Ngāti Hine leader Pita Tipene is ruling out a settlement under this Government after remarks made by Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith.
Ngāti Hine is part of the wider confederation of Ngāpuhi hapū in the Far North.
Goldsmith said the Government’s preference would be for a single commercialsettlement, but it was open to dealing with multiple groupings to get a deal done.
But he said on Tuesday the Government would not agree to Treaty settlements that disputed whether the Crown is now sovereign.
Under the previous Labour Government, an initial deed of settlement with Te Whānau-ā-Apanui was drawn up that included the first case of a clause agreeing to disagree on who holds sovereignty.
Goldsmith said the coalition Government was uncomfortable with the clause and was not prepared to progress the settlement without it being removed.
Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith during his appearance at the Māori Affairs select committee at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Tipene said although his hapū was “dead keen” on progressing a settlement, they would also want a clause like that in the Apanui deed.
“If the Government is going to progress on that basis [of not allowing such clauses], I will be the first one to say it is impossible to progress anything on those grounds.
“Our people have been very, very clear that we want to be proactive and we want to move forward but that is a bottom line that accepting the Crown is sovereign is totally unacceptable.”
Tipene said the Crown could “say all they like that they hold sovereignty” but Ngāti Hine were “just as staunch and ferocious in saying we hold authority and sovereignty over our own”.
Goldsmith told the Herald today the Government would not agree to any suggestion sovereignty was not formally held by the King and exercised in New Zealand by Parliament.
“There’s many discussions to be had. We’ll work hard to find a settlement and also discuss what tino rangatiratanga means in 2035 [when the Government aims to have all settlements complete].”
Pita Tipene. Photo / Dean Purcell
He had told reporters yesterday the “agree-to-disagree” clause complicated the situation.
“It makes it difficult in the sense that you’re signing up to a full and final settlement, but the entity ... doesn’t acknowledge the authority of the Crown to do it in one respect, and we weren’t comfortable with that," he said.
“We’re not moving from that position.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was asked about the matter today but said the Government was not going to negotiate Treaty settlements through the media.
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
