Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Paul Goldsmith.
By Layla Bailey-McDowell - RNZ
Ngāpuhi leaders are calling on the Government to pause its Treaty settlement mandate process in Te Tai Tokerau, describing it as “divisive” and against the collective interests of hapū.
Ngāpuhi kaumātua and kuia say the process is moving too quickly and is not allowing enough time for hapū to reach collective decisions in line with tikanga.
Frances Goulton, a Ngāti Ruamahue kuia, said the mandate approach was causing harm within communities and reopening old wounds.
“This mandate process is driving wedges between our people,” she said.
“We’ve been here before with Tūhoronuku, and we rejected it then for good reason. It ignores our tikanga and pressures whānau and hapū to fall into line rather than taking the time to build real agreement. That is not the Ngāpuhi way.”
The Crown previously recognised Tūhoronuku as the mandated body to negotiate a Ngāpuhi settlement, but the model was widely opposed and later disbanded following legal challenges and hapū resistance.
Mike Smith, Tahawai kaumātua, said the current process mirrors that earlier approach.
“The Crown wants us to voluntarily extinguish our rangatiratanga now and into the future, that’s what this so-called settlement process is really about,” he told RNZ.
Smith said the historical context is critical to understanding the current tensions.
“Ngāpuhi has proved to be a rather tough nut to crack for the Crown in terms of a settlement. The Waitangi Tribunal two years ago ruled in our favour, confirming we have never surrendered our rangatiratanga authority,” he said.
“Yet the Crown embarked upon a tortuous 10-year process, Tūhoronuku, trying to cajole and manipulate tribes in the north into these extinguishing deals. We refused, and that process collapsed. It divided communities and caused acrimony.”
Now the Crown has returned with a new process, Smith said, seeking negotiators to sit across the table to finalise the settlement of Treaty claims.
“They haven’t satisfied their own legal requirements to have a robust decision, but they’re still pushing forward with it.”
He described the current process as “fraudulent” and warned it risks dividing communities.
“People are jockeying for positions about who’s going to be the negotiators. But it doesn’t matter who the negotiators are going to be. You’re still not going to get anything,” he said.
“There’s very little around the edges to negotiate. What you really effectively want is some people who are going to sign the deal. That’s what you want. There’s no negotiation.”
Once agreements are signed, a post-settlement governance entity (PSGE) appointed by the Crown would receive any financial and commercial resources, leaving claimants and negotiators with little influence, Smith said.
“A lot of them have put their whole lives – it’s been a 50-year process. Many of the claimants have died, never seen the resolution of their claims. Their hapū, their whānau have endeavoured to carry that on,” he said.
“Now that it’s moving into this phase where the claimants are just shunted off over the horizon, many of them are trying to stay relevant in the game.”
Smith said the current process undermines tikanga and Māori unity.
“Ngāpuhi have consistently made clear that unity cannot be imposed. Settlement achieved through division, coercion, or exhaustion is not reconciliation – it is destabilisation,” he said.
He also criticised the lack of engagement from those facilitating the Government’s process.
“We’ve recurrently requested all documentation to show evidence of engagement because they’re meant to be meeting with our people to convince them, but they haven’t,” Smith said.
“They’ve spent the last 12 months just having meetings with the Crown. So they’re not engaging with us. They’re engaging with the Government, which is not a neutral process.”
Smith said the mandate process reflects broader political challenges facing Māori.
“We know that there’s a war on Māori. There’s a war on the Treaty. There’s a war on the environment,” he said.
He also questioned whether now was an appropriate time to negotiate with the current Government.
“If we were going to settle with the Government, do you think we ought to be settling with this Government?” he said.
“They’d be the last ones to afford us any emoticon of justice.”
As Waitangi Day approaches, Smith said Ngāpuhi are focused on commemorating the vision of their tūpuna rather than celebrating Government initiatives.
“If we had been getting things right, or at least moving in that direction, it would be a cause for celebration. But nobody up here is celebrating Waitangi,” he said.
“By continuing on its current path, the Government risks entrenching conflict and doing lasting damage to relationships within Ngāpuhi and between Māori and the Crown.”
Smith said they are calling for a pause to the mandate process to allow whānau and hapū the time for genuine discussion and tikanga-based decision-making.
“Consent must be freely given and informed. Not manufactured through pressure, deadlines, or by treating silence as agreement,” Smith said.
“We want Treaty justice. We don’t want Treaty extinguishment, and that’s what we’re getting. We’re not getting the justice bit. We’re getting the extinguishment bit. Who does that suit? That suits the Government. That doesn’t suit us.”
Smith said the current trajectory undermines decades of work and risks perpetuating grievances across generations.
“The light at the end of the tunnel is the Treaty extinguishment train, and it’s pulling into the station, and it’s just going to mow people down,” he said.
“It’s not only going to deprive the claimants and have no return to them. It’s a really abusive process, and it only benefits the government.”
Speaking to media on Tuesday, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Paul Goldsmith said that when talking about a potential Ngāpuhi settlement, there is no surprise “there’s a wide variety of views”.
“Some who are implacably opposed to settling ever, and some who are fully in support,” he said.
“We’re just working our way through the process as carefully and constructively as we can.”
Goldsmith said as it stands, there are currently three or four different groupings across the North who are working their way through that process.
“We’re hoping to have more starting in the next little while. We’re seeing some momentum, so that’s good.”
However, Smith rejected this framing, arguing that it ignores hapū concerns and historical grievances.
“We’re not opposing settlement. We’re opposing extinguishment,” he said.
“We haven’t met anybody who said they don’t want to settle ever. We’re saying ‘taihoa, just hang on a minute, put the brakes on’. We need an independent review of what the Government is doing so that we can hold that up to some type of standard.”
Smith said Ngāpuhi leaders will continue to advocate for processes that respect hapū autonomy and uphold the spirit and intent of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
“Ngāpuhi deserves a process that builds unity, respects hapū autonomy, and upholds the Treaty,” Smith said.
“Not another failed mandate imposed in the name of expediency.”
RNZ has approached the minister for further comment.