation of hapu.

Ms George said the next step was repairing fractured relationships in order to find a way to move forward with a mandate everyone agrees on.

The Northern Advocate is awaiting comment from the new Minister of Treaty Negotiations Andrew Little.