Treaty settlement delays likely thanks to Govt’s public spending cuts

The Government’s aim to cut public service spending will likely cause delays for some Treaty settlements, MPs have been told.

Office for Māori Crown Relations/Te Arawhiti chief executive Lil Anderson told members of the Māori Affairs select committee she didn’t expect “huge impacts” to the agency’s work programme as it made the desired 6.5 per cent reduction in spending as part of the Government’s wider savings exercise.

Anderson said Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith was setting priorities for what settlements he wanted to focus on, saying commitments concerning the Ngāpuhi settlement and other upcoming milestones would be adhered to.

However, she acknowledged how the cuts would impact the “number of negotiations we can do at any one time.

“It may just be other [settlements] that are just entering into the process where things may slow,” she said.

“Those that are more imminent and close to milestones, we will make sure that those are progressed.”

Despite the potential delays, Anderson believed the agency was in a good position to absorb the spending reduction, having been through Labour’s savings exercise last year and assessing things like leave balances and whether to fill vacancies.

In a statement, Goldsmith said the effect of the savings couldn’t be determined until final decisions had been made. He also stated it was his priority to commence negotiations with Ngāpuhi groups.

The Ngāpuhi settlement was a regularly cited topic at this year’s Waitangi celebrations, which are hosted by the Northland iwi. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was challenged to guarantee a settlement would be reached, but the Government didn’t make that commitment.

Ngāpuhi is the largest iwi in the country, with about 165,000 members spread across New Zealand and Australia and more than 110 hapū or sub-tribes. It remains the only major tribe that has yet to sign a Treaty settlement with the Crown.

Anderson today said she thought Te Arawhiti’s relationships within Ngāpuhi were “very strong”.

Last month, Goldsmith told the Northern Advocate he would like to progress negotiations with Ngāpuhi “without delay” and his meetings across Northland during Waitangi were a good step forward.

“Meetings I had during my time at Waitangi provided a great opportunity to establish relationships with groups that will be involved in negotiations,” he said.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was challenged during Waitangi Day celebrations to guarantee a settlement with Ngāpuhi. Photo / Michael Cunningham

The coalition Government would be “delighted” to be able to make progress to offer redress and reach a settlement with Ngāpuhi, Goldsmith told RNZ on Waitangi Day.

“I’m not going to stand here and say ‘I promise to fix it in two years’ or something like that - I think that would be foolhardy in the extreme - but we’re ready and we’re willing.”

Goldsmith told the Northern Advocate the timing of negotiations would be up to the various hapū of Ngāpuhi.

The comments come after a decade of disagreement over whether Ngāpuhi’s settlement should be with just one iwi entity or with its various hapū.

Treaty negotiations for Ngāpuhi stalled in 2019 after the Government withdrew the mandate of Tuhoronuku, an iwi authority set up to negotiate a settlement on behalf of the entire tribe.

Tuhoronuku’s mandate was recognised by the Crown in 2014 but it failed to win full support of Ngāpuhi hapū, opposed particularly by a hapū grouping, Te Kotahitanga.

The Waitangi Tribunal dealt another blow by ruling the mandate was flawed because it didn’t protect hapū sovereignty.

Recent progress included a landmark Waitangi Tribunal report into Treaty breaches endured by Ngāpuhi: stage two of Te Paparahi o Te Raki, also known as the Northern Inquiry.

Copies of the almost 2000-page document were presented to representatives of each of Ngāpuhi’s seven taiwhenua, or hapū groupings, in December 2023.

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.