Election 2020: Andrew Little to prioritise Ngāpuhi if retained as Treaty Negotiations Minister

Andrew Little. Photo / File

By Te Aniwa Hurihanganui of RNZ

Labour's Andrew Little wants to give the Treaty Negotiations portfolio another crack, saying his priority will be to reach a settlement with the country's largest iwi, Ngāpuhi, if he's retained as minister.

It's something he and his predecessors have failed to do in more than a decade, and whānau warn the Crown will keep getting nowhere unless something new is brought to the table.

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Little's historic speech at Waitangi this year, completely in te reo Māori, blew away many people from the Far North iwi.

Hinerangi Himiona

said his kōrero gave her hope.

"Andrew Little said some almost unbelievable things, recognising hapū rangatiratanga, recognising the importance and place of He Whakaputanga and we have become very wary of what comes out of minister's mouths and out of the Crown.

"I'm sure many Ngāpuhi people listening that day and since have been quite surprised and certainly my hapū are looking forward to what that all means."

But the Uri Taniwha hapū spokesperson said after so many years - and so many promises - it was going to take a lot more than words to unify Ngāpuhi and get a Treaty settlement across the line.

"I think people have just assumed this was a given because we haven't actually heard anyone say this before, but I think the thing that is going to help us continue, is that the Crown through Te Arawhiti, through the minister, through the minister's staff look really closely at how they're treating us," they said.

"I think since 1840 there's been an expectation that there would be fairness and justice afforded to both iwi Māori, hapū and the Crown. I think our people have always afforded the Crown a level of fairness and respect but we haven't received the same. If that's in the room then we might actually get somewhere."

Ngāpuhi has more than 100 registered sub-tribes or hapū, but the Crown has persistently insisted it will only negotiate a single commercial settlement for the entire iwi.

Ngāti Hine spokesman Pita Tipene said hapū wanted to retain their independence, their rangatiratanga, and a single settlement just wouldn't cut it.

"There can't be a single commercial settlement and the Ngāpuhi settlement table keeps putting people into one slot. That's going to continue to be the problem, and whoever the new minister is has to come in with some fresh thinking.

"We want a minister who is going to listen, because it seems that it doesn't matter how many of the hapū tell the Government and the minister, the more they stay in an entrenched position."

Himiona agreed - and said the new government's minister must be willing to negotiate on their terms.

"It's far more convenient just to give a lump sum, and hand it over and say, 'you guys sort it out now'," she said.

"That's not a way to negotiate with people that you've done wrong against."

Little is determined to work fairly through every challenge alongside hapū.

He admitted he hadn't always got it right, but he wasn't giving up.

"It's been the most challenging portfolio and the most rewarding portfolio," he said.

"It's had some of the hardest issues I've had to deal with but again, what I've found so rewarding is the engagement with iwi and learning the stories."

Little has made massive changes this year to make the settlement process easier, including making $500,000 available for hapū to meet for hui and wananga.

Until now, many have had to reach into their own pockets.

Work is also under way to set up a Crown office in Kaikohe to provide dedicated support for hapū - and Little has previously indicated he is happy to break into smaller groups when it comes to negotiating cultural redress.

But he said with so many hapū in a relatively small space, and the risk of overlapping claims, it was still his preference to negotiate a single commercial settlement.

"It's kind of the only preference we have about anything, but in the end this is a negotiation and we have to listen and be respectful. We want to reach an agreement and we will only reach an agreement when everybody is on the same page."

But getting on the same page, with both sides unwilling to budge on the issue of the Crown's desire to negotiate a single commercial settlement, makes that seem as unlikely as ever.