Claimants who are not linked with a large Waitangi Tribunal claim for forestry and land in the Waiariki district, including the Kaingaroa Forest, will struggle to get finance from the Crown Forestry Rental Trust.
The trust, which finances claimants, told a hui at Wahiao Marae at Whakarewarewa yesterday that there would need to be "compelling reasons" for money to be granted to claimants outside the Volcanic Interior Plateau (VIP) claim.
Trust counsel Phillip Ahearn said it supported the VIP claim.
Those at the hui heard that the trust had granted the VIP team $10 million a year to research its claim.
The proposed $500 million claim covers an area similar to the Waiariki electorate from Matakana Island to Cape Runaway, down to the Mangaweka Gorge and up to Taumarunui.
The two-day hui was called by the Waitangi Tribunal to gauge support for what could be the country's biggest claim since the Ngai Tahu deal. The VIP claim says it has the support of more than 80 per cent of all claimants.
The team behind the claim is hoping other iwi who have claims in the same area will abandon theirs and join the VIP team.
The tribunal will now decide whether to grant the claim urgency to reach a settlement.
- NZPA
$10m a year for research
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