Ngati Hine is asking the Waitangi Tribunal for an urgent hearing into the Crown's recognition of the Tuhoronuku deed of mandate in Ngapuhi's Treaty of Waitangi settlement hearings.
In February, the Government recognised the mandate of Te Ropu o Tuhoronuku committee, set up by Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngapuhi, to negotiate on behalf of Ngapuhi's estimated 120,000 tribal members.
The Government called for new elections for representatives for the organisation that will negotiate the iwi's Treaty of Waitangi claims, but the process has been opposed by Ngati Hine and Hokianga hapu, with Ngati Hine now asking the tribunal to step in, saying, among other things, that the Crown has never carried out a transparent and fair process for determining the actual level of opposition to the Tuhoronuku deed of mandate.
Ngati Hine also says the crown did not give enough weight to its submissions on the mandate and that Tuhoronuku does not have the mandate to represent Ngati Hine in settlement negotiations.
The tribe's application to the tribunal says it opposes the entire Tuhoronuku mandate process which ultimately led to the Crown's recognition of the Tuhoronuku Deed of Mandate.