The Waitangi Tribunal has ordered an urgent hearing into the Government accepting the mandate of Tuhoronuku to settle all of Ngapuhi's Treaty claims, saying opponents will suffer significant and irreversible prejudice from it.
The ruling has been welcomed with elation by Ngapuhi opponents of the mandate, but Tuhoronuku said the decision could further delay the settlement, and deny Ngapuhi and Northland urgently needed cultural, social, and economic advancement.
The Government early this year recognised Te Runanga-a-Iwi o Ngapuhi's settlement sub-committee Tuhoronuku as an independent mandating authority (IMA) to settle all of Ngapuhi's Treaty claims.
But rival claimant group Te Kotahitanga, which represents Ngapuhi hapu and others opposed to the mandate, asked the tribunal for an urgent hearing to look into the validity of the process used by Government to accept the Tuhoronuku mandate.
The tribunal has ruled in favour of the opponents, with an urgent hearing due in the next month or so.