Minister recognises Ngatiwai Trust Board's right to negotiate

The minister of Treaty negotiations, Chris Finlayson, remains satisfied with the mandate.

The minister of Treaty negotiations is satisfied with the mandate given to the Ngatiwai Trust Board to negotiate Waitangi Tribunal claims, despite hapu saying the mandate was seriously flawed.

The comment comes after whanau on behalf of Ngatiwai Ki Whangaruru asked the Waitangi Tribunal for an urgency hearing looking into the Crown's recognition of the trust board's mandate to negotiate Treaty claims on behalf of the iwi.

Claimant Huhana Seve said whanau filed an urgency application with the tribunal as they believed the Crown was wrong when it recognised the board's mandate. She alleged the board failed to communicate fairly and said its structure was seriously flawed.

But a spokeswoman for Christopher Finlayson said he was satisfied with the mandate. "It is for a claimant group to decide who will represent them in negotiations with the Crown. Before entering into negotiations, however, the Crown must be satisfied that the people seeking to represent a claimant group have provided sufficient evidence they have the authority to do so," the spokeswoman said.

"After careful consideration, the minister for Treaty of Waitangi negotiations and the minister for Maori development recognised the mandate of Ngatiwai Trust Board in October this year."

Ms Seve said she believed the trust board's structure did not accurately represent the people of Ngatiwai as there were hapu included in the Deed of Mandate against their wish. She also disagreed with the marae representatives which meant people chairing marae could elect themselves, or someone else, without consulting hapu, leaving members with no say in the decision. When asked if Mr Finlayson thought this was a fair representation of hapu, a spokeswoman said because this matter was currently before the tribunal the minister had no further comment.