Ngapuhi pushes for 'tribal tax'

Northland Maori are pushing for a special economic development tax, as part of their Treaty settlement.

Ngapuhi wants to impose a nine percent "tribal tax" on everyone who lives in the region.

It would be administered by Inland Revenue.

Chairman of the Matarahurahu hapu, David Rankin, said it would be a non-negotiable element of any settlement Ngapuhi reaches with the Crown.

He said the tax would help restore fiscal equity in Northland.

However, a spokesman for Christopher Finlayson, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, said Rankin did not have a mandate to speak for all of Ngapuhi's 140,000 members.

He said one group - Te Runanga o Ngapuhi - was seeking a mandate from groups within the tribe to represent Ngapuhi in negotiations with government, but the process was far from complete.

Meanwhile, doubt is being cast on Ngapuhi's chance of succeeding in its claim for sovereignty.

Hearings into the claim begin at Waitangi next week.

AUT history Professor Paul Moon said the idea Ngapuhi only gave away the right for Europeans to govern themselves was fatally flawed.

Dr Moon said although historically they might be right, they were constitutionally wrong.

He said treaties evolved over time and what the tribe was missing was the fact sovereignty now rests with the Crown.

- NEWSTALK ZB