Treaty Negotiations Minister Goldsmith. Photo / Dean Purcell
Treaty Negotiations Minister Goldsmith. Photo / Dean Purcell
The Government maintains it wants to settle with Ngāpuhi by 2040, amid warnings a New Zealand First bill forcing the iwi into a single settlement “closes the door” on negotiations.
NZ First minister Shane Jones said New Zealand could no longer afford the ongoing negotiations with the country’s largest iwiafter “well beyond $20 million” had been spent on the claim so far.
Jones said the Member’s Bill his party is drafting will force Ngāpuhi into a single settlement, rather than multiple settlements with smaller groups.
Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith indicated that although the Government’s preference was for a single commercial settlement, all options remained on the negotiation table.
Goldsmith said the negotiation period could not be open-ended.
“We don’t want to impose an unrealistic deadline but likewise we don’t want things to go on past 2040, when we want to be celebrating our bicentenary.
“I don’t think it can be open-ended, it can’t be as long as forever. I think we do need to make progress at some time, but we haven’t put an exact date on it.”
I don’t think it can be open-ended, it can’t be as long as forever," Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith said. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Goldsmith did not have a firm stance on Jones’ bill, saying he is entitled to create a Member’s Bill but that he (Goldsmith) was the minister responsible for negotiations with Ngāpuhi.
Treaty settlements are a way for the Crown to address its breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi, including confiscating or selling Māori land.
Both the Crown and iwi recognise that full compensation for the grievances is not possible. Instead, financial redress can provide an economic base for iwi for future development.
Last week, Goldsmith declared the Government would never agree to Treaty settlements that disputed whether the Crown was sovereign. This was in reference to a clause – the first of its kind – included in an initial deed of settlement drawn up under Labour with East Coast iwi Te Whānau-ā-Apanui.
This prompted Pita Tipene, leader of Far North iwi Ngāti Hine – which is part of the wider confederation of Ngāpuhi hapū and iwi – to rule out a settlement under this Government, as his people would seek a similar clause to that in the Apanui deed.
A 2014 Waitangi Tribunal ruling declared Ngāpuhi chiefs had never ceded their sovereignty when they signed Te Tiriti in 1840.
In the days following that report, Jones revealed NZ First was drafting a bill that could outline the grounds for consultations with Ngāpuhi, including that there could only be one large settlement with the iwi.
Labour MP Peeni Henare, who is of Ngāti Hine and Ngāpuhi descent, said Jones was misguided if he thought his bill was going to bring Ngāpuhi to the negotiating table.
“I think it’s going to be a dismal failure by him and this Government. The point is this: you can’t force Ngāpuhi to the table on a bill simply because you think it’s the way to drive this forward.”
Peeni Henare said NZ First's approach would be a "dismal failure". Photo / George Heard
Henare said until the terms around sovereignty were negotiated with Ngāpuhi, the Government was “dreaming” if it thought it could reach a settlement.
“The bill that was discussed yesterday by Shane Jones clearly closes the door on that.”
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said iwi who wanted to “relitigate” the sovereignty of the Crown were “out of bounds” for Treaty settlement negotiations.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis. Photo / Mark Mitchell
She said New Zealand would do better as a country when “we’re looking forward to the future together, not looking in the rear-view mirror, relitigating debates from the past”.
“I look at the work of Ngāi Tahu, of Tainui and the investments they have made both socially and economically ... The capital they have built for their iwi and it’s sad for me – the people of the north that could really do with that capital injection are going to miss out because of the posture of their leaders.”
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.
