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Mandate the first step in unique journey |
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Written by John Jones
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Monday, 28 April 2008 |
ACHIEVING an historic mandate agreement from the Government is just the first step of a journey that will lead to benefits for future generations, says chairman of Te Runanga o Ngati Porou Dr Apirana Mahuika.
Opponents of the mandate process had been given a full and fair hearing but the Crown had decided to agree to direct negotiations with the runanga, and some of those opposed were starting to come around now, he said.
It was significant that the Crown had talked to people who filed submissions in opposition and at the end of the day had granted the mandate.
Dr Mahuika said those opposed to the mandate appeared at all the meetings at home and spoke in opposition. They were not closed down in speaking their minds.
It was encouraging that those who were negative towards the mandate were starting to come around and seeing the wider benefits this could have for the communities in Ngati Porou, but more particularly for the next generation.
"Hopefully other people will see that as well," said Dr Mahuika.
"If people do not want to be Ngati Porou, then kei te pai, but no doubt their grandchildren will benefit from what we are trying to achieve."
Explaining the background to this unique agreement, he said the runanga had decided in December 2006 to explore the possibilities of direct negotiations in earnest.
It was not the first time they had looked at exploring things directly in terms of the WAI 272 claim (the runanga claim). They had talked about the possibility of direct negotiations with the Crown before 2006.
In 2006 they got an agreement from some of the claimants that it would be a good idea to explore the possibilities and the kinds of outcomes they could be looking at.
That was where a letter from then Minister of Treaty Settlements Mark Burton was important, because it stated some of the possible aspects and benefits of what they were talking about and were still looking at today.
"From there we reported regularly to our people and a lot of them became switched on, yes there is a possibility of an early settlement and Minister Burton was saying the Crown looks forward to this opportunity of settling with Ngati Porou as one of the largest iwi in the country."
The next step was the mandating process. "We needed to get the full support of our people."
So 14 mandate hui were held up and down the country and at all of these there was majority support for direct negotiations. At the same time a postal ballot resulted in 92 percent approval of what they were doing.
"So we were more than optimistic we had the numbers to do this, in fact we knew we did because we knew the numbers who were opposed."
The Crown had now made its decision in recognising the mandate.
"For me I was delighted because it showed our people had supported us and the Crown's recognition is also a recognition of that support.
"In a nutshell that is where we are. But it is not the end of the journey, it is just the beginning of a journey we have to undertake."
A major "destination" on the journey was agreeing a settlement package by October.
This was a unique agreement that the Crown had not made with any other iwi. Like the foreshore and seabed agreement, it was recognition of the rights of hapu -- whereas previously the Crown would only look at one entity, the iwi.
Also, there had been discussions around the parameters of a settlement, whereas those would usually be reserved until a mandate was obtained.
The reason for that was getting a mandate for an iwi as big as Ngati Porou involved a lot of time and cost. They did not want to go through all that to find, when they came to the table to talk with the Crown, it was a waste of their efforts.
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