One of the longest-running land claims in Northland has taken a tentative step forward with a meeting between Treaty Negotiations Minister Margaret Wilson and Te Iwi O Te Roroa.
It is eight years since the Waitangi Tribunal released its report into Te Roroa's claim, recommending that large tracts of land north of Dargaville be returned to their rightful Maori owners.
Since then, the claim has been beset with problems and has moved no closer to settlement.
However, Ms Wilson recently spent two days in the area, meeting Te Roroa and visiting wahi tapu (sacred sites) inside the claim area.
A Te Roroa spokesman, Garry Hooker, said that the meeting was to allow the minister to "get herself acquainted with the wahi tapu sites, of which there are many."
"We can't jump from there to anything like a settlement but she is to be commended for accepting the invitation," he said.
Ms Wilson said the visit had been valuable and she had seen the sites associated with Te Roroa ancestors.
"There's an enormous difference between talking about an issue in Wellington and actually being there with the tangata whenua.
"There is a sadness in experiencing the contrast between the great physical beauty of the area and the pain that the people have experienced as a result of past actions by the Crown."
While Ms Wilson was confident that a final agreement could be reached with Te Roroa, Mr Hooker said there was "nothing to report until offers are made and accepted, and we are not at that stage."
No more meetings were planned between the groups but there would be further communications, Mr Hooker said.
Ms Wilson said: "The Crown and Te Roroa need to come to a final agreement based on good faith and just redress for past wrongs."
A spokesman for the minister said the two-day visit was taken in the middle of Parliament's long debate of the Employment Relations Bill, for which she is responsible as Minister of Labour, and illustrated the importance she placed on the issue.
Officials of the Office of Treaty Settlements, Treasury and the Department of Conservation accompanied her.
- NZPA
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