A new plan to unite Ngapuhi could help line up the country's most populous Maori tribe for the largest Treaty of Waitangi grievance settlement awarded by the Crown.
The He Ara Hou - a proposed strategy and pathway to settlement report prepared by Crown facilitator Tukoroirangi (Tuku) Morgan seeks to replace animosity between the ''warring'' Tuhoronuku and Te Kotahitanga factions of Ngapuhi with co-operation.
''What is required is a new start, a clean slate and a fresh process to build a consensus and broad-based support,'' Mr Morgan says.
He proposes five rohe potae - Hokianga, Waimate-Taiamai ki Kaikohe, Whangaroa, Te Pewairangi and Whangarei ki Mangakahia - to form the basis of an independent mandated authority which would set the direction for Ngapuhi settlement negotiations.
''Distrust toward Te Runanga a Iwi o Ngapuhi has become too entrenched to accept the arrangements proposed by Tuhoronuku in their present form,'' Mr Morgan says. ''I am proposing a new entity with a fresh mandate be established with membership comprising Te Runanga, Te Kotahitanga, rangatahi, kuia/kaumatua and urban representation.''
The independent mandated authority would hand over its responsibilities to a new Ngapuhi governance entity after settlement was achieved. Mr Morgan proposes involving runanga and Te Kotahitanga leaders in a "roadshow" around the regions to explain the role of the mandated authority and its election process.
He also requires a tribal register to encourage Ngapuhi to nominate their rohe potae and provide a way for them to be kept informed of developments. The tribal database now used by the runanga contains only 40 per cent of voting-age Ngapuhi.
Police vetting is proposed for people nominated for election to the authority.
For the formation of a post-settlement governance entity, Mr Morgan proposes two options based on hapu self-determination or a reconstituted runanga.
Under the hapu option, he envisages a 35-member parliament with a nine-member executive board. Appointments would need to be about skills and abilities, rather than whanau ties.
For the runanga to be considered as a post-settlement governance entity, it would need a new constitution which met the legislative requirement of the deed of settlement. If the hapu option was selected, the runanga's powers and authority would be transferred to the new entity.
Comment will be sought from runanga chairman and Tuhoronuku interim chairman Sonny Tau, who returns from Thailand today.
Te Kotahitanga officials said they would stick to a no-comment pact made with Tuhoronuku and Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson.