Latest news with #MāoriAffairs
NZ Herald
12 hours ago
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Government will not agree to Treaty settlements that dispute Crown's sovereignty today
Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith during his appearance at the Māori Affairs select committee at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says the Government will not agree to Treaty settlements that dispute whether the Crown is now sovereign. Goldsmith made the comments to the Māori Affairs select committee this morning amid ongoing negotiations with East Coast iwi Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and hopes a settlement can be reached
RNZ News
12 hours ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Goldsmith answers questions on progress of Ngāpuhi and other settlements
The Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Paul Goldsmith. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi The Minister for Treaty Negotiations says the government is open to dealing with multiple Ngāpuhi groupings to get a settlement done. Successive governments have been trying to get a settlement with the country's largest iwi for decades but have struggled to settle with the sprawling iwi under a single mandate. However, speaking to the Māori Affairs committee, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Paul Goldsmith said the government's stance was softening. "Our preference would be to have, if we could arrange one commercial settlement across Ngāpuhi and then recognise a number of cultural underneath that. It might be six, it might be seven - we haven't got a hard view on that. "Our goal, if possible, is to have a single commercial settlement." Asked by Labour MP Ginny Andersen if government actions like the disestablishment of Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority, the removal of section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act and the introduction of the Treaty Principles Bill had damaged the Crown's relationship with Ngāpuhi, Goldsmith said Māori had a variety of views. "The Māori population, just like the Ngāpuhi population, don't all think the same. "There's a variety of views across Ngāpuhi and there are many that see huge opportunities to work with a government that has an instinct that empowers local communities to do things, frankly, in contrast to a more centralising impulse from the previous government. "There is lots of discussions being had around housing, lots of discussions being had around the delivery of public services at the local level so while there are things that people disagree over there's plenty we do agree over and plenty of scope for conversations to occur." Answering a question by Green MP Steve Abel on whether the Office of Treaty Settlements and Takutai Moana's ambition to complete all Treaty settlements by 2035 was realistic, Goldsmith said settling was not something that could be forced. "A settlement requires two parties to settle. I don't think the patience of New Zealanders as a whole is infinite and people do want to see this process completed. "I think it would be a massive problem for this country, ultimately, if we get to 2040 and we're still having these conversations." The "tension" in the settlement process came from those groups who were eager to settle and those who were not, Goldsmith said. "It may well be that some groups never settle, that may be what they want, and we can't force that." In 2023, the previous Labour government initialled a Deed of Settlement with East Coast iwi Te Whānau a Apanui. The settlement package included an "agree-to-disagree" clause where the iwi maintained it was a sovereign nation while the Crown also maintained its own sovereignty. Speaking to media, Goldsmith said that was not something the government was comfortable acknowledging. "It makes it difficult, in the sense that you're signing up to a full and final settlement, but the entity fundamentally doesn't acknowledge the authority of the Crown to do it, in one respect - we weren't comfortable with that. "The Crown's position is clear. The Crown is sovereign. The Crown is simply a representation of the democratic will of the people of New Zealand here today." In 2014, the Waitangi Tribunal found the Māori chiefs who signed the Treaty of Waitangi did not cede sovereignty to the Crown and upheld the claims of Ngāpuhi and other northern iwi that the chiefs never handed over their power and authority to the British in 1840. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
