Archdeacon Harvey Whakaruru says he has not laid a claim under a "fourth article" of the Treaty of Waitangi, rebutting speculation by National Party leader Bill English.
But he says he would be "quite happy" to make such a claim.
Mr English last week told a meeting of the Gore Rotary Club that the Waitangi Tribunal had said it would hear a claim based on "article four".
"The historic basis for article four is some discussions between (Lieutenant-Governor William) Hobson and Bishop Pompallier on February 6, 1840, about religious freedom in New Zealand," he said.
Staff for Mr English said the reference to "article four" being used as a separate treaty claim was taken from news reports quoting Waitangi Tribunal member Keith Sorrenson.
Responding to evidence from Archdeacon Whakaruru at a Te Atiawa hearing in Waikawa in January, Professor Sorrenson said the report was the most important claim about the relationship between the church and the state that had come before the tribunal.
But he believed Archdeacon Whakaruru's evidence would be better treated as a separate claim brought by all Maori, rather than within an iwi claim.
Told of the tribunal's response, Mr English said he believed there was a claim within the Te Atiawa claim.
Archdeacon Whakaruru said he had not laid a separate claim with reference to "article four" as suggested by Professor Sorrenson.
But he would be happy to do so if recommended by the tribunal.
"I'll wait for the recommendations to come back from the Waitangi Tribunal," he said.
"That was just a comment on the day, but if that's a recommendation that is made, that's going to be no problem at all.
"I know a number of Maori organisations will be only too happy to look into that."
If a recommendation was not made he would also look at supporting Maori groups laying a claim.
The "fourth article" placed a duty on the Crown to protect Maori practising any variant of Christianity or those adhering to Maori custom, Archdeacon Whakaruru said.
Giving evidence during the Te Atiawa hearing, he called for compensation from the Crown to sustain land, buildings and Maori priests for Maori churches.
Archdeacon Whakaruru said Mr English's criticism of the way "article four" was finding its way into public life was doing Maori a favour.
"He has done a great service by projecting it out there in the public," he said.
- NZPA
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