Northland Age
  • Northland Age home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
  • Opinion
  • Kaitaia weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northland Age

Hone Harawira: None of this is Ngapuhi's fault

Northland Age
12 Apr, 2017 10:29 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Hone Harawira. Photo / File

Hone Harawira. Photo / File

Mana leader Hone Harawira is "getting hoha" (annoyed) with people blaming Ngapuhi for not settling their Treaty claim and using it to fix the North's economic and social deprivation.

"Stop blaming Ngapuhi," he said.

"It was Labour's decision to sell off state assets and privatise government services, and National's determination to continue down that track that caused the economic devastation in the North.

"And it is the ongoing damage caused by those economic decisions that has led directly to the high levels of poverty, unemployment, homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, crime and suicide that have become the norm in many communities in Tai Tokerau.

"And what's the rush to sign up to a settlement which is less than three per cent of the value of the claim? Is there a Ngapuhi anywhere who thinks we should be settling for three cents in the dollar? If government wants to seriously address the issues, then up the settlement figure. And let's be polite, let's start with 50 per cent."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Harawira noted the Waitangi Tribunal's finding that Ngapuhi had never ceded sovereignty.

"That's a massive statement, which actually lifts the Ngapuhi claim to a whole different level, but Treaty Minister Chris Finlayson never mentions it, and strangely enough neither does Kelvin Davis.

"All they do is blame Ngapuhi for not getting their act together," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He had a few positive suggestions, such as:

* Creating a Ngapuhi Settlement Trust and appoint Raniera (Sonny) Tau (Tuhoronuku), Pita Tipene (Kotahitanga) and Kelvin Davis to it, along with some wahine "from home" to give it credibility, focus and accountability, and then get the government to invest $20 million so it can start building the capability of Ngapuhi hapu and iwi.

* Get the government to commit $50 million to regional development in Northland, with representatives from the Trust and the Far North, Whangarei and Kaipara district councils. ("Remember," he said, "the economic devastation is almost exclusively the fault of the Crown, not Ngapuhi.")

* Get the government to commit another $50 million to social development in Northland, with representatives from the Trust and Ministry of Social Development, and threaten to throw them in jail if they don't get quick results.

"The government bailed out a Pakeha finance company to the tune of $1.2 billion. They can easily spend 10 per cent of that to give the country's biggest iwi a kick start," he concluded.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northland Age

Northland Age

The New Zealand towns gaining global acclaim for their beauty and charm

Northland Age

'Public safety at risk': Guns, cannabis found in Kaitāia raid

Northland Age

Prisoners gain skills building homes for families in need


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northland Age

The New Zealand towns gaining global acclaim for their beauty and charm
Northland Age

The New Zealand towns gaining global acclaim for their beauty and charm

WorldAtlas has favoured one area for its beauty, warmth and appeal to retirees.

18 Jul 12:00 AM
'Public safety at risk': Guns, cannabis found in Kaitāia raid
Northland Age

'Public safety at risk': Guns, cannabis found in Kaitāia raid

16 Jul 10:53 PM
Prisoners gain skills building homes for families in need
Northland Age

Prisoners gain skills building homes for families in need

16 Jul 07:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northland Age e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to The Northland Age
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northland Age
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP