Treaty Minister says Ngati Hine could get mandate $

The Treaty Negotiations Minister Andrew Little says Northland's Ngati Hine people could get government funding for its mandate campaign - if it goes through official channels. The Ngapuhi sub tribe - has begun holding cake-stalls, barbecues and raffles, to fund a road trip through New Zealand and Australia, to register members and seek approval to negotiate its own Treaty settlement. While the leaders of the failed Tuhoronuku mandate received $9 million for a similar exercise, a Ngati Hine spokesman Pita Tipene says the government's not given Ngati Hine a cent. But Mr Little told RNZ's Northland reporter, Lois Williams, that's because Ngati Hine hasn't followed the usual process, and gone to Te Arawhiti, the Ministry of Maori-Crown Relations to ask for support.