New minister ready to restart Treaty negotiations with New Zealand’s largest iwi

Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Paul Goldsmith says as soon as Ngāpuhi hapū are ready to negotiate, the Government is ready. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The new Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations is keen to progress Ngāpuhi Treaty negotiations, meeting face-to-face with key people as part of Waitangi commemorations.

Paul Goldsmith said he would like to progress Treaty negotiations “without delay” and his meetings across Northland this month were a good step forward.

“Meetings I had during my time at Waitangi provided a great opportunity to establish relationships with groups that will be involved in negotiations,” he told the Northern Advocate.

Ngāpuhi is the largest iwi in the country, with about 165,000 members spread across New Zealand and Australia and more than 110 hapū or sub-tribes.

It remains the only major tribe which has yet to sign a Treaty settlement with the Crown.

The coalition Government would be “delighted” to be able to make progress to offer redress and reach a settlement with Ngāpuhi, Goldsmith told RNZ on Waitangi Day.

“I’m not going to stand here and say ‘I promise to fix it in two years’ or something like that - I think that would be foolhardy in the extreme - but we’re ready and we’re willing.”

Goldsmith told the Northern Advocate the timing of negotiations will be up to the various hapū of Ngāpuhi.

“I’m very conscious of the work that hapū will need to do in the coming months to prepare for negotiations, including seeking a mandate. When a mandate is in place, negotiations can commence.”

The comments come after a decade of disagreement over whether Ngāpuhi’s settlement should be with just one iwi entity or with its various hapū.

Treaty negotiations for Ngāpuhi stalled in 2019 after the Government withdrew the mandate of Tuhoronuku, an iwi authority set up to negotiate a settlement on behalf of the entire tribe.

Tuhoronuku’s mandate was recognised by the Crown in 2014 but it failed to win full support of Ngāpuhi hapū, opposed particularly by a hapū grouping, Te Kotahitanga.

Pita Tipene, who is also the chairman of Waitangi National Trust, says he met with Paul Goldsmith on behalf of Ngāti Hine during the Waitangi commemorations. Photo / Michael Cunningham

The Waitangi Tribunal dealt another blow by ruling the mandate was flawed because it didn’t protect hapū sovereignty.

Recent progress includes a landmark Waitangi Tribunal report into Treaty breaches endured by Ngāpuhi: stage two of Te Paparahi o Te Raki, also known as the Northern Inquiry.

Copies of the almost 2000-page document were presented to representatives of each of Ngāpuhi’s seven taiwhenua, or hapū groupings, in December 2023.

One Ngāpuhi sub-tribe keen to progress swiftly with its own negotiations is Ngāti Hine, said spokesman Pita Tipene.

Ngāti Hine - an iwi in itself, with 50,000 members and nine sub-tribes - successfully met with Goldsmith at Waitangi, he said.

“We put very clearly that we are seeking a mandate for Ngāti Hine and our nine hapū and will not be part of any large natural grouping that the Government might be trying to put through.

“We’re all about our own voice - we are fiercely independent, we are all about self-reliance.”

Tipene said he and other Ngāti Hine leaders have been twice around all its members in New Zealand and Australia.

“We feel we’ve got strong support among ourselves to approach the Government and seek a mandate [to negotiate].”

Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.